Author Archives: The Bug Doctor

About The Bug Doctor

Jerry Schappert is a certified pest control operator and Associate Certified Entomologist with over two and a half decades of experience from birds to termites and everything in between. He started as a route technician and worked his way up to commercial/national accounts representative. Always learning in his craft he is familiar with rural pest services and big city control techniques. Jerry has owned and operated a successful pest control company since 1993 in Ocala,Florida. While his knowledge and practical application has benefitted his community Jerry wanted to impart his wisdom on a broader scale to help many more. Pestcemetery.com was born from that idea in 2007 and has been well received. It is the goal of this site to inform you with his keen insights and safely guide you through your pest control treatment needs.

Are Trappers Unfairly Limited?

Every three months the licensed pest control firms in Florida get a report from the state listing all the violations and those who committed them for that quarter. It’s a public list and one that I hope I’m never on. … Continue reading

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Termites In My Brick House? No Way

It’s a phrase that’s been repeated thousands of times throughout my career. “You won’t find any termites in my home! My house is made out of bricks!” I hear this most often from over confident homeowners who are selling their … Continue reading

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Should Terminix Do A Class Action Suit Against Its Employees?

Since I received this story from a loyal reader I have tried diligently to figure out some in’s and outs so that this article would be fair and unbiased. To be honest, I haven’t found much of anything that supports … Continue reading

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Ironies & Oddities And The Veterans Of Pest Control

Do any job long enough and you’re bound to see some really off the wall things somewhere down the line. I’ve been doing pest control for 27 years and hardly a day goes by where I don’t do a double … Continue reading

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Advice From Two Seasoned Pest Pros To You Who Are Just Starting Out

I try very hard not to reinvent the wheel which means I’ll take advice from anybody who has a successful track record. Small operators or techs who have been around for awhile are some of the wells of knowledge I … Continue reading

Posted in The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

The Tornado Of Pests In Your Bathroom & How They Gain Access

In case of bad weather it’s a common practice to seek shelter in the bathroom of your home. I’m sure there are several good reasons and it must work because so many of the news reports I’ve seen are where … Continue reading

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How Much Pest Control Do You Let Your Customers Do?

Recently on a trip to the Pacific Northwest I was reminded of a service that I thought had gone by the wayside and I just took for granted that it was now my lifelong task. I pulled into a gas … Continue reading

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Pest Control In Alaska

What’s the one place if asked you’d say pest control really isn’t needed? Well, if you’re like me you might say that Alaska with it’s harsh conditions would be a place where a bug truck would never go but you’d … Continue reading

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Two Winters Too Cold For a Jacket-Winter # 1

At one point in my career I came within a whisker of quitting pest control altogether. What started out as such an adventure and my ‘high calling’ had suddenly turned into this free fall of one bad experience after another. … Continue reading

Posted in In my opinion, Tales from the route | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Handyman Effect – I Named It You Solve It

Jerry, I’ve got my plumber in today and he’s looking up under dishwashing rack and says you need to bait up there. It’s the worst he’s seen in awhile. Can you get out here today? Hey Stu, my electrician said … Continue reading

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Undercover Pest Control Stings-Have You Ever Been Set Up?

I’m pretty sure I’m not any more paranoid then the next guy, you know, the one over there who’s been following my every move for the last hour. So I’m sure I just imagined all those times that the customer … Continue reading

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The Smokybrown Cockroach

The smokybrown roach gets its name from its uniform brown to mahogany color. This roach is also called a woods roach or water bug and very often confused with its cousin the American roach because of their similar size. Smokybrown … Continue reading

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Why Can’t You Kill The Nit Niche King?

There is a pest control job that I’m sure no mega pest control operation would ever consider adding to their resume regardless of the profit margin. That would be hand picking nits and lice out of a clients hair.Eeeccck! In … Continue reading

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Rat Tales

By Jimmy Loulegend Let me preface this with a bit of a qualifier: I loved the movie “The Secret of NIMH” when I was kid. I grew up thinking rats were relatively-benevolent, highly-intelligent creatures. That being said; I grew up … Continue reading

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Is Your Smart Phone The Dumbest Thing For Your Pest Control Service?

Does anybody remember just how we managed to get along before there were cell phones? Sifting through the trash on the floor boards of our bug trucks looking for .25 cents to use a pay phone. Planning our stops so … Continue reading

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