Bait And Switch Those Ants

Long before non repellants came along the pest control industry futilely tried to bait our ant problems into submission. A box of cut up drinking straws was standard issue on any bug truck. We charged hundreds of dollars to put drippy (sometimes home made) sweet baits in them but we’d watch as the pharaoh ants simply got fat and split off in different directions. Baiting carpenter ants was and still is almost impossible and even with the advent of pharoid, an IGR for ants, we really were left with only a few options. Dusting voids and treating trails was the mainstay but to be successful, I mean really triumphant, you had to be great at finding nests.

Well needless to say, you could be the greatest inspector in the world (2nd to me of course) but sometimes it is literally impossible to find or access the colony. Either it’s deep in the bowels of the earth, in a tall tree top or tucked away in an adjacent property you can’t get permission to inspect. I have found whole colonies in some of the strangest places -a box of envelopes-in refrigerator door moulding-under insulation in the middle of an attic-under carpets-mailboxes-tree branches-on a boat-etc.etc.etc. But I know I’ve missed way more than I’ve ever found. In any case, the odds were stacked against positive ant control for years but in recent times, we’ve have tilted the game to our favor.
Continue reading

Posted in Ants | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Deadly Speed Of A Key Account

Pest control technicians must be a trusting lot. I can’t think of any other occupation where a homeowner let’s a service person in their home while they’re not present. Not only do they ‘let’ them in, they actually give them a key! I wouldn’t say this is very common with a plumber, appliance repairman or any other job that requires the service persona spend time in the home. Yet for as long as I have done pest control I have always had an abundance of keys. There are some people I’ve serviced for years now who have given us their key and I have never met them. Not Once! I guess I just have a trusting face.

Key accounts are like gold to a pest control route. If it’s raining you don’t get the usual questions, you can make up time or switch accounts around when you’re a bit behind or you can even take a minute to fill up some water jugs and straighten your truck if you let it go a bit. Hardly a day goes bye that I don’t have a key account or two. Some we have keys for, others leave keys in hidden places and even some (more than you’d think) leave the doors unlocked altogether.
Continue reading

Posted in The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Hey Bug Man! My Eyes Are Up Here

Where else but here in pestcemetery.com would you find the hard hitting, unbiased articles that tackle the truly important issues of the pest control industry? Does megatronpest.net give you this? How about the national magazines? No, there are just certain subjects that are to controversial, NOT politically correct enough and definitely way to sensitive for anyone else to even try and explore without fear of reprisals or severe ramifications–we here at pestcem headquarters, have no such inhibitions.
Continue reading

Posted in Tech Tips | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Urticating Pest Control Accounts

Who would have thought that the mighty Tarantula would ever need any other defensive mechanism than it’s appearance just to protect itself? I mean besides the sheer size, these things have fangs that are clearly visible and not something I’d ever want to get close to. Add to that a full coat of hair and all the 1000’s of years of folklore and this is one of natures beasts I believe most sane people just want to stay away from. I think this mighty arachnid kind of likes it this way too.

But this huge beast however takes it one step further which is most assuredly a good thing. Oh she could drive her huge venom spewing teeth into you alright but being more passive then given credit for, she has another way of getting you to just move on. Tarantula’s as well as some caterpillars and even a few types of plants have a defense mechanism that basically irritates a would be intruder without really harming them. It just makes them go away. These creatures have what is called urticating hairs or bristles that can attach to your skin or get in your eyes causing great discomfort and would most certainly make you forget all about messing around with them anymore. Some varieties of the large spider can actually ‘kick’ these hairs off their body and send them airborne right toward you. You start heading for the exits, the spider goes about her business, grows new hairs and you both live to fight another day.

Now I don’t come into contact with Tarantulas very often but this scenario sounds awfully familiar. I don’t believe a day goes by that I’m not assaulted with “urticulating hairs” of sorts but the source of these defensive moves- is not from a living entity. Or is it?
Continue reading

Posted in In my opinion, Spiders | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Collections; These Are The Times That Try Mens Souls

So there I am, standing at the door dreading what I have to go through next. Actually, I’ve done this a hundred times before and only a relative few have turned out to be the nightmarish encounter I’d never want to repeat. Most of these “heart to hearts” end up with a positive resolve, all parties back to square one and I walk away feeling better than before and sometimes even with a check. A few however, turn ugly at the speed of light where defensive postures are struck up immediately and tones and volumes escalate to a point that even when you try to come back to something rational, it is too late, the heated exchange is on. Those are the encounters that although few, are the ones I dread most and the reason I put off any involvement of this side of my business. That is, until everything else has been done and now it is up to me, the last line of hope to be recompensed for services rendered; time for collections.
Continue reading

Posted in The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Pest Control Blog & Three Lessons We Can Learn

One thing all the business gurus say is to have a web site, get on Facebook, Linkedin, Google Plus, Twitter etc. etc. etc. Honestly, there just seems to be too many of these things and it just seems they all get watered down by each other. Each new ‘networking’ site that comes along can be frustrating to learn, clog your in box and if you don’t give it constant attention, your exposure can be next to nil. With that, the small pest control operator or Mom & Pop slink back in the shadows with an all but dormant website (if they even have one) and simply vow to work harder at what they’re already doing- (like 12 hour days are not enough) and maybe that site that costs them $400 bucks a year to maintain may one day pay for itself. There’s got to be a better answer.

I must admit, I’m not a guru but one of the most simple, direct and cost efficient ways of stepping forth on positive ground is quite simply, a blog. That’s right, a blog. Now a blog is a web site but not all web sites are blogs. Simply put, a company site or page is usually a static page that stays the same day in and day out. A good company web site is an awesome thing- BUT- a blog on the other hand, is like a diary, a snap shot in time which most people find so much easier to connect with and therefore, perhaps easier to say YES to your service. No one say’s it has to be perfect or that it needs to cost thousands of dollars but a blog really can be an effective and simple way to communicate with current and potential customers.
Continue reading

Posted in The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

5 Signs Of Inspector Infestation

No one disputes that termites damage homes to the tune of billions of dollars every year, that rodents contaminate billions of pounds of food or that insects around the world kill millions of people and cost untold sums for the medical and control treatments. With all our great advancements, these numbers are still staggering and it almost seems as if we are, at best, just treading enough to keep our head above water. We certainly can’t say we’re winning can we?

Well that question is one to ponder but there is another silent killer in our industry that is also a devastating force but gets very little attention. No, billions of dollars aren’t lost, structures aren’t weakened nor are lives physically harmed. But these infestations are persistent and unless you are vigilant to spot them and then do something about them, the effect can be very devastating to you and your pest control company.
Continue reading

Posted in The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Pin Stream Pest Control & Seeing Red

I’ve never been accused of having a bland imagination. No ones ever said my conclusions or correlations were so obvious that they could see them coming from a mile away. I’m not sure if that’s a real good thing or not but one thing I can say, that at least when it comes to pest control, it seems the mind pictures I conjure up are things most folks agree with – well at least thats what I figure they mean when they don’t ask me to repeat myself. hmmmm.

This ‘revelation’ sorta surfaced in my mind recently when I was, shall we say?, verbally accosted by a woman who saw me treating a home. I guess she had some basic knowledge of different kinds of pest control because she flat out told me that since I wasn’t baiting or using natural sprays, I was poisoning her and everyone in the house. Now this wasn’t my customer, just a guest at a home where I was called out for service so all I could do was smile and continue my work. She didn’t let up of course but eventually went outside where I guess, I could no longer take years off her life with my sprays of death. (probably for a cigarette) This woman and really, anyone in life who wishes to be so ignorant and hostile is barely worth my time but I couldn’t help but chuckle and have what the home owner said was a big Ol ‘sh*% eating grin’ on my face as I handed her the bill and she asked me why?
Continue reading

Posted in In my opinion | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The Hundred Dollar Days & Other Such Dilemmas- Part Two

I tell this story because I literally just got off the phone with my friend, the colleague who I wrote about in part one. That ‘franchise from hell’ was 20 years ago and we both went through a lot over the years since then. We reminisced about those old times as we often do and as usual our conversation came around to what we call, “the $100 dollar days.” You see our journey was far from over once we left the, eh-em, opportunity of a lifetime. With our own tiny amoeba companies launched, we watched as all of our once fellow entrepreneurs disappeared. Some simply faded away while many others demise was painful to witness. Struggling mightily to stay afloat over the next few years, we were wary of all the new start ups that came out of nowhere year after year. Much like our franchise friends however, almost all of them quickly vanished with no real sign or trace they had ever even existed.

Although my buddy and I ultimately chose different paths, early on we both struggled while implementing any new idea that, #1 we could afford and, #2 sounded like it might have even a spark of hope. There was however, one thing we both had but it wasn’t very obvious to either of us way back then. You see, we used to speak on the phone all the time about each others business and how things were going. We spoke about equipment, treatment strategies, how to grow etc. If it was business related, we discussed it. Looking back, there was one such conversation that probably was and still is more important than any other we’ve ever had.
Continue reading

Posted in The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Hundred Dollar Days & Other Such Dilemmas

Have you ever walked to and from school with bare feet, in the snow, uphill?- BOTH WAYS? 😉 Now I realize this can be an over used analogy to describe a not so piece of cake period of time in someone’s life but this does describe my time when I started my pest control business some 20 years ago. Staying true to this theme, there were days, weeks, months and years where it seemed I was all alone on a snowy white road with nothing but large waves of snow drifts in front of me that constantly grew with the ice cold and unforgiving winds. One after another with no way around and a sky so whited out, there wasn’t even a horizon to offer a glimmer of hope.

I realize of course, this type of ‘start’ for budding pest control companies is not unique to me alone. In fact I saw others who began on that road about the time I did. A few plowed by me in their big fancy trucks and I envied them and wondered just how they could possibly accomplish this. Most however, were much like me and I was surprised that so many of them who started off hot were so soon frozen stiff by the unrelenting cold realities of the corporate world. A few plodded along as I did- also at a slow but steady pace, some, ahead of me, others drifted farther and farther behind. As the years went by and the long and dreary winter gave way to the hope of spring. Moving ahead became a little easier and I was shocked to find most of the big fancy trucks that once left me behind, were now rusted and abandoned on the side of the road. I had made it through one season but as I came to find out, there were still many stormy days ahead.
Continue reading

Posted in The Business Of Pest Control | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Australian Roach

The Australian roach is a relative of the American cockroach, with whom it shares a very close resemblance and is often confused one for another. Just like its cousin, the Australian cockroach prefers to live outside rather than indoors. They are very fond of warm temperatures, but in colder seasons they will look for shelter and warmer temperatures.

The Australian cockroach also shares the same running speed that the American cockroach does and is capable of flight. Although named Australian it is believed to be from Asia. This roach seems to prefer plant and vegetation materials for food but can eat much the same as the American roach. (decaying organic matter). This roach can be found in drier locations as long as water is present near by.

They are prolific breeders and complete their life cycle in about one year. Oothecas (egg capsules) hold up to 30 eggs of which only about 1/2 hatch. Eggs take about 40 days to hatch and nymphs reach maturity in about a year.
Continue reading

Posted in Roaches | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Controlling Outside Moisture – Controls The Pincer Beast (earwigs)

If I had only one piece of advice to give you on earwig control it would be just this;

Control the moisture and you will control the earwig. If I had a second nugget of truth to give, it would be to start this daunting task outside and you will go a LONG WAY to eliminating the earwig.

Earwigs simply love, need, require and actively seek out moisture on a daily basis in order to survive. When things get dry earwigs get on the move and so often this is under your door or through a unsealed crack and into your home. Many times earwigs are found in bathrooms or kitchens even if these areas are in the middle of your home and people wonder how it is they got so far. The desperate earwig is very adept at seeking out even the smallest hints of this life giving liquid so it really is no surprise for them to show up there. Sure you’ll occasionally have them in a dry hall or some other place but believe me they are intently searching out a moist place to rest and given enough time they will find it. Logically then, if you could keep the moisture levels so low that the earwig wouldn’t be happy or thrive you would see their populations diminish because those that wouldn’t die from the lack of it would move out to other areas that would support this absolute need.
Continue reading

Posted in Earwigs | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Dear Picture Diary- Animal Trapping Is Hard-Ode To The Pros

24th

Dear Diary, 5:30 comes early but I can’t put off checking my live traps until the afternoon when my regular pest route is done. Who knew it was the law I had to check these things once every 24 hours? Why isn’t a squirrel classified a rodent? Their freakin RATS WITH BUSHY TAILS for Pete’s sake. Well it would be just my luck I’d leave one too long in a trap and be fined and end up with all sorts of legal bills like that company in New Jersey. All I’m trying to do is provide a needed service and make a few extra bucks but I didn’t think there was so much to this.
Continue reading

Posted in Trapping live animals series | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Termite Danger Of Stucco And Veneer

A mans home is his castle or so the saying goes. With that mind picture, it’s easy to think of our fortress as impenetrable. After-all, a castle is built with thick stone walls, a moat that surrounds it and a huge draw bridge that when closed makes an unbreakable doorway.

The difference is, castles of old are made with real carved stones and huge guard towers to keep enemies at bay. Our modern day homes however, are truly just a facade that for the most part, look solid, but are really very porous when it comes to protection against termite entry and damage.
Continue reading

Posted in Termites | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Picture Diary Of A Wanna Be Trapper

28th

Dear Diary, this has been a really rough week. I thought this trapping thing would be such an easy add on to my business but here it is the end of the week and I’m exhausted. As if the the squirrels bats and raccoon I chased around this week wasn’t enough. The outrageous expectations of the homeowners caught me completely by surprise. Sure I’m use to people squawking over a few roaches but c’mon! Just today I spent 3 hours on a hot baking roof excluding squirrels by re-screening 4 antique attic fans. Of course this was after hearing my client complain that my next day response time wasn’t good enough. I then got the hour long ‘run down’ of every time she heard a noise, where she thought it was, where I should look and GOD FORBID DON’T KILL THE INNOCENT LITTLE THING! So I thought I constructed an ingenious way to trap her stubborn squirrel but she thought it should have worked in the first 5 minutes. This day just capped the week off- Man! I’m seriously wondering if I wanna go ahead with more of this next week. I guess I should have figured it wasn’t all glamourous and easy like it appears on all those reality shows; I should have known something was up with that first job this week that got the whole ball rolling. I knew that dead squirrel was trying to tell me something.
Continue reading

Posted in Trapping live animals series | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments