The secret sex tapes of an exterminator

Posted on June 25, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I’ve always tried to lead a quiet an honest life but I am human and prone to mistakes just like anyone else. I’d like to think of my readers as a faithful family, there to pick me up when I fall short and always willing to hear me out before they come to judgement. In turn, I promise to leave my stones on the ground and not hurl any unwarranted negatives in your direction as well. Sometimes just telling the story can cleanse the soul and I find it so liberating to share with you, my loyal readers all of my experiences good or bad. This is my story about some tapes that I had no idea existed but I fear will one day come out.
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Dry out those springtails

Posted on June 24, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

It’s usually this time of year we get many calls for tiny masses of bugs that are covering bathroom or kitchen floors. We hardly need to even go out to take a look once the caller says they think they are fleas because they ‘hop’. Immediately we know that these are most likely springtails and it’s a call that can prove to be very difficult to deal with. Second we dread the call, these things can be very difficult to locate and even if we find them, it is at times just as hard to treat.
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The Definition Of A Termite Infestation

Posted on June 23, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Sometimes there is confusion as to whether or not you have a termite infestation or not. On one hand the exterminator is telling you he sees evidence like a mud tunnel, some damage or even the wings left behind from a swarm but no live termites. Home owners often get frustrated with this and especially during a real estate transaction because now they’re faced with paying for a job they hadn’t planned on and perhaps even losing a sale from the wary buyer. How can you call it an infestation if you don’t see any live termites running around? Now if you really want to see some raised eyebrows, try telling the resident they have an infestation when all you find is a speck of mud from an exit hole or just one tiny wing on a window sill. “You want me to pay $700.00 for one tiny #@!** wing? Are you CRAZY?”
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A Smart & FREE Termite Tool

Posted on June 22, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

We’ve all gone out to jobs that just make us scratch our heads. We think it’s an enclosed carport or that room looks like an add on but who can tell? Sometimes even the owner is a little fuzzy on the history of the home or maybe it was done on the sly so they really don’t want to advertise they’ve added to the structure. I don’t know about you but I try to be as prepared as I can when treating termites but as so often the case the first time I see the structure is the same day I’m treating it. I hate surprises and almost every retreat I get is due to a construction fault that I couldn’t pick up or that I had no control over.

To make my life a little easier and hopefully yours too, I’ve put together a short presentation to give you that edge you may need when it comes to termite work. It’s simple and only takes a few minutes and may mean the difference between guessing there is an expansion joint hidden beneath the floor covering and knowing that there is. Knowledge is power and in termite work, we need all the help that we can get.
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Drinking Spiders Die Quickly

Posted on June 21, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

I get a lot of mail and I enjoy reading almost everything I get. Almost. One subject that keeps coming back is my article on catching spiders with water. Apparently some don’t believe it can be this easy to catch a wandering spider using something as simple as h20. Let me ask you then. What is the number one place you find spiders trapped inside your home? Think—– yep that’s right, you’re bathtub. The surface of most tubs are to slick for spiders to get up and out once they’ve gotten in. It’s not unusual then to find them near the drain and I’m sure you have, but what drew them there in the first place? It was the lure of life giving water.
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My 5 Days With Billy The Exterminator

Posted on June 19, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

It’s always great for me to watch another professional in the craft I love work his or her magic. Their skill and expertise is one thing but what impresses me the most is the confidence they have in their ability to get the job done even if it has complex factors that would send any rookie running for the phone to call in for help. Recently I had a chance to spend an entire week with just such a confident technician and I actually learned quite a bit.
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Misconceptions and how to treat head lice

Posted on June 17, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Did you know the word lice is plural for louse? I guess that little factoid is great for a trivia game but it hardly helps when you find a louse or lice on you or your child. Having lice is a common occurrence and we get panicked calls from mothers, commercial establishments and schools or day cares quite often wanting treatment. Our response is almost always met with disbelief and an insistence on service if for no other reason, it makes the person at least feel better. One other fact is that there are really only three louses that regularly cause problems for humans but the head louse is the most common so we tacle just this one for now. Hopefully with this article you can rest easier and find out how you can quickly take care of these problems on your own.
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Answers don’t solve flea problems, questions do

Posted on June 16, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

Master Po; Answers DO NOT solve flea problems, questions do!
Young Caine; But how can a question be more powerful than the answer?
Master Po; Grass hopper, when you understand this paradox, you may live in harmony in your flea free home.

What’s the #1 thing you’re told before and after a flea treatment? When shouldn’t you treat your pet with a a topical medication like Advantage or Frontline? What triggers outbreaks after things were under control? Why do I have to dust my house for flea control? These are important questions when it comes to flea control and failure to ASK them means you will fail in your treatment.
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Fighting Bugs With Precor 2000 & One Thing That Could Knock You Out

Posted on June 15, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

In my business I’m always looking for a product, technique or pests habit that I can use to give my customers instant relief from their bug problems. Sometimes pest problems can be so huge and seem insurmountable that you just got to chop it down at its knees. While there are a ton of great materials out there and I’m a big believer in the magic of time, it’s hardly any comfort for the person who is infested with ants or fleas to tell them they need to give it 14 days to work. This is especially true with pests that bite or sting and here in the south fire ants deliver a nasty wallop and fleas can be relentless.
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The tech behind the suit

Posted on June 14, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

My new found career should have been a great advancement for me and I was indeed happy to be promoted but there were many times I wished I could go back to what I loved doing best and that was being a pest control tech. This is a continuation of an earlier article and you’ll want to catch the rest of this story so I’ve linked to it here.

My background in the commercial tech route was definitely my greatest asset but my sales ability was sorely lacking. Sure my 4 day crash course was a real boost and on my 1st day as commercial rep. I landed a nice $1200.00 sale but the following weeks and months were not so easy. It was the dead of winter in Baltimore so leads weren’t coming in as much for anybody but commercial leads were almost non existent. My new world was cold calling and phone tag and I detest both of those activities.
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My national debut and debacle

Posted on June 14, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

This is the final installment of my little series on the subject of my commercial sales career. (or lack thereof) For me this period of time marked some very low years and I had thought of changing careers entirely on more than one occasion. My resume by now looked like a million bucks so I did have some pretty good offers, had I taken the most promising one you might be reading the water softening sales blog right now instead of pest cemetery. In the end however I couldn’t leave the work I loved. You can catch up with the story by following these links to part 1, Disappointment, betrayal & my spiral to obscurity and part 2, The tech behind the suit.

I think the program was beginning to work and although my numbers weren’t setting world records I was finding larger and larger jobs for the company. One thing I didn’t like were all the meetings I had to attend as The Commercial Representative of the region and none of them were close. My car didn’t have a/c and I’d show up to some of them like a sweaty pig drenched from the summer heat while stuck in D.C. traffic. It did give me a chance however to meet some of the big wigs in the organization and I knew this was an important factor for me as I thought I was making my way up the corporate ladder.
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Stopping Fire Ants From Getting Inside The Home

Posted on June 12, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

They don’t make a habit of coming inside but once they do it can get out of control pretty quickly. Many times the fire ant will invade a baby or toddlers room because scout ants find candy, cookie crumbs or the milk from the babies bottle. Fire ants are very active at night and this results in bites and stings as more and more ants are recruited on to the sleeping child’s bed for food. We get panicked calls quite often from parents who don’t care what it costs or how much you need to spray, they just want them stopped.

In this short video I’ll give you an example of how we stop invading fire ants cold. It’s not rocket science but knowing where and what to look for goes a long way to protecting your home and children.

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Disappointment, betrayal & my spiral to obscurity

Posted on June 11, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

So I made the jumps from lowly residential tech all the way up to National accounts representative and traded in my beloved system III for a suit and tie. This didn’t happen all overnight of course and I certainly felt like I paid my dues but why did I not feel like a man who was on his way up with such a bright and successful horizon ahead?
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Pest tubes service caught on tape

Posted on June 10, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

The ‘tubes in the wall’ pest service is still one of the most asked about topics on Ask The Bug Doctor so I thought I’d take a moment today and record just how it’s done. We treated about 15 homes this way today and most customers really don’t understand much about it. It’s just something that was built into their house and some didn’t even realize it for several years. Others requested the systems because they did not want sprays inside the home every month but know that pest control is still a needed service. It is a great way to provide an in the wall treatment without ever stepping inside the home not only for this purpose but also the convenience.
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Don’t be satisfied with pest control ‘sweet spots’

Posted on June 9, 2010 by The Bug Doctor

There’s a tendency in pest control technicians to hit the same places time and time again with regular service visits. The reason could be that the customer wants those spots done because they’ve seen a bug there and now and forever that spot MUST be sprayed. Now for this situation you might just have to grin and bear it, as long as it isn’t against the label or for safety reasons you can’t but this is not really the ‘sweet spots‘ that I’m referring to. I know what you’re thinking and ‘no’ it’s not that either.
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