Our recent upgrade of pest cemetery has been very exciting. After a lot of hard work and admittedly still some work to do, we think it’s been worth it. Not only can you browse the supply store and pick up a much needed item you can also get real time advice for your specific situation or pest. It’s only been a few days and I’ve already gotten many questions from readers. Clicking the ask the bug doctor tab brings you to a simple page where you can anonymously type any question you may have. Your question does not automatically show up on the site as in the article comments but from time to time I will use some questions and responses to feature as an article. We hope to have a picture upload feature soon (some of that work we still need to do) and that as they say might be worth a 1000 words.
Recently a reader named Mike had a disagreement with his boss and found my article Severe termite damage-how fast do termites damage wood? His question was not how fast but how much damage in weight does a termite colony do in one year.
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The call doesn’t come in very often but it seems to happen around this time of year after we have heavy rains that some homes have waves of shrimp coming in under there front or garage door. This creature which is not an insect but a crustacean is so odd that the reaction of customers can be one of panic or amazement. Much like the movie Forrest Gump when he hit the mother load of shrimp after the big storm those ‘shrimp’ are already there just under our feet but the excess moisture gets them moving and that’s when we see them. Lots of them!
Pest cemetery has been upgraded and I’m excited to share it with you. For all my faithful readers who have been with me since the first post 2 years ago I hope the new changes will be to your liking. We have tried to make it more user friendly, easier on the eyes and simpler to participate with your thoughts. To all the new visitors I say welcome and please feel free to sign in to the RSS feed so you’ll be alerted to the new articles as they come out.
Now add to that about 250 of them flying around your yard at low levels like humming birds on steroids and most people run for the hills!
About the only thing that will deter them is a nice thick turf as they tend to like sparse and open sandy areas. Cicada killers also come back to the same area each year so once they’ve chosen your yard I’d be breaking out the fertilizer. Cicada killers gather each year by the hundreds in a large group called a Lek. Kind of a big mating party and when they are done the female usually begins to dig her burrow not to far away. This is where she’ll lay her eggs in chambers on a cicada that she has caught, paralyzed and drug down into the hole. Thankfully this frenzied activity only lasts a week or two but underground the eggs hatch in just a few days and the cycle is reborn. The larva eat the cicada and then spin a silken cocoon in which they’ll pupate in over the winter. Adults emerge in late June to July and you guessed it, a Lek party and it’s back to your yard.
I’m asked 1000 times; “Are you sure there is nothing you can do?” Being licensed in lawn spraying I agree to begin a fertilizer program to thicken the yard so as to discourage next years Lek. I also smile as I show her the receipt and circle ‘insect treatment included’ and even though I’ve gone to great lengths to persuade the lovely lady of the house it is only then that she sighs and shows any sign of relief.
In the last 26 years I have seen some pretty extensive termite damage to homes and commercial structures. Some on buildings that have long been forgotten but most on homes that are lived in and the damage was happening right under everyones nose. Just this spring I was asked to try and stop termites from attacking a $20,000.00 boat in storage. Upon inspection we found that the termites had built tunnels right up the trailer tires and almost completely gutted the interior. The simple answer was to hook up to the hitch and move the boat and while this didn’t make my customer all that happy the advice was free and the termite problem was solved. Recently I also treated a 100 year old ‘bunk’ house that is now being used for a hunting cabin. There is so much damage I’m not sure what’s holding the place up but like so many other buildings I’ve seen it’s still standing after all these years and may even be around for another 100 years.
problem. Now I have seen perfectly sound homes (except for the termites) that didn’t seem to provide these elements and it looked very solid and yet we found extensive termite damage. Termites compensate very well and will actually bring moisture up from their underground world into the feeding area to supply what they need to keep from drying out. Access may only be an unseen crack or seam in the foundation no thicker than a business card which allows them to go unseen for years. As a general rule homes that contribute these needs tend to have the most damage but in the termite business you can take nothing for granted.
In a perfect world this wouldn’t be a problem and besides if you are having pest issues I’m pretty sure they are being bothered as well and probably even worse. This can be pretty tricky however and you need careful how you approach them. Asking them to cut down a Boxelder tree might be a tall order but even more difficult might be asking them to clean up all those piles of dog doo to stop the flies. The key is not to start off the conversation by blaming your neighbor. Instead describe the problem you are having and see if they don’t agree that they are having it too. Tell them how you’ve eliminated all the standing water to cut down on the mosquitoes or how you had your yard sprayed for fleas and how much it helped and maybe it would benefit them. Speaking in this way won’t put them in an awkward position and they just might be grateful for the tip. You might even be armed with your your bug guys business card or let them know he’ll be stopping by to follow up and you’ll have him stop by. Not all neighbors will or can cooperate for different reasons but it’s worth the try so you can get to the source of both your problems.
Perhaps because the neighbor can’t afford service or they are unwilling to take the sanitation measures needed but in any case you are left sharing in their pest problem. In these cases you’re better off to arm yourself with knowledge first before you load up with gallons of spray. Knowing the habits and needs of the 
