Category Archives: Uncategorized

The pest library is keeping us busy

If you haven’t noticed but, the last couple weeks we haven’t posted anything on the blog. I specifically have been pretty busy. If you check out the main Traffic Pest Solutions website, it has been completely redone into the newer html5 and css3 website standards. The main reason for this is to make the site a lot easier to use with mobile devices. Mobile is definitely the way the net is going. TrafficPestSolutions.com is looking at an average of a third of the people looking at the web page are using mobile devices. So, you can see why it’s so important to have pages that works for them.

Also, the website is being revamped with a whole new pest library section with pictures and info about all kinds of pests and how to control them. At this time I’m putting up about 5 to 10 pages a day so, there is a pretty good base of pest information materials. expect to see a lot more details, pictures, and how to’s concerning common pests. Hopefully you guys find it valuable. at the time of this writing the antscrickets, bed bugs, bees, cockroaches, fleas, flies, wasps, spiders, and ticks are for the most part complete. I’m trying to cover all the regular pests but, if you guys have any ideas or specific things that you want me to put, I’ll be more than happy you know. You can just email me The Bug Guy. For now the posts on the blog will be a little slow until the site is more up to speed to where it should be. Its been neglected for the last seven years and now we’re trying to make it the valuable resource.

Things that go scratch in the night.

Last week we were talking about the fact that February rains more than any other month and you must be careful with the mosquitoes that it brings. But the other thing that we didn’t mention that is also of concern is, it is also the season for Rodents. Rodents tend to enter structures for sanctuary when their burrows begin to flood. We see this most frequently in February due to the extra amount of rain. To make maters even worse rats breed prolifically in the spring and that’s right around the corner. Pretty soon you will have a whole family of rats (sometimes mice) with a nice dry place to stay warm with plenty of nice fluffy insulation to burrow into. So the question is, what do you do about it?

Quarter and Dime sizeYou need to check for structural deficiencies. Exterminators call this process rodent proofing. Isn’t the very reason you have a house in the first place is to keep the outside out? Lets first think about what size holes we are looking for. Rodents have this fancy ability of plasticity. The general rule is, if they can get there head through it, the rest of their body is coming too. So that means you need to look for holes the size of a quarter for rats (about 1 inch) and / or the size of a dime (about 2/3 in) for a mouse.

possible rat entry pointsNow walk around the perimeter your house looking for these holes on the exterior walls of your house. Take special note to where services enter you home i.e. Water pipes, A/C line, cables and also pay attention to vents on the bottom of your house if you have a raised foundation. If you find a hole concern take note if it has dark smudging around it. Rats are very dirty and greasy and they get the surfaces around the hole dirty from entering in and out of it. Do the Smuged holesame for the rooftop. Don’t worry about plumbing vents unless they’re cut in the attic and are not functional. You need to look for holes under the eaves where two roof lines meet and rarely, if you have enclosed eaves you can have the plywood roof under the roof material raising up allowing a gap for entry. Again take note for services running to the home especially cable and electricity in older homes. Also take note of any trees or objects within three feet of the rooftop.

Hardware clothNow that you know where the deficiencies are its time to fix them. Where possible use stucco to repair stucco on a home. It is actually very easy. Mix stucco with water and apply. Next for lager holes use hardware cloth and appropriate fasteners i.e. staples for wood or screws with anchors for stucco. Last for a quick lasting fix shove steel wool in the hole. Remember to use stainless steel or similar to prevent oxidation stains on the house. Do not use expanding foam or rubber weather stripping for permanent rodent proofing.

That’s pretty much it. If you’re not familiar with this or you’re uncomfortable with getting on top of the roof you should call professional. Of Course, you can always call us, Traffic Pest Solutions at 1 (661) 645 6855 or schedule an appointment online.

What animal kills more than all others combined?

Dengue-Mosquito

if you been looking around recently spring is here. Maybe not officially, we still got a couple months to go. But in Southern California we only have one month that can have frost and that’s January. The frost is gone and the flowering pear trees (The white ones that smell bad) are in full bloom letting us know there’s nothing but more flowers on the way. Just like how the plants know that it’s time to wake up and get moving, so do all those pests. Insects work like cold blooded animals. The warmer it gets the more active they are.

Starting from now (February) on up expect to see more and more pest activity. Also, expect to see more rain than any other time of the year. February is the only month of the year that we average as much rain as the rest of the country has every month, 4 inches. That makes now a great time to check your property for any possible mosquito breeding sites.

The mosquito is vector of diseases and is responsible for one million deaths a year. This makes it the most dangerous creature to humans more so than all other animals combined. Fortunately here in California we don’t have to deal with Malaria but we do have West Nile Virus. West Nile Virus is very similar to Dengue fever and it is not to be trifled with.

Breeding sites

Removing standing water sources prevents the mosquito from completing its life cycle and is the best way to protect your family from nuisance bites and possible heath issues.

This year lets protect our family and neighbors with three easy steps.

  1. Flip containers, toys, and other objects over to prevent water from entering.
  2. When that is not possible, cover objects with some sort of waterproof covering.
  3. If neither is possible, such as pools and fountains. Chlorinate regularly until the body of water evaporates or it can be removed by pump.

 

Bug Guy Vs German Roach & Health Department closure

I don’t know if you know this but most every restaurant, supermarket, or commercial facility has pest control service to protect themselves from pest infestations and the Health Department. And If they don’t have pest control they should get it. This whole last week I was dealing  with a new restaurant that I took over from Orkin pest control. Orkin was going there twice a month, which is pretty much the maximum you can do for a commercial location and there was way more roaches then there should of been. I just couldn’t understand it. I told the client there was a lot of roaches and I asked when the next health inspection was due. Unfortunately, The inspection happened to be the very next day and the restaurant had to close its doors until the problem was resolved. Talk about bad luck, if it had been a week later they probably would of passed. But, whats done is done.

I spent my next few nights returning to the restaurant making sure it was free of roaches while the clients addressed sanitation issues during the day. I must admit working in the night gave me quite a bit of nostalgia for the days I was a graveyard commercial tech. Even funnier, the thing I think I missed most had to be the German Cockroaches. Why? Because these things are mean. They put up a fight and they don’t go down easy. I still find myself looking for new “magic” pesticides or reading research papers to see if there is some new easy way to remove these things that I’m missing. Nope, there is a reason we have the saying “roach work” in the industry and that’s because they’ll make you “work” for them. In a way its nice. It makes me feel useful, ensures me job security, and there no better setting for me to battle my one vs thousands battle than alone in a cold, metal, industrial kitchen.

Bed Bugs you may be tough but German Roaches in a commercial setting will always be my favorite!

Hollywood Owes Us One

poster6-jack-arnold-tarantula-dvd-review1

I’m not sure if I’m the only one in the pest control industry, however I feel that Hollywood owes us. Since I can remember Hollywood has been reinforcing the pest control stereotype. You know the one, all exterminators have to be dumb and generally look pretty ugly. Ok, I admit to being slightly dumb and not exacty pretty. But that is an exaggeration!

imgresUp until now that has been fine. They have always made it up to us with scary albeit sometimes bad, horror movies involving bugs or insect type aliens that hopefully give people brand new fears to pests, which makes more pest control customers.

 Come on, the last somewhat big pest movies I can think of are Mimic (1997) The Fly(1986) or Arachnophobia (1990). While I literately can’t think of one time Hollywood hasn’t portrayed the pest control stereotype. Just a rant

What is Organic Pest Control Service and is it Really Organic?


What is Organic

Okay, a common question I receive is, Do you guys offer organic pest control? Or do you have organic pesticides? This seems to be the trend and its getting more common by the day. By far my favorite answer is of course not. Most of those are illegal not to mention that almost all of them are more dangerous than more commonly used pesticides now a days. Wait, I know what you’re thinking, Illegal and dangerous, how can it be? What this all comes down to is people being misinformed by marketing campaigns and sales tactics. To make matters worse many pest control companies are involved in the generation of these ideas.

So what is organic pesticides? Well, in pesticides as with all chemistry organic means a compound that contains carbon. So obviously something that doesn’t have carbon in its structure can’t be organic. To make things easy the chemical/pesticide industry has classified most common insecticides into families such as Organochlorines, Organophospates, Carbamates and Pyrethroids. The first three being organic lines and the last being inorganic. Lets take a look at some organic pesticides. By far the most known Organochlorine is DDT which you could say its effects on nature started the environmental movement. Organochlorines were made illegal and were replaced with Organophospates and Carbamates. An example of a Organophospates would be Sarin Nerve Gas. Yes, DDT and Sarin gas are both organic. Does that make Saddam Hussein a hipster using an organic gas when he gassed the Irani people, Probably not.

The fact is, pesticide companies have tests done to determine their safety and then the Department of Pesticide Regulation makes sure they disclose that information to the public. Organic isn’t a concern of the DPR. The DPR makes sure all materials are rated for safeness by LD50s. A LD50 is a standard measurement of acute toxicity that is stated in milligrams of pesticide per kilogram of body weight that represents the individual dose required to kill 50 percent of a population of test animals. Basicly, the higher the LD50 the safer the product is and vice versa. So now that your are informed you can check the safety of products you use or are exposed to by others by the material’s LD50 and the next time someone tells you something is safe because its organic, doubt that. Everything must be considered on a individual basis.Traffic Pest Solutions always uses the safest most effective products for its clients by making informed and educated decisions.

Okay then what does Organic mean on a product? Doesn’t that mean no pesticides were involved with the product. No, it means the manufacture pays an “organic agency” to have their product accredited through that agency and the manufacturer has obligations they have to meet for the accreditation. Yet somehow the agencies seem to be very flexible if they are going to lose a client for failure to pass their exam. Traffic Pest Solutions services many organic certified locations and all of them allow any legal pesticide as long as you practice integrated pest management or IPM first. UC Davis defines IPM an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties. Pesticides are used only after monitoring indicates they are needed according to established guidelines. That’s a nice way of saying try to remove the problem without insecticide first then apply if needed.