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The Texas Rat Snake
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Mission Statement
Special This Quarter
· General Pest Control
· Trapping Services
· Bumble Bees
· Honey Bees
· Carpenter Bees
· Cicada Killers
· Paper Wasp In Attic
· Rodent Treatment
· Snake Control
· Yellow Jackets/Hornets
· Fall 2001
· Winter 2001
· Spring 2002
· Summer 2002
· Rodents
· Insects
. Fleas
. Carpenter Ants
Spider Alert!
This year we'll see a bumper crop of spiders. You might even see some kinds you've never seen before! That's because whenever insects become abundant, and they will this year, the spiders that feed on them also multiply.
Fortunately, most spiders are not dangerous. In fact, most can't even pierce our skin with their mouthparts. Even the most tender-skinned person amongst us has skin that is just too tough for spiders. In addition, the venom of most spiders isn't strong enough to harm huge giants like us, and spiders generally try to avoid us.
However, there are a few exceptions. control and prevent them from building Of the 3,000 spiders in the United States, about 50 of them are able to bite us. Of these, black widow and brown recluse spiders are the most well-known, and have the most powerful venom. Even these spiders cause no or few deaths each year in the entire country. The other spiders all have milder bites. Actually, researchers have found that about 80% of reported "spider" bites are the bites or stings of pests like fleas, mosquitoes, flies, midges, mites, ticks, and similar pests.
Remember to never pick up a spider with an unprotected hand. Keep an area uncluttered to help reduce spider numbers. Properly light entry ways so that you don't attract insects and spiders. Because spiders re infest an area, regular treatments are needed to keep them under control and prevent them from building their unsightly webs.
Ridiculous Cockroach Remedies
People often use desperate means to rid themselves of pests. Three of these methods, recorded in a book printed in 1865, recommend the following remedies to drive out cockroaches:
· "Close in an envelope several of these insects, and drop it in a street unseen, and the remaining Roaches will all go to the finder of the parcel:'
· Another remedy suggests writing a letter to the roaches, telling them to "...go now and trouble my neighbors.” This remedy goes on to say that to be successful, it is important that the letter be written legibly, with the correct punctuation.
· Still another old remedy was to place one roach in an envelope with some money and give it to anyone who would take it. Supposedly all the roaches would then go to the house of the person who accepted the envelope.
Unfortunately, many people probably tried these methods, and were no better off for the effort.
Your Questions Answered
Q. Why don't I SMELL anything after your pest control treatment?
A. In years past, our customers felt that unless they could smell a treatment, it wouldn't be
very effective. The thinking was, "If it doesn't smell terrible, how can it control the pests?"
Today our customers thoughts have completely changed--they don't want to smell anything. This desire of our customers has caused us to gradually switch to using products that have little or no odor.
In addition, there are other reasons you will never smell most of our treatments. We use much less insecticide than we did in the past, but we take the extra time to apply more precisely what we do use to the areas it will do the most good. Depending on the kind of treatment, this may mean more applications to cracks and crevices and other hidden areas where we know by experience that pests are likely to hide out or wander into. We also use more professional baits and pastes which don’t have a smell. This is part of our overall "Integrated Pest Management" strategy to use less pesticide, but use it more wisely to achieve the same high level of control our customers have come to expect from us.
Revenge Against – Mosquitoes
Stretch receptors in a mosquito's abdomen signal the tiny "brain" when the abdomen is full of blood and it's time to stop sucking. So what happens when someone surgically prevents this signal from reaching the brain? The mosquito continues to suck up more blood --until it explodes.
Maybe someday scientists will figure out how to use this information to control these insufferable little pests!
Pet Food Hazards
Many people are unaware of the hazards of children eating pet food. A number of years ago an 11 month old girl died suddenly after she ate dry cat food. Upon analysis, the cat food was found to contain penicillin at a level 600 times higher than the federal limit for human food. The girl's mother said that the girl had eaten the cat food on at least 11 occasions.
Penicillin and other antibiotics are often fed to animals that are used in pet foods, making it unfit for human consumption. Babies and very young children are especially at risk.
Please take steps to prevent toddlers and children of all ages from eating pet food. Keep the food away from them and take time to teach them that your pets eat different foods than we do.
Pest Trivia!
Challenge Yourself & Friends With These!
1. A physician is ~ most likely to find what insect in a child's ear?
2. How many major illnesses are insects known to transmit?
3. What pest did the town of Leesburg, Virginia, finally get rid of, after almost a decade of trying?
4. True or False? Male praying mantises lose their heads when they mate.
Answers to Pest Trivia!
1. Cockroaches. In one study of 134 foreign objects found in children's ears, 27 were insects, and 21 (78%) of these were cockroaches. Maybe Mom should have told us to wash in our ears as well as behind them!
2. At least 15 major ones, including bubonic plague, encephalitis, food poisoning or dysentery, malaria, yellow fever, and dengue.
3. Leesburg had a problem with hundreds of huge vultures roosting in the neighbor- hood trees. A special program of firing flares and firecrackers finally convinced them to leave. The enormous scavengers migrated to a wooded area three miles west of town.
4. It was believed for years that female praying mantises decapitate their male partners just before mating. But recently scientists found that to be untrue. Apparently in the original studies, the females had gone without adequate food and had ravenous appetites. (Female mantids can eat up to 15 full-grown crickets a day!) It's only if a female is hungry that she will cut off her mate's head and eat him.
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