Where to spray pest control — Micah’s student essay
Where To Spray Pest Control?
Living in the hot, always sunny desert of Phoenix, Arizona brings many obstacles. From the rapidly changing weather to the multitude of wildlife and critters that one must live along side, living in the city of Phoenix becomes a hassle. Yet as people have done for a millennium, they adapt and find ways to live peaceably despite all the challenges people may face.
As an Arizona resident myself I have learned to deal with the heat as well as all the uninvited critters that tend to make their way into my home. However, depending on the type of pest that you are dealing with different strategies are used to deter and get rid of them from your home. I first noticed this when my family first moved into our home, a new pest that was never an issue before became a serious problem, the scorpion.
In our previous home the most we have had to deal with were spiders, flies and occasionally moths, which are generally harmless in most cases, yet on the other hand scorpions tend to always sting people, which would send one a sharp pain followed by discomfort, swelling, and numbness.
So, my family planned to deal with it quickly. For critters like spiders, we would normally spray the pest directly along with the web and area they seemed to inhabit, so we tried this method for the scorpions as well.
The scorpions would tend to come inside from noon to evening so my family would during that time search for and spray the areas that were infested. There were not many scorpions in one place at a time frequently, at most just one or two but that was still enough for it to be considered an issue.
Finding the pests proved difficult because they blended so well with the environment and even the tan carpet. To solve this issue, we used a black light to watch out for scorpions because their bodies would glow in reaction to the ultraviolet light, greatly relieving the tension of unknowingly being stung by one of these pests. Upon figuring out the best method to rid the scorpions from inside of the house another problem remained, keeping them out and away from the house.
For this issue my family decided to seek out some professional. The exterminators’ solution was simple; they had their own specialized pesticide for scorpions and sprayed it along the whole foundation of the house. Since the scorpions’ main mode of entry was through the doors and garage, the exterminators concentrated the pesticide in those areas. Once finished my family made sure to avoid close contact with the poison to avoid getting sick and after several hours the work was finished.
Weeks, months, and even a couple years have gone by and the times my family encounters a scorpion has dramatically decreased. After getting rid of all the existing scorpions inside the house and covering the outside foundation with a pesticide, deterring further entry into the house we were able to effectively eliminate contact with these pests. However, this is not the only pest I have encountered living in Arizona.
With my girlfriend moving into her new condo, she had to learn how to get rid of the potential pests that she might face and this fact did not appeal to her that well. After a few months of living in the condo however she slowly began to realize and appreciate the fact that she had not found one pest since she moved in.
Unfortunately, this did not last forever because she happened to notice little mud nests coming from a wall near the window which meant termites. After finding out what pest invaded her new home was(as well as a very vocal freak out) she immediately called a professional exterminator to help figure out how to get rid of the termites. She first tried taking down the mud nests that came out of the wall, but it failed to deter the pests as well as get rid of them. The termites would build their nest back up every time.
She then tried putting chemicals on the nest which worked slightly better because the termites would not rebuild for a while. However, this method also proved ineffective because the termites would spread their nest to other openings in the wall. The termite exterminator then explained to us how termites come from the ground and must remain in the dirt to stay alive so the mud nest must lead to the ground outside, therefore both the wall and the outer ground must be treated. So the exterminator drilled a hole in the wall below the termites and sprayed chemicals under the open mud nest, then right outside put chemicals into the dirt nearby the termites’ potential entry points.
Ever since then the mud nests have stopped appearing and no termites have been seen because the professional eliminated the nest inside and their source outside of the house, getting rid of and deterring the pests from the condo.
With these two scenarios two key points were addressed to prevent the present and future invasion of pests in one’s house. First the current intruders must be addressed and sprayed whether it be directly in the case of scorpions or indirectly at the nest in the case of the termites. Secondly, the source of where the pests come from must be sprayed/treated to prevent any further entry into the home. Applying these two points to the ridding of any pest generally will have a positive impact on one’s home.