Pest Control: Tips From A Pro

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More toxic chemicals range from products that kill almost instantly to ones that take two or three days. These insecticides are sold in either liquid or powder forms and are mixed with water in a hand sprayer and applied as a spray. The type of insecticide used is not nearly as important as how the insecticide is applied. It is not necessary to spray every single square inch of living space. It is more practical and efficient to spray only where the roaches are. For example, if roaches are prevalent in the kitchen, you naturally want to spray the kitchen very well, but there is no need to soak the bedroom in the same way.

Under no circumstances should you use a pesticide not specifically labeled for what you are using it for. The pesticide you use in your outdoor garden will probably kill roaches, but it never was intended to be used inside the house, for any number of good and specific reasons.

In fact, I do not endorse the heavy use of toxic chemicals in the home unless absolutely necessary. I do feel pesticides serve a function, especially in a roach or rat--infested environment where human health is at risk. The pesticides can lie used to gain control of the situation; then less toxic chemicals may be used to maintain control. My own home is lucky if it gets treated once a year and even then the majority of the spraying is done on the exterior. I have, however, gone to the trouble of removing all of my switch plates and electrical plates and applying powdered boric acid, which will stay active as long as it remains dry.

Rodents

There are few other pests that invoke as much fear and utter disgust as do rodents. They not only cause structural damage, but also carry such diseases as the human plague, salmonellosis, rat bite fever, infectious jaundice, murine typhus, and several other pathogens. There are thousands of rat bites reported every year in the United States. Listed below are the three types of rodents that cause the most concern and damage to our society.

The Norway rat is also referred to as the Brown, Wharf, or Sewer rat. This rodent can grow up to 16 inches long, with a tail length of up to seven and a half inches. They can weigh up to 12 ounces.

The Roof rat is also known as the Black. Ship, or House rat. These rats can grow to 15 inches, with an eight-and-a-half to ten-inch tail. They usually weigh no more than eight ounces.

Of the two, the Norway is the larger, stouter rodent. It's also got thicker, shorter ears and a shorter tail than the Roof rat.

The common house mouse is light brown to gray in color and reaches three and a half inches, with its tail as long as its body.

Rodents are fantastically acrobatic and are able to run along very narrow surfaces such as the electrical wires leading to your home. They can also pass through any opening their skull can fit through (the skull being the only nonflexible part of their body). They can jump vertically at least 36 inches, reach about 13 inches above a flat surface, swim underwater for 30 seconds (which is more than sufficient time to emerge from a toilet trap), and swim for a half mile in open water.

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