When you're making a buying decision, do you make the decision based primarily on price? If you said yes, you're probably in the majority, and for the most part, I'm right there wih you! But, I'm only with you when we're talking about buying a product NOT a service.  I'll be the first to admit, when I'm ready to buy a new pair of jeans, an iphone accessory, or even a TV, I'll ask my trusty friend Google to point me to the direction for the cheapsest price.  If I can go to Best Buy and buy a 46" LED Sharp television for $1,000 or I can buy a 46" LED Sharp television from newegg.com for $450, I would have to be crazy not to buy it. I think we have all heard the saying "comparing apples to apples" right? As long as I'm getting the EXACT same thing for less money, I'm in, and you should be too!

The scientific formula for buying a service differs than that of buying a product. Would I buy a service from a company with the lowest bid? Maybe! (You thought I was going to say no, huh?) It depends on the "value" I was getting with the service. I absolutely buy EVERYTHING based off of value and neveroff of price.  Even mentioned above, I bought the TV based off of price , but the value was the same since it was the EXACT same thing. Comparing different service companies is not even close to comparing apples to apples.  I would say it's more like comparing an apples to rocks! You can use them both as paper weights but, that's about the extent of it.  Always, get a few quotes, ask questions, listen to what they are offering and base your buying decision off of the value of the service not the price.  If the best value comes from the comany with the lowest price, that great! But, I can guarantee you that if you're buying a service solely off of price, you will regret it!

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Ask any kid who is greeted with a mouthful of fruit flies while passing by a prematurely rotting pumpkin on Halloween night: That’s not the treat they were expecting.

As harmless as they are, vinegar flies – more infamously known as fruit flies – tend to create a brown cloud around any rotted or spoiled perishables. A carved pumpkin propped on a porch in the sun for days or weeks on end is the equivalent of a pillowcase full of treats for these pesky insects.

When it comes to pumpkin pest control, you need only apply a few simple tricks to their carved pumpkins before Halloween in order to keep their works of gourd art as fresh as possible.

1. Get All the Guts

After cutting a good-sized opening at the top of the pumpkin, remove as much of the pulp from inside as possible. Using a metal utensil such as a spoon, spatula or small putty knife, apply a decent amount of pressure while scouring the inside of the pumpkin wall. The more of the phlegm-like guts you scrape out now, the less of a mold problem you’ll have later. Pest control for your pumpkin means slowing the decomposition process as much as possible.

2. Store Carefully

Any Extermco carved pumpkin needs a cool, dry place to hang out before Halloween. Begin your pumpkin pest management by storing it in the garage or basement, provided the temperate is accommodating – between 41-50 degrees Fahrenheit. If you want to display your carved pumpkin before Oct. 31, choose a place with limited exposure to the elements, such as on a covered porch or patio or perched in a window facing north. Avoid warm, humid places like laundry rooms or on top of the radiator.

3. Spray Away

The key to a longer-lasting carved pumpkin – and hence fruit fly pest management – is finding just the right balance of moisture. A dry pumpkin will shrivel up, deforming your Extermco Gricket, while too much wetness will create an afro of moldy fuzz in the belly of the pumpkin. In such cases, the bottom and weak areas will rot, and your pest management scheme will have failed.

A simple mixture of 1 teaspoon of bleach and a gallon of room temperature water when sprayed daily on the inside of the pumpkin works simultaneously as a hydrating and antimicrobial solution. After spraying, turn the carved pumpkin upside down to allow it to drain. This ensures the bleach water doesn’t settle at the bottom and assist with the decaying process. When properly done, this technique can delay the rotting process and help prevent insects from swarming your Gricket carving

Keep in mind that no carved pumpkin can be preserved indefinitely; the bleach solution is really just a temporary pest management costume your pumpkin can wear to stave off fruit flies for a time. After more than a week, you’ll still find normal telltale signs of deterioration: slight shriveling around detailed edges, soft spots, slimy areas where the bleach has killed mold, and perhaps even some blackish fuzz around the lid of the pumpkin. However, there should be no substantial rotting to fear – and hence no fruit flies swarming about. Your pumpkins will be sitting pretty on Halloween night.

5. Don’t Get Tricked

Do not be fooled by tips that suggest using any kind of glue or acrylic spray to preserve your pumpkin. Glue and acrylic spray, while initially providing a barrier between moisture and the pumpkin wall traps in the moisture already inside the pumpkin, causing the pumpkin to rot early.

Bleach and water sprayed on a carved pumpkin each day before Halloween is an easy, effective pest management for fruit flies. Keeping the pumpkins in a cool, dry place will prevent mold and rot from setting in early, and it will also keep the annoying presence of insects at bay.

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I recently moved into a new house here in Fort Smith.  It was not disclosed to me that my entire back yard gets OVER WAIST DEEP in water when it rains!  Luckily this house is a crawlspace and it's built high enough of the ground that the water doesn't actually come inside the "main" part of the house.  BUT, there is a lower level.  The lower level floor is at ground level.  So, as you can imagine, the water DOES come inside that part.  It seeps through the brick and slowly fills up with water.  That particular room has carpet, so it sucks the water up like a sponge.  As much as I have sucked the water up with a carpet shampooer,  I can't get all the water out.  I eventually just had to take all the carpet and pad out.  While i was watching my lower room fill up with water.  I knew that I wouldn't be going in that room until the water receded, which was about 2 days.  The reason I tell you that, is to tell you this.  Ants live in our yards, underground.  When it rains, it floods their home.  just like it did mine.  And, just like me, they had to leave the area that is flooding and move somewhere else.  And, usually that somewhere else is your home.  I'm sure you noticed by now that when it rains, all the bugs (especially ants) start moving into your home.  Ants especially will go to extremes to get out of the water.  When my yard was under water, they moved their entire colony into my mail box by the road.  I opened it up and there were the ants, their eggs, and food that they have brought with them.  They did what they had to do to keep their colony from drowning.  Now you know why you get bombarded by ants/bugs every single time it sprinkles.

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Is it a termite or is it an ant? It's very important to know the difference.  In case you haven't heard termites cause a LOT of damage, over 5 billion dollars a year to be exact.  I literally have over 50 "false alarms" a year with these misidentified pests.  I have to say rightfully so, the two can be about the same in size, color and have similar wings.   There are few physical differences, and hopefully I can explain them so you will be able to identify both.

In most circumstances, the size of the swarm alone can help you determine whether you're dealing with termites or ants.  Termite alates(swarmers) usually swarm by the hundreds and in most cases the thousands!  I have literally seen termite swarms where you could easily mistake them for smoke inside someone's home.  Ant swarms are usually smaller in size and very rarely will take place inside the home.

Like I said there are a few physical differences:  The first thing you will notice is the wing size and shape.  Termite wings are twice as long as their body and oblong in shape, where ant wings are much shorter (usually the size of the ant) and have a definite tear dropped shape.  The next thing is the actual shape of the body. Flying ants

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Are bed bugs really a BIG DEAL?  I can't tell you how many times I've been asked this question over the last few months. I've had it over the phone, in person, by email through text message, you name it and I've got it.  These little guys are definitely a trending topic in our area right now.  And I can see why, they are basically on every major news network you tune in to.  As a matter of fact, I literally just watched a special "bed bug" episode of "The View" on ABC.  You can definitely say that they have gone main stream.  This leads me back to my original question. "Are bed bugs really a BIG DEAL"  It's kind of a tricky question.  If you ask me are bed bugs a big deal in New York, Detroit, or Chicago (in the top 5 bed bug infested cities) I would say, yes they are definitely a big deal.  If you asked me, are bed bugs a big deal here in Fort Smith, I would say....Ehhhh, not really, at least not now.  BUT, they will be in the very near future.  When I say "near" I mean by next year (2012), yes, bed bugs will be an extremely big deal in our area.  It's amazing how quickly the problem has become so wide spread.  It is estimated

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If you have ever bought or sold a house in Arkansas before you are well aware of a particular "rule". It's the rule that the lender requires the seller, to provide the buyer, with a full year of termite protection.  At first thought, its a GREAT idea, since our area has one of the highest termite risks in the country! But, and this is a BIG but, in many cases the buyer isn't getting protection at all.  They are getting the biggest false sense of security you could imagine.  What really happens is, The sellers are just that.... selling!  They are wanting to get out of the house without putting any more money than they have to (can't say I blame them).  The sellers will price shop until they find the "low" bid and they'll take it. The buyers will get some paperwork at closing stating that xyz pest control has the policy on their house and thats it. The house will never get "PROTECTED" from termites and the new buyer will never receive the option to renew their policy the following year.  With that being said, did you know that termites cause more than 5 BILLION DOLLARS in damage each year?  In the US alone! Well they do!    Click Continue Reading

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Welcome! We are proud to announce the launch of our new state-of-the-art website, as well as my new blog.

I am well aware that blogging is no longer a “niche” market.  I believe that it’s a significant and growing part of our population.

Hopefully you will find this blog helpful with any of your pest control curiosities. The goal of this blog, for the most part, is to be informative and to provide valuable insights for people that have questions.

I intentionally left my blog nameless. I left it open for customers that visit our site, our Facebook friends, Twitter followers, etc.  So, with that said, please anyone and everyone give me some ideas for our blog name. Example: “The Bug Report” or “The Insect Inquirer."

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