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Snav 05-06-2010 04:10 PM

Pest Control Product and Method Review
So - in the past few years we've dealt with a lot of infestations. Basically - since we live so far out of the city - pest control guys have all said they'd charge more due to distance to travel.

Thus, I've been slowly chipping away at our pest problems. Because our problems are so numerous and random I figured I'm saving ourselves a bunch of money. Also, because we have 4 kids, cats and 8 dogs I decided to deal with these things without poisons unless poisons were absolutely necessary.

1) Mice
(I found the ideal solution is to catch them in kill-free traps and take them to the woods. This has been annoying but thorough, one day (years ago) I actually trapped a mouse in the hallway under a hat and accidentally killed it :( I haven't been able to lay a death-trap ever since.

2) Lizards
We actually have a huge population of blue lizards under our house which happen to be endangered. So - I had to catch them and release them in a place which the animal-control guys said was acceptable. . .was not easy and they're still around - they're not dumb and food driven like mice so they're harder to trap. . . but because they eat bugs I'm not too bothered by their presence. However - this year I haven't seen any.

3) Carpenter ants
Me actually located a colony a few years ago and manually eradicated them in a blissfully death dealing day. They were under our living room window between the outside sheeting and the insulation.

4) Regular ants
My current battle. Over the years I've tried this and that product - A good repellent and trail-eraser is vinegar but it's bad for tile sealer. Overall, though, everything only seems to deter the population. Since our entire brick veneer and ground is saturated with ant colonies I decided that an all out war was the only means of success.

Outside I've sprinkled Ortho AND Amdro ant-pellets. They're a different size and different composition. I found that really small forager ants are attracted to the Amdro but die while trying to cut the pellets to carry-size. . . so crushing it a bit works well (plastic baggie - hammer - sprinkle)

I am having a huge amount of success with the Combat ant-gel. A small bit squirted into the trail will halt any further foraging, they'll attack the gel and carry it back. So far it's proven to be the most successful of the killing agents. However, only time will tell. . . it's just been a few days since application.

5) Fleas
While the infamous 'water/candle' traps work to some degree, they're also messy - they do sell electric versions of these which I haven't tried.
But what I do every year with great success is sprinkle salt into the carpet - sweep it under desks, couches, chairs, tables and into corners - I salt the entire house. I leave the salt for 2 weeks, vacuum - wait 2 weeks - salt again for 2 - so on, so forth.

Fleas in all stages of life need humidity. Arkansas is ungodly humid. I don't even have AC so they flourish during the heat (except for when the house gets above 95, then they die) - salt dries them out. Dries out the pupa, the larvae and the eggs - deters adults, it's a great non-toxic killer.

6) Moths
An electric bug zapper (looks like a tennis racket) is GREAT for these suckers - great for all flying insects, really. . . and fun.
However, that doesn't always work - so I found that herbs in the cabinets (little sachets to use when cooking) filled with various things like basil, thyme, oregano, parsley . . etc etc - act as a great repellent. But once the odor is gone the sachets need to be replenished.

7) Spiders in the cabinet
Spiders taste through their feet - thus - I wash the cabinets (all non food dish surfaces) with citronella water once a month. . . alot of people tell me this won't do any good but in the last 2 years I've been doing this I've yet to find a 5" wolf spider like we use to have before.

So - 5" wolf spiders running around or citronella on the cabinet doors? Hmm, gee . . . let me think :thumbsup:

Anyway - those are my methods . . . anyone else have something to add?
