A Day in The Life of a Pest Control Technician
Any given day can hold endless possibilities of the various pests I'll run into on the job. I'll tell you the truth, I like variety in my day. If I didn't, this wouldn't be the job for me. There is nothing mundane or boring about driving out in my pest control truck and saving the day. Yes, that's right, saving the day. Not in the same way as a super hero, or law enforcement, doctors, emergency workers and military, but still-- I do save the day.
On a relatively busy day I might go out on up to seven or eight calls. Sometimes in pest control I'll have a trend for the day-- like 3-4 of the same sort of job and maybe one or two other pests. But other times my day is completely varied. Because typically I might see four or five different pests on a busy day, I'll run through a list of pests that I see regularly.
- Rats and mice are a common call. This is the call I most often take early in the morning and late at night. People do not like rodents! Understandably so, because rodents can carry a number of diseases as well as fleas. Rodents can really contaminate a home or business and people are often anxious for a solution when they see one. Often I will fill my early morning time slots with rodent jobs.
- Bees (well, really mostly wasps and yellow jackets but the call is often for "bees") are kind of a specialty. Up until I said to a customer "I almost never get stung," it had been a really long time since I was last stung. The day I said that I got stung 6 times. I'm not really complaining, it's just a hazard of the job-- from time to time stings happen. When I don't get stung, I can take care of a basic "bee" call pretty fast. During the summer and early Autumn I can have 3-4 calls in one day-- all for bees and wasps.
- Bedbugs are another call that can come in the middle of the night or early in the morning. Bedbugs creep people out. The thought of being bitten while you sleep can cause a person to lose more than a little sleep. People who call in about bedbugs and end up having a flea infestation are some of the happiest and most relieved customers I have ever met. Although the number of bedbug cases I see is on a steady rise, I do encounter many people who suspect bedbugs but are relieved to hear it is something else. Although bedbugs and fleas are very different, both bite and I do see both bedbugs and fleas on a regular basis.
- Fleas and pets go hand in hand. It makes sense that customers with a flea infestation in the home are often concerned about the health and safety of their pet. At Peak Pest Management, we are also concerned about the health and safety of the pets and people in the home. We choose the safest and most effective products available.
- Spiders are one of the pests that make me feel like I'm saving the day. Spiders are a very real fear for many people and although we do have relatively few poisonous spiders here in the northwest, the ones we do have (namely hobo spiders) can be aggressive. A happy customer is a customer who no longer has to worry about spiders invading their home.
- Ants and termite calls come in on a regular basis as well. Ants can be a nuisance, or they can be a structural pest depending on the type of ant. Carpenter ants and termites (not an ant) are structural pests that cause real and expensive damage when left untreated. People sometimes confuse carpenter ants, termites and even powder post beetles. All three cause structural damage and it can be hard for a person to differentiate which pest is causing problems. A Pest Control Professional, like myself, is trained to recognise the differences in these pests, not just by what they look like, but by other evidence that is left behind by structural pests.
Because I am just talking about "a Day in the Life," I won't go into detail about these pests or list out everything I have ever treated for-- or even everything I've done this week. Honestly that would probably be pretty long and it would eventually get boring. Maybe another day I'll write about my experiences with ridiculously smart squirrels and funny and unusual calls. But for today, there's just a sampling of what I might do in a day-- at this time of year.
I'm here, any time, for all of your pest control needs.
Micah Wood
Peak Pest Management
503-998-4322
360-607-1933
206-790-8285
Pest management is a very essential to the maintenance of residential and commercial spaces. It is very important to remember that we share our living space with large numbers of insects, rodents and other creatures.
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