Grasshoppers and Crickets: Fun Fact Friday

For fun fact Friday today, we have grasshoppers and crickets!  While I don't get called out to treat for these bugs here in Portland, OR or Vancouver, WA.  I still think they are interesting.  One reason (which happens to be our fun fact for the day)?  Some grasshoppers, katydids and crickets actually have ears on their front legs.  The ears are located in the knee joints.  If people were crickets I bet they'd be really careful about what they whispered into an ear.  A knee-jerk reaction would really hurt!

Crickets, grasshoppers, katydids and locusts can really be a problem in some places though.  Here's a video about katydids, called Mormon Crickets, in Colorado, done by National Geographic.



While I don't deal with these bugs, there are plenty that I do take care of.  If you are having pest problems in Vancouver, WA, Portland, OR, Seattle, WA and the surrounding area, please give me a call!  I'd be happy to help you out.  Bedbugs, mice, rats, spiders, ants, whatever the pest, we'll develop a custom pest control plan for you.

Micah Wood
Peak Pest Management LLC
www.peak-pest-management.com
micah@peak-pest-management.com
Portland 503-998-4322
Vancouver 360-607-1933
Seattle 206-790-8285

Bees- Spring Has Sprung, Don't Get Stung!

It's spring and spring means flowers and trees start to bloom bringing allergies, bees, wasps and a number of pesky pests we said goodbye to for winter back into our lives!  Here in the Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR and the whole northwest, spring rain welcomes buds and blooms to flowers and trees.  Buds and blooms attract bees, caterpillars, aphids, and plenty of other pests to be sure.  If your backyard veggie patch or prize winning roses are attracting bees, here are a few tips to keep you from getting stung.

• Know your bees and wasps!  It doesn't hurt to have knowledge about the local bees and wasps so you know how to respond when you encounter them.  Bumble bees are fuzzy, lonely, cute and relatively harmless: yellow jackets (technically a wasp not a bee) are bare, travel in colonies, ugly and readily sting repeatedly.
• Don't panic!  Becoming fearful and swing your arms at bees makes you and those around you more likely to be stung.  If one person has been stung and it appears that bees are swarming move away from the area and indoors if possible.  When a bee or wasp stings, it releases a pheromone that can attract other bees and wasps to come to their aid to protect the territory.
• If you notice a bee nest in, on, or near your home or business, contact a pest control professional.  A pest control professional will be able to identify the bees/wasps and help you get rid of them.  A pest control professional will often have contacts in bee keeping for relocating honey bees and other beneficial bees to a safer place for the bees and for your family.  A trained professional is also skilled in getting rid of bees and wasps that are invading your home or business and nesting in areas that encroach on peaceful family life.

Here are some helpful safety tips for kids:

• Don't throw rocks at bees nests, even if they appear to be empty.
• Do not climb trees with bees nests in them.
• Don't swat at or flail your arms at bees.
• Don't panic and run around in circles when you see a bee.
• Avoid playing near garbage cans that are swarming with bees.

Remember a bee sting is painful to some and medically serious to others.  If you have a known bee allergy please follow your doctor's safety advice and carry the appropriate medications during the spring, summer and fall months.  If you have been stung and have significant swelling consult your doctor.  If you have severe swelling and/or difficulty breathing call 9-1-1 immediately.

Micah Wood

503-998-4322

360-607-1933
Micah@Peak-Pest-Management.com
peak-pest-management.com

Bed Bugs Bite in Portland, OR

 Pest Control might not be the first thing you think of if you ever heard the children's nursery rhyme growing up, "Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite...."  You may not have known that bed bugs are a REAL pest and bed bug bites are a cause for concern even here in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA.  Before beginning my journey as a pest control professional I had a vague understanding that bedbugs were real but not a problem here in the northwest.  Growing up that might have been true for people my age (30-somethings) but Bedbugs have come back and they've come back with a vengeance.  Please be on the look out for my up coming horror movies Zombie Bedbugs Strike Back and Vampires vs Bed Bugs.  O.k.well honestly I won't likely be filming a movie, I'm helping people get rid of real live bed bugs.

Bed bugs are not cute!  And their bite is not funny!  Here are some facts about bed bugs:

• They are flattened oval shaped reddish brown insects.
• They have 5 life cycles and leave a molt of skin behind with each new stage.
• Adult bed bug are 4.5-5mm in length, nymph bedbugs are smaller and also lighter in color.  Bed bug eggs are white and tiny and very difficult to see without magnification.
• Blood Sucking Vampires Common bed bugs (Cimex lectularius)  feed on the blood of warm blooded humans and animals.
• Bed bugs commonly infest areas people sleep or spend long periods of time such as beds and couches or chairs.
• Bed bugs often infest in AND around furniture.  In some cases they are found infesting wall voids, baseboards and other areas.
• Bedbugs infestations and bites can cause physical and psychological reactions.
• Pest Control Professionals are capable of getting rid of bed bugs.
• Newer pest control methods are gentler on humans and harder on bugs.

Armed with information-- be on the look out.  If you stay in a hotel (or anywhere away from home really) look for bedbugs in and around the bed and other furniture before bringing your bags in.  Look for the bugs described above, as well as molts of bug skin, brownish/blackish circular stains and blood stains.  If you see bedbugs or signs of bedbugs talk to the hotel management about it and avoid staying in an infested room.  There are many other preventative measures you can take in traveling, but that is another post for another day.  For more information on bed bugs please visit Peak Pest Management's Website.

Here is a picture of a bed bug from bedbugs.org credited to Dan Wylie-Sears:

Courtesy BedBugs.org

Contact Micah
micah@peak-pest-management.com
503-998-4322
360-607-1933
peak-pest-management.com