We know we’re a pest control company, but the Weekend Pest Report isn’t talking about those kinds of pests. We’re talking about the ones that walk and talk in the human form. The ones that look harmless, but give them more than 2 or 3 minutes to work their magic and they’ll fix any non-judgmental, preconceived notions you might have about them.
This past weekend’s pest report comes to us from San Antonio, Texas.
A man walks into a Taco Bell and orders 7 Beefy Crunch Burritos. Upon payment the man realizes that the price of this particular item has increased from $.99 to $1.49 since his last visit. Man becomes enraged. An assault rifle, $3.50 and a tear gas bomb later, said man is under arrest for multiple accounts of attempted murder.
Note to Taco Bell: Don’t mess with Texas. Note to man: Don’t mess with Taco Bell prices.
Read the AP article here.
The mention of bed bugs brings fear and itching to many. Bed bugs are seed-sized, flat insects that like to harbor in mattresses, sheets, clothes and bed frames. They need to feed on blood to reproduce and survive; however, bed bugs can live up to a year without a meal. They hide during the daytime and feast on their victims at night. Their bite can create an itchy, and sometimes, highly allergic reaction in people. Once a home has an infestation, it can be very difficult to remedy the situation. A professional exterminator is usually needed. Recently, the spread of the bugs has been very high, so it is important to protect your home from an infestation. Simple fixes, such as decluttering and buying a memory foam mattress, can help reduce the risk of a bed bug problem.
In order to be infested with bed bugs, the environment must be directly exposed. Bed bugs tend to nest where there are high traffic levels, such as in hotels, apartments and dorms. They catch a ride to their next home by latching onto suitcases or clothing. Once in a location, the insects breed and hide in hard to see spots. Some of their favorite hiding places are in mattress seams, pillowcases and bed frame crevices. Bed bugs like to crawl inside of mattresses, but a memory foam mattress does not make a welcome home for them.
Since bed bugs are often brought home after a vacation, it is important to know how to check for the critters. When checking into a hotel room, examine the bed for evidence of bed bug feces. Look in mattress seams and at the folds of the linens. If bugs are in the room, it is best to keep your luggage away from them. Place all luggage and purses on a desk or nightstand that is far from the bed. Bed bugs do not fly or jump. A hotel that features a bed with a latex or memory foam mattress is less likely to be infested.
When decorating a bedroom at home, there are many ways to make it bed bug unfriendly. Bed bugs like to nest in the hollow spaces of a spring mattress. A latex or memory foam mattress has a solid core, with is very uninviting for the insects. It is also wise to encase the mattress with a bug-proof cover. The box springs are also vulnerable, so keeping them covered is also important. Metal bed frames offer fewer hiding places for the bugs. Be sure to keep clutter to a minimum. These few steps will make your home less susceptible to bed bugs.
Members of our San Antonio office jumped on the Be Nice Express last month to help collect and distribute coats for the homeless. Lisa, a San Antonio local who heads up the Be Nice Express, rounds up donations in various forms and makes sure its all put to good use.
George, our trusty branch manager, was informed that the building where all the coats were being stored for this year’s coat drive was washed away in a severe storm. With only three weeks to go, George and the rest of his branch jumped into action and collected about 100 coats before the deadline. Coats were handed out by a local motorcycle club.
San Antonio Scorpion Control
San Antonio Scorpion Control
The Bulwark family would like to send the very best of wishes to you and your family this Christmas season. We hope you make cheerful memories with those you love as you prepare for the new year, with new beginnings.
How many of you out there have a twitter account? A facebook profile? Both?
I, Steve, Marketing Manager at Bulwark Exterminating, have had a facebook account for a few years now. In fact, I had one when it will still only limited to college students, before they opened it up to the general public. I don’t quite yet have 500 friends. A couple friends of mine have into the thousands. As far as twitter goes, I just got on a couple months ago. And just last week took my following into the triple digits. Legitimate followers. I try to delete all the spammy accounts.
Imagine if you had 9,400 facebook friends. What about 3,600 twitter followers. Those are pretty healthy numbers that most people would envy. But I’m not talking about people. I’m talking about….a tree.
A tree somewhere in a Belgian forest to be somewhat exact. Brussels to be a little more specific.
A team of social media scientists rigged a tree along the side of the road with a number of advanced climate sensors. That data is transmitted back to base, where it is interpreted, analyzed, and ultimately sent to the social blogosphere. The facebook and twitter updates are is if the tree is telling you what is going on around it, and how it feels.
EOS Talking Tree – Making of from Tom on Vimeo.
It’s thought from November 3rd: “Time to say goodbye to some of my leaves”
From Oct. 20th: “Me and my friends have had plenty of water to drink today – http://bit.ly/dxy1Zk” The bit.ly link is a picture of the rain clouds, and some water drops can be seen on the camera lens.
These same twitter updates can be found on the tree’s facebook page. And interestingly enough, each facebook updates comes with at least 100 “Likes” and 10-20 comments from its faithful followers. I think I can count on one hand how many of my facebook comments garner more than 10 comments.
I guess I don’t have anything near as interesting to say as a random tree in a Belgian forest, near Brussels.
Visit the tree at Talking-Tree.com
This is a classic example of “I need to test something to see if my invention works, and you happen to have a problem that needs something coincidentally similar to my new invention.” The “I” in this story is the US Military. The “you” are the many beekeepers across the country that are experiencing “colony collapse disorder”, or CCD. The number of bee colonies in this country have been declining over several years, and beekeepers have been unable to pinpoint a common cause. Scientists have only been able to gather that some form of fungus is to blame. Until now.
“…the Army and the (University of) Montana team, using a new software system developed by the military for analyzing proteins, uncovered a new DNA-based virus, and established a linkage to the fungus, called N. ceranae.”
Well, that’s good news for the beekeepers. They’re starting to get real answers. But what’s the purpose of this new software?
“Our mission is to have detection capability to protect the people in the field from anything biological,” said Charles H. Wick, a microbiologist at Edgewood. Bees, Wick said, proved to be a perfect opportunity to see what the Army’s analytic software tool could do. “We brought it to bear on this bee question, which is how we field-tested it,” he said.
“The Army software system — an advance itself in the growing field of protein research, or proteomics — is designed to test and identify biological agents in circumstances where commanders might have no idea what sort of threat they face. The system searches out the unique proteins in a sample, then identifies a virus or other microscopic life form based on the proteins it is known to contain. The power of that idea in military or bee defense is immense, researchers say, in that it allows them to use what they already know to find something they did not even know they were looking for.”
I would say this is a win-win situation, but since this is helping potentially save the lives of thousands of servicemen and women and maybe even millions of civilians, we dub this as a situation of “win-win-win-win-win-win-win-win…”.
Here is the full read
It's a Dry Heat...
What a way to end the night last night… I mean I know our fellow pest controllers in Phoenix complain about the heat, but it is just a dry heat.
John Honoré was dumbfounded and played it off horror-ably.
So lets try a few comments I overheard…
“Looks normal. I guess dyslexia has its advantages.”
“Yep it really is hotter than Hell in Phoenix.”
“Today’s highs… Somebody is high.”
… Or best yet…
“Looks like Bulwark Exterminating is testing some new organic pest control methods.”
Hey, we all need a laugh in this heat… Add your comment!
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News, Off Beat | PestControlSanAntonio | 
March 21, 2011 10:02 pm | 
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