Once in awhile, even the best of homes in most parts of the country and world experience at least minor pest control problems. For the double-income-no-kids set, this is no problem, they just call the Pest Control Company and they take care of it. For “Really Poor” people though, it can be a big problem when money in the budget is not even enough to meet essentials. About two times a year, where it is cold outside for a number of months, with snow on the ground, for a few weeks, one may encounter an attack of mice running inside to get warm. Down south, in the sweltering summers, even the best of homes may have to fight tiny little roaches.
Most people trying to fight the problem on their own, using commercial chemically based products such as sprays and traps. These often do little more than curb the problem until either some one is called in, or until it self corrects with the season. There are a few very low cost methods of reducing or ridding the average home of problems.
Roaches
I utterly hate roaches. They are the only creatures on earth I cannot fathom a purpose for except to ‘uglify’ or horrify. They are nasty little know-nothing cretins who skitter around keeping the word ‘gross’ alive. I hail from Florida, where they are a perennial problem: they are in the best and worst of homes. They used to say that the cleanliness issue was only marginal, but most people who have had to fight them or get rid of them from prior tenants, etc, know that it pays to throw out trash, products with glue, food crumbs, etc. and keep food and other products in tightly closed containers. They have to feed on something. When I lived in Family housing at University of Florida many years ago, we lived in an old post WWII apartment complex which had constant problems with them. Our neighbor was working on his doctorate in Entomology, and he came over and took our countertop off, and cleaned out the fiberglass from around the under-counter water heater, laid down boric acid, and we never had the problem again. He also told us that he was doing their apartment at the same time and advising the rest of the people in the quad, because unless all neighboring units are cleansed from them, they merely shift apartments! Boric acid worked successfully for years, although after awhile, the little buggers become resistant to almost anything. It works because they get the powder on their wings, and in ‘kicking’ it off, often ingest in and it is deadly to them, and they carry it back to their nests as well. Pays to have a doctoral candidate in Entomology living next door.
Boric acid is the main ingredient in a lot of more expensive commercial pest control compounds. If you buy it at a drug store just as boric acid, it is much cheaper than commercial products though both are inexpensive, starting as low as two dollars. The powder can be dispersed in the corners of cabinets, under the sink, and along baseboards. It should be kept dry, and one does not want to place it where crawling infants could get a hold of it.
A pastor friend of mine once recommended a preparation called ‘Tiger’, but I do not readily see it on the open market. One should also regularly plastic bag trash and keep trash out of the house as soon as possible, with counters and sinks clear. It really does make a difference.
Mice
I also hate mice: little boys may think they are cute, but I cannot abide the varmints. I have learned one thing though that radically aids both mouse and roach and other pest problems: lime. When I first heard lime worked, I thought it was just another home remedy, and the reviews on the internet were mixed. Last year though, just before winter, (we live in snowy Wisconsin) I placed barn lime down around the base of our small house right at the foundation. We were mouse free almost the whole year, until the stuff sort of wore away. I’ve heard it also works under parked Recreational Vehicles to keep field mice out, and it is recommended for underneath the skirting of mobile homes or manufactured housing. Try it! Locally, I found Barn Lime (Hurlbutt brand) for as low as $2.29 a 50 lb. bag, ranging up to around 3.48. Usually the stuff is used in horse stables to keep down odor and soak up urine, but my first year of using the stuff as rodent control worked. I don’t have controlled research, but it seems to be a godsend. I once bought the wrong kind, though, a garden product that had concentrated lime additive and it did not seem to work, so you may want to ask an expert.
Some experts also recommend fox urine. I found that odd until I discovered that it is a concentrate of the odor, which humans barely detect, but which sends up fear and loathing to mice and rats, since fox are a natural predator to the mice. It’s more of a preventative measure, but also works to drive away what is troubling you. We all know the more conventional methods, like glue traps, mouse traps etc. Cheese is a joke unless it is pungent: professional pest control people use peanut butter on traps. Traps though mostly work only on visible problems: if a rodent problem is severe and in an apartment building, the whole building needs to be treated or the best one may do is drive them away for awhile.
Remember the disease factor: the little mice and others are not a small thing to very young children, for whom a bite can be deadly if it leads to an infection. Its better to skimp on a meal or two and lay down the very inexpensive lime than to risk the health of your family.
These are just a few little suggestions, a bit out of the ordinary, but which work better than the ordinary. Pest control services are great if you can afford them, or if they come with your rental contract, but if not, the above methods are very effective for pennies on the dollar. Even though you may have to live “ReallyPoor”, it doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice certain ‘quality of life’ aspects of living.
More next time.ekb
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Most people trying to fight the problem on their own, using commercial chemically based products such as sprays and traps. These often do little more than curb the problem until either some one is called in, or until it self corrects with the season. There are a few very low cost methods of reducing or ridding the average home of problems.
Roaches
I utterly hate roaches. They are the only creatures on earth I cannot fathom a purpose for except to ‘uglify’ or horrify. They are nasty little know-nothing cretins who skitter around keeping the word ‘gross’ alive. I hail from Florida, where they are a perennial problem: they are in the best and worst of homes. They used to say that the cleanliness issue was only marginal, but most people who have had to fight them or get rid of them from prior tenants, etc, know that it pays to throw out trash, products with glue, food crumbs, etc. and keep food and other products in tightly closed containers. They have to feed on something. When I lived in Family housing at University of Florida many years ago, we lived in an old post WWII apartment complex which had constant problems with them. Our neighbor was working on his doctorate in Entomology, and he came over and took our countertop off, and cleaned out the fiberglass from around the under-counter water heater, laid down boric acid, and we never had the problem again. He also told us that he was doing their apartment at the same time and advising the rest of the people in the quad, because unless all neighboring units are cleansed from them, they merely shift apartments! Boric acid worked successfully for years, although after awhile, the little buggers become resistant to almost anything. It works because they get the powder on their wings, and in ‘kicking’ it off, often ingest in and it is deadly to them, and they carry it back to their nests as well. Pays to have a doctoral candidate in Entomology living next door.
Boric acid is the main ingredient in a lot of more expensive commercial pest control compounds. If you buy it at a drug store just as boric acid, it is much cheaper than commercial products though both are inexpensive, starting as low as two dollars. The powder can be dispersed in the corners of cabinets, under the sink, and along baseboards. It should be kept dry, and one does not want to place it where crawling infants could get a hold of it.
A pastor friend of mine once recommended a preparation called ‘Tiger’, but I do not readily see it on the open market. One should also regularly plastic bag trash and keep trash out of the house as soon as possible, with counters and sinks clear. It really does make a difference.
Mice
I also hate mice: little boys may think they are cute, but I cannot abide the varmints. I have learned one thing though that radically aids both mouse and roach and other pest problems: lime. When I first heard lime worked, I thought it was just another home remedy, and the reviews on the internet were mixed. Last year though, just before winter, (we live in snowy Wisconsin) I placed barn lime down around the base of our small house right at the foundation. We were mouse free almost the whole year, until the stuff sort of wore away. I’ve heard it also works under parked Recreational Vehicles to keep field mice out, and it is recommended for underneath the skirting of mobile homes or manufactured housing. Try it! Locally, I found Barn Lime (Hurlbutt brand) for as low as $2.29 a 50 lb. bag, ranging up to around 3.48. Usually the stuff is used in horse stables to keep down odor and soak up urine, but my first year of using the stuff as rodent control worked. I don’t have controlled research, but it seems to be a godsend. I once bought the wrong kind, though, a garden product that had concentrated lime additive and it did not seem to work, so you may want to ask an expert.
Some experts also recommend fox urine. I found that odd until I discovered that it is a concentrate of the odor, which humans barely detect, but which sends up fear and loathing to mice and rats, since fox are a natural predator to the mice. It’s more of a preventative measure, but also works to drive away what is troubling you. We all know the more conventional methods, like glue traps, mouse traps etc. Cheese is a joke unless it is pungent: professional pest control people use peanut butter on traps. Traps though mostly work only on visible problems: if a rodent problem is severe and in an apartment building, the whole building needs to be treated or the best one may do is drive them away for awhile.
Remember the disease factor: the little mice and others are not a small thing to very young children, for whom a bite can be deadly if it leads to an infection. Its better to skimp on a meal or two and lay down the very inexpensive lime than to risk the health of your family.
These are just a few little suggestions, a bit out of the ordinary, but which work better than the ordinary. Pest control services are great if you can afford them, or if they come with your rental contract, but if not, the above methods are very effective for pennies on the dollar. Even though you may have to live “ReallyPoor”, it doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice certain ‘quality of life’ aspects of living.
More next time.ekb
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