Integrated Pest Control:
Preschool goes Green in California
The Davis Enterprise is a local paper in Yola, California and their report on integrated pest control is one that shouldn’t be missed. The story is about a preschool and an environmental scientist. One of the patrons of Peregrine Early Childhood Center, Belinda Messenger, has three year old twin daughters attending. Messenger is with the California Department of Pesticide regulation; when she heard the school wanted to try a green pest control approach, she offered to help.
Belinda Messenger and a school official walked the school and grounds with Messenger identifying points of entry for pests. In a school bathroom where cockroaches had been spotted, Messenger had placed double sided tape. Now, removing the tape from the underside of shelves revealed that there was a roach problem. She traced the point of entry to a nearby outside door. Sliding a butter knife under the door proved this to be an entry point for insects and even for mice. A door sweep would cure this problem.
Taking a look outside, Messenger said that no one can prevent all pests, but placing Owl boxes could get rid of mice and rats. Whoever thought of that is a genius! You have to make sure that neighbors aren’t using poisons, however, or the owls will die. Better to make it a neighborhood effort if going this route with pest control.
Schools are especially vulnerable to pests because children drop food, crumbs and even snacks without realizing or thinking about it. It’s impossible to clean it all; remember the gum stuck under the cafeteria tables? Disgusting to us as adults, many people never thought about this as children. Children, however, are especially vulnerable to the chemicals that we take for granted as adults; some children break out in a rash from laundry detergent.
Since schools are at a higher risk for infestation there are often more treatments with pesticide than we would ever use in our homes. Our children spend a third of their time in the school, so it stands to reason we would want to be careful about the pests and the pesticides.
Your local pest control company can walk you through your home and property to determine points of entry and help you with integrated pest control measures. The best remedy is prevention; if the pests never enter then you don’t have to figure out how to get rid of them. Don’t forget to get your free termite inspection in Chandler. Termite prevention is a bit different than integrated control; but your inspection will include the best remedies for your home and prevent termites too.
Tempe AZ –
Termite Control Arizona
1753 E BROADWAY, STE #101
TEMPE, AZ 85282
(480) 630-3019
