Killing ‘Em Softly
Bug Busters Go Green
By John Littell
Photos By L.G. Patterson
Any company that features clips of Bela Lugosi in its TV ads must be thinking about bats in the belfry. At Atkins Inc., however, the scope is much wider. The pest-control division is constantly battling creepy crawlies of every description and doing it in the most environmentally friendly fashion possible.
Survey, Not Slay
In days gone by, exterminators, as they were called, used the most toxic chemicals they could find to kill the most creatures they could. But that’s all changed.
“Instead of relying on pesticides alone, modern pest control starts with the education and training of our employees,” says company president David Fore. “If you don’t understand the biology of what you’re after, then you don’t really know where to begin.”
The number and variety of bugs and vermin in central Missouri is staggering. That’s why it’s important to survey and identify specific species.
“They all eat different things, all harbor in different areas, and all reproduce in different ways,” he says. The approach is to single out a target, not to nuke everything in sight.
Ants In The Pantry
In Columbia, ants are the No. 1 residential pest from early spring to the scorching days of summer.
“People are not very tolerant of ants crawling over their countertops,” Fore says, smiling. “But instead of applying liquid sprays, we use baits that the ants will eat, take back to their harborage, and share with the others. We also use pheromone-treated sticky traps that will attract adults — everybody is looking for a partner, even in the insect world.”
Inside the house, the 64-year-old Fore encourages meticulous sanitation, which means you should not leave the sugar bowl uncovered or expose other edibles to their ant-ics. If you can eliminate most of their food supply, they’ll take a hike, which is a long way for an ant.
Then the hunt moves outside to find the point of intrusion and to discover where they have taken up residence. They may be hanging out in a mulch bed or hiding under a rock. “We’ll treat that specific area, rather than spraying the whole perimeter of the house,” Fore says.
Although they don’t wear tiny, little tool belts, carpenter ants are definitely into home unimprovement. “They are not just a pest,” he says, “they can pose a structural threat to your house.”
Unlike termites, these guys typically show up when there’s water damage or rotting wood. They don’t chow down on your posts and beams; they just enjoy carving out tunnels and galleries in the softened wood. All that mining can weaken and endanger a building.
Terminating Termites
Termites will literally eat you out of house and home. Treatment options have evolved over the years, but prevention is key. Getting rid of these hungry buggers takes more than just spraying.
“You have to see how they are entering a building, and prevent that from happening,” Fore says. One of the measures that can be effective is to check the grade of the land outside to make sure the soil level doesn’t come higher than the siding. Dirt or mulch or a woodpile against the structure will provide a launching pad for infestation.
He says it is common to find termite workers in a mulch bed or an old tree stump. “While this doesn’t necessarily pose a threat to your home,” he says. “It’s a good idea to find out what your options are.”
Like ants, termites love to lunch with their comrades, so baiting and transferable termiticides can be very efficient.
“They take it back to the colony and transfer it from one adult to another.” Fore says. “The first thing you know, there is no colony anymore. The whole process is much less invasive these days. We used to have to go into the house and drill holes. Now, nearly everything can be done on the exterior.”
Spidey Sense
Arachnids come in all shapes, sizes and dispositions. “But the two species that scare people to death are the brown recluse and the wolf spider,” Fore says.
Be warned: The brown bombers are venomous. “But just because you see one or two doesn’t mean you are going to be bitten,” he says. “The spider is common, but the bite that causes serious problems is not.”
The other scaremonger is the wolf spider that grows up to 2 inches long and looks something like a sports model tarantula. They are hairy, but not poisonous. What gets really freaky, though, is that they carry their young on their bodies. If you mess with them, it looks like they are exploding when the kids jump off and head for the hills. Think of alien space ships being blown apart in a video game, Fore says.
These wolves don’t spin webs, and most of the time they are happy gamboling around outside, but when the weather gets cold, they may consider your house a cozy ski lodge.
“We see black widows occasionally, but they are not really a significant problem here,” he adds. “They like a damp and dark environment where they are rarely disturbed.”
The best way to treat for most spiders is to spray only very targeted areas and to set out pheromone-laced sticky traps. “Spiders don’t have much body contact with any surface, and that makes them more difficult to control,” Fore says.
But there is a brighter side to a spider invasion. “The good thing about the brown recluse is they will eat roaches and other insects and, if they have to, they will even turn cannibalistic,” he says.
Eek! A Mouse!
Mice are nature’s contortionists. They can squeeze through an opening no bigger than a quarter inch and take up residence without paying rent.
“They love bird feeders,” Fore says. They lurk at the base waiting for sloppy sparrows to drop seeds on the ground, then spirit away their plunder. Expert climbers, they are capable of shinnying up downspouts to get into the attic. “I’ve seen 2 or 3 pounds of bird seed they have hoarded there,” he says.
The preferred way to tame these gluttons is to exclude them from the site in the first place. That means setting up a perimeter baiting program. “These days, you can’t just go to the store, buy a bag of d-Con, and throw it around everywhere,” he says. “We use tamper-proof stations. The idea is to outsmart a 5-year-old kid — if they can get into it, it’s not secure enough.”
Dogs and cats are probably not too attracted to the paraffin and seed bait, but if they do decide to sample a bit, they will probably just throw it up. “Mice, however, lack the ability to regurgitate, so if they eat it, there’s nothing much they can do, they’re just dead,” he says.
Fly Away Home
Sometimes, natural solutions to pest problems create unintended consequences. Case in point: the Asian ladybug. They were introduced here to control aphids, but have become a pest themselves. When they get into your house and start piling up, you’ll wish they would have flown away to save their smoldering dwellings and unattended children.
“They smell kind of bad,” Fore says. “People want us to spray them, but we recommend they use a high-tech tool: the vacuum cleaner. Even if we kill them, they have to be vacuumed up anyway. We need to know where they’re coming from — underneath the siding or around windows. There’s no need to use a pesticide once they get inside.” Like many other pest and wildlife problems, the solution is all about exclusion.
Cutting Edge
A University of Missouri graduate, Fore got into the pest-control business through the influence of a relative.
“Uncle Sam,” he says with a laugh. “I was in the Air Force and they told me I was going to be an entomology specialist. I said, ‘Doesn’t that have something to do with bugs?’ I go back to the DDT and Agent Orange days.”
Over the years, the emphasis has changed from mass spraying to Integrated Pest Management “It’s more about control of insect populations than it is about killing them,” he says. “If you can keep them out of the house, you don’t have to use any pesticides whatsoever.”
Compared to the materials used 30 to 40 years ago, today’s products have a totally different chemistry, he says. “They are much lower in toxicity and none have any real longevity. They are encapsulated like time-released cold pills, so only tiny amounts are emitted at any given time.
“I’m an environmentalist,” he says. “I grew up on a farm and have as much appreciation for the land and the Earth as anyone else, maybe more. I am very proud of our company; we are on the cutting edge of environmentally responsible pest control.”
Whack-A-Mole
Some people take better care of their lawns than they do of their children. You know the guy: he’s out there all day, armed with a magnifying glass and moustache scissors, making sure that one blade of Bermuda is not a millimeter higher than another. Nothing can wreck a grassoholic’s life like the sudden appearance of marauding moles. In no time, those pesky critters can turn a luxurious swath of green into a World War I battlefield.
So, what’s the fast, easy way to encourage them to pack up and move on? “If I had a great answer for that, you and I would not be talking. I’d be on a beach somewhere with native girls fanning me with palm fronds,” says David Fore, president of Atkins Inc.
“Moles are a huge, huge problem in Columbia,” he says, but there is no magic bullet that renders them harmless. “A lot of people think that if they have grubs in the lawn, that’s what the moles are eating, and there’s a tiny bit of truth to that. Their thought: No grubs, no moles. But even if the grubs are eliminated, there are still earthworms, which are the moles’ favorite food.”
Trapping and baiting, he says, is the surest way of saving your turf. “When you trap a mole in a trap, you know you’ve trapped a mole in a trap,” Fore says with a laugh. “Sometimes, people are so angry about the damage to their lawns, they are willing to go to any length and expense to see them caught.”
“At certain times of the year, when they are close to the surface, you can watch them move under the grass,” he says. “I’ve seen people with a lot of patience get out there with a pitchfork and a chair and wait them out.”
Bad news for Moby Mole; good news for the endless sea of greensward.
Ya Shoulda Called
In one form or another, Atkins Inc. has been a Columbia institution since Calvin Coolidge was president. Today, the 35-employee company consists of four parts: pest management, turf and tree, irrigation, and lighting. If you are plagued by crickets (Jiminy!), have cookie-baking elves wrecking your trees, a sprinkler system that merely spritzes sporadically, or just can’t abide the thought of stringing holiday lights again this year, you can log on to www.atkinsinc.com.