Pest Management Professional, April 2012

Fleas are a fact of life in many areas around the country and Gena Lupini vice president of pest management services for Loyal Termite and Pest Control Co in Richmond Va has some hard earned wisdom to share about the pests Q Whats the largest flea infestation youve battled and how did you win Lupini Weve had difficulty treating for large infestations of fleas on more than one occasion particularly when dealing with infestation locations where a concrete floor or basement is involved One of the most difficult situations that comes to mind is when we dealt with a client who bought a house that was infested before it was purchased The previous owner had an untreated dog that always slept under the back porch There was a crawlspace in the basement that was extremely difficult to access and the access door was high on the wall We managed to get a ladder up to the crawlspace but when we finally gained access to the area it was too tight for us to crawl into it To make matters worse the flooring of the ground level was of the tongueand groove type It had a lot of cracks and crevices and harbored fleas and eggs The basement floor was a combination of dirt and concrete and because concrete is so porous it kept absorbing the product We had to be persistent with our efforts and perform several treatments Initially we chose to use some total release aerosols to knock down the adult population both in the tight crawlspace area and in the basement Then on several subsequent visits we used a combination of products including insect growth regulators adulticides and various residual insecticides We had to treat the spaces several times due to obstacles such as the porous concrete floor which kept sucking up the product and our inability to provide a proper treatment throughout the tight crawlspace Q What was the hardest to find flea infestation youve come across and how did you get the best of it Lupini A homeowner had replaced her carpet but unbeknownst to us she was using the old fleainfested carpet as the padding beneath the new carpet without disclosing that information to us The product was not getting to the infested area After several attempts and much head scratching the homeowner finally asked Do you think it might have anything to do with the old carpet that Im using for the padding of my new carpet We were happy to find that out because now we could see there was relief in sight We had her remove the new carpet and get the old carpet out of there We were able to treat the space properly and finally got control over the infestation Not knowing the old carpet was under there and that the product would never be able to get where it needed to be made things difficult We visited the site five or six times before understanding the source of the problem PMP Yetzer Simon can be reached at eysimon@ gmail com flea tales Gena Lupini Loyal Termite and Pest Control Co Web Exclusive Visit http www audioacrobat com play W4cQq4wW to listen to PMPs complete interview with Lupini Gena Lupinis dos donts Do Inform the customer about what to expect so their expectations for control are reasonable Insist the customer properly prepare for the treatment Ask questions Are their pets being treated Did they get a pet recently Did someone visit with a pet Are there any strays wandering the neighborhood Dont Dont leave any stone unturned You want to do everything you can to determine the source of the problem to get a handle on it in a timely manner Dont do the job if you cant get the customers cooperation Dont forget to look for flea and tick sources in other areas such as outside dog pens crawlspaces and along tree lines Elaine Yetzer Simon Contributor 30 April 2012 Pest Management Professional mypmp net