Hi all,

We have had some quiet times but heck, where is everyone?

Pest control live has had it's ups and downs for me, but finally the end 
of the quarter (the company visits customers a set number of times per 
year, 12, 8, 6, 4, 2 and these visits are set quartly for example one a 
month or three visits per quarter). I finished with a perfect state of 
service, meaning everyone has had their set number of visits.

One experience stands out from the rest this quarter.

Before I " went on zone " (the area you cover is called your zone or 
patch) then zone was being covered by several technicians and when a 
"tech" is working off zone, you have an unhappy tech. because he isn't 
getting his zone in order.

One of my calls is a Pharmacy, in a small village. Nice place but 
covered with rats.

I arrived and had a quick read of the record book, as all technicians 
should.
It read " No signs of rodent activity on this visit" and signed off by a 
well known lead swinger.
Okay, I though this should be an easy call. Up stairs I go, checking the 
baits as I make my way along the passages, back down, check the shop and 
nothing, not a sign.
Excellent, I thought, now for the basement. BLOODY HELL! when I looked, 
the rats had eaten their way through the base of the door, tunneled 
under the rustic slab flooring and were merrily having a ball!
No joking, I walked over the floor and I could see Rolland scurrying for 
cover under my feet. This had being going on for some time.
I plastered the place with baits of all shapes and sizes, grains, gells, 
dusts, the whole kit bag!
7 days later and thirty eight rats dead, the place was clear.
The owner, called me to the side, patted me on the back and with a smile 
I'll never forget, he said " THANK the lord you called so soon, god only 
knows what they would have done if it had been any longer!", what do you 
mean? " Well the other chap was only here four weeks ago, and look how 
the buggers have got in and set up home, four weeks I tell you! Had they 
of been left for six or eight, they might have taken over the whole 
building!".

Lets hope he doesn't think too hard hey!

John

On Sat, 02 Apr 2005 16:08:25 +0100, John
<john.p.young*removethislittlebit*@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>
>the buggers have got in and set up home, four weeks I tell you!


	Nice tale (tail?), John.

	When I worked at the village bakery our Pest
Control man was a real enthusiast for his work, very
good, very businesslike.  But also extremely reluctant
to enter the loft.  He'd stand on the stepladder and
shine his torch around, and sometimes his urine
detector (blacklight?); but head and shoulders through
the hatch was more than enough for him and he always
came back down looking red and flustered.  I always
assumed he was claustrophobic, although he slithered
into the narrow pipe-ridden space behind the ovens
without any obvious qualms.

	Then one night we lost all the power and sat
around drinking gas-brewed tea by the light of a
hurricane lamp until the the Electricity Board chap
emerged from the loft about an hour later.
Triumphantly holding a blackened rat which had
barbecued itself by chomping into the 3 phase power
supply ;-)  It looked rather surprised.  It seems some
of them like the insulation.

	After that our pest man always went into the
loft, reluctantly but with great determination.  Turned
out it was heights which bothered him, and even the
slightly wobbly 4 foot stepladder bought on a panic
attack.  Our boss fished out a solid old 'proper'
ladder for him to use and once the chap was safely on
the loft floor he was happy enough.  It was the
transition from floor to floor which bothered him.

	In twelve years there I only ever saw two
'roaches, though the old hands said that the floor used
to be 'crunchy with the bastards' before my boss took
over and signed up for regular pest control.

	I also shot one solitary rat out the back by
the oil tank. The only one that ever showed up in my
lamp.  But he was my passport to carrying an air rifle
to and from work late at night when it suited me, so I
appreciated his sacrifice ;-)

	Gyppo  
John Craggs - Writer - Adult Tutor - Storyteller
               and All-Round Rogue
Need a laugh?  Then subscribe to the free Monday Silly Digest:
mail to: gyppo1@ntlworld.com  With 'MSD SUB' as subject.

J Craggs wrote:

> On Sat, 02 Apr 2005 16:08:25 +0100, John
> <john.p.young*removethislittlebit*@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> 
>>the buggers have got in and set up home, four weeks I tell you!
> 
> 
> 	Nice tale (tail?), John.
> 
> 	When I worked at the village bakery our Pest
> Control man was a real enthusiast for his work, very
> good, very businesslike.  But also extremely reluctant
> to enter the loft.  He'd stand on the stepladder and
> shine his torch around, and sometimes his urine
> detector (blacklight?); but head and shoulders through
> the hatch was more than enough for him and he always
> came back down looking red and flustered.  I always
> assumed he was claustrophobic, although he slithered
> into the narrow pipe-ridden space behind the ovens
> without any obvious qualms.


Even a "Rat-man" can be coy about a rat infestation :)


> 
> 	Then one night we lost all the power and sat
> around drinking gas-brewed tea by the light of a
> hurricane lamp until the the Electricity Board chap
> emerged from the loft about an hour later.
> Triumphantly holding a blackened rat which had
> barbecued itself by chomping into the 3 phase power
> supply ;-)  It looked rather surprised.  It seems some
> of them like the insulation.


The "inevitable"! Most customers are totally unaware of what the rat 
catcher is doing or more to the point knows.
One of my customers when I first came on to zone was totally infested 
with mice. It's a rather large national pub group. One of these "trendy" 
type place you take the family out to eat in.
Poor landlord had no idea. I totally cleared the place in a few weeks 
using anti-coagulant baits but boy did he have a shock when he found out 
he needed a re-wire!


> 
> 	After that our pest man always went into the
> loft, reluctantly but with great determination.  Turned
> out it was heights which bothered him, and even the
> slightly wobbly 4 foot stepladder bought on a panic
> attack.  Our boss fished out a solid old 'proper'
> ladder for him to use and once the chap was safely on
> the loft floor he was happy enough.  It was the
> transition from floor to floor which bothered him.


Once your "busted" you have to do the job right. I personally enjoy the 
job, so I can be anal at times. Some of my customers have strange 
set-up's, loft areas that have been sealed for many years, it's these 
places I love. They are like little time warps, full of yester year 
advertisements and even products. The oldest I have found dates back to 
1910!
Bottle collectors would love it! What about face powders, made from 
mercury and arsenic!
Sheep dip contain 65% arsenic!
Lovely places :)


> 
> 	In twelve years there I only ever saw two
> 'roaches, though the old hands said that the floor used
> to be 'crunchy with the bastards' before my boss took
> over and signed up for regular pest control.


Cockroaches are usually one of two species. The German cockroach or 
Oriental cockroach. There are diffinative differences between the two, 
for example one can climb. The German variety will carry their otheeca 
(egg sack) until just before hatching.
The cockroach remains unchanged since Jurassic times, the perfect design 

for what they do I guess.
Getting rid of them one a major infestation has occurred can be a bloody 
nightmare.
Bed bugs are another problem.
One of the customers took a cheap holiday to Africa, cost her and her 
husband 1700 for a week, no a bad price or was it!
Two weeks after her return, she started to get bites on her back, only 
two or three in the beginning.
A moth later, she was getting eight or ten, then ten to fifteen.
She washed everything, looked every where, pushed, pulled cursed and cried.
Yet she found not fleas, nothing.
It wasn't until she started to wash the surround on her four poster bed, 
that she spotted these little blighter running. She call us in, and it 
was indeed bedbugs and it cost her almost 2000!
Ants are a problem right now, I get a call out every day for ants, not a 
problem if I can reach the nest but as luck would have it, most nests 
are deep with-in the walls cavities.


> 
> 	I also shot one solitary rat out the back by
> the oil tank. The only one that ever showed up in my
> lamp.  But he was my passport to carrying an air rifle
> to and from work late at night when it suited me, so I
> appreciated his sacrifice ;-)


With rats it all about time verses cost. I would love to set up for the 
day, rifle in hand, ham sandwiches and coffee at the ready. It's by far 
cheaper to simply set and external bait box and let the rat bump himself 
off. I do miss the shooting side of things but in saying that there is a 
buzz to be gained from wandering around a deserted shopping center armed 
with a rifle. Better than that, calling the police and actually telling 
them your going to be shooting pigeons in the local shopping center is 
something of an acquired cheek :)
Last night, I went to a leisure center, and smoke bombed the attics, 
it's like being a kid all over again, except people actually let me do 
these things!! God, lucky for me kids don't know!
Blimey if I only knew these things when I was 13 :)


John