A10
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
HOME & GARDEN
Dealing with nuisance insects
diethyl toluamide (DEET)
are effective against ticks.
Around the home, tick pop-
ulations can be reduced by
using residual insecticides.
By Richard Hanners
Blue Mountain Eagle
T
he key to dealing with
nuisance insect pests
is to block their ac-
cess and remove their food
source. In general, that
means cleaning up around
the home and sealing cracks
and holes in the exterior of
the home. One solution is
use of a home barrier spray.
“You apply it every
spring around windows and
doors and even roof eaves,”
said Billy Moon at Nydam’s
Ace Hardware in John Day.
“It will deal with stink bugs,
those beetles that are com-
mon around here.”
The latest in insect con-
trol is the Bug-A-Salt 2.0.
Resembling a Supersoaker
in design but loaded with
common table salt instead
of water, the Bug-A-Salt
turns insect hunting into a
sport with a shotgun effect.
Ants
Ants enter homes through
window and door frames
or pipe and wiring chases.
Homeowners should trim out-
door plantings away from the
structure and keep landscap-
ing materials such as compost
or bark mulch away from sid-
ing. Pesticide baits provide a
good way to deal with ants
already in the structure.
Baits may require sev-
eral weeks to be effective.
Over-the-counter pesticide
sprays may cause ants to
scatter throughout a home,
and carpenter ants may not
respond well to baits, so a
licensed pest control pro-
fessional may be needed.
Flies
Eagle photos/Richard Hanners
Billy Moon at Nydam’s Ace Hardware in John Day holds the latest in pest control, the Bug-A-Salt 2.0 gun, which
shoots common table salt at nuisance insects. On the shelf are dozens of other sprays and powders for dealing with
nuisance insects.
Wasps,
yellowjackets
and hornets
Wasps,
yellowjackets
and hornets can enter a
structure through cracks
and holes in the siding. Oth-
erwise, their nests will be
visible attached to exterior
siding, typically high up un-
der an eave.
Wasps,
yellowjackets
and hornets are less active
in the evening and early
morning, when the air is
cool and they usually return
to their nests. That’s the
best time for homeowners to
or common fuels, such as
bleach, gasoline or diesel,
as these products are more
toxic than most labeled pes-
ticides.
Ticks
Nydam’s Ace Hardware in John Day offers a wide variety
of solutions to nuisance insects, from long-range wasp
sprays and hornet traps to foam spray for nests.
hit the nests with a pesticide
formulated for wasp nests
contained in a high-pressure
can that can spray for 20
feet or more.
Homeowners are ad-
vised not to treat nests with
any household chemicals
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improvements?
Tick habitat near homes
can be reduced by keep-
ing grass and weeds well
trimmed. To estimate tick
populations, drag a white
cloth through vegetation
and count the ticks that
readily appear attached to
the cloth.
Ticks that live off deer
mice carry Lyme disease.
Adult Rocky Mountain
wood ticks live off larger
mammals, including sheep
and deer. Ticks attached to
humans or pets should be
removed quickly.
Repellents
containing
Flies and mosquitoes
will enter homes through
open unscreened windows
or doors — or holes in
screens. Food sources and
breeding areas can be re-
duced by keeping garbage
cans sealed, removing ani-
mal refuse and eliminating
outdoor objects that can
hold small pools of wa-
ter, such as tires, pails and
tarps.
Where fly populations
are high, properly locat-
ed fly traps can be ef-
fective both indoors and
outdoors.
An outward-blowing fan
placed near an open window
or door can lessen the num-
ber of flies entering at that
location.
Silverfish
Silverfish are wingless
insects less than half an inch
long with two long antennae
and three long filaments at
the tail and are commonly
seen in homes with wood-
shake roofs.
They prefer warmer lo-
cations, such as attics, but
are associated with damp
conditions found in base-
ments and bathrooms.
Reducing humidity can
help eliminate silverfish.
Household insecticides are
effective if an infestation
is not manageable by other
means.
For
more
informa-
tion on dealing with nui-
sance insects, visit https://
pnwhandbooks.org/insect/
structural-health/nui-
sance-household.
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