its content.
CHAPTER 11 349
CHAPTER 11
SAFE AND FAR MORE
EFFECTIVE PEST CONTROL
OVERVIEW
WHAT ARE PESTISAFES
®
?
At the 2006 NPMA Pest World Conference in Nashville,
Tennessee, Dr. Faith Oi noted a recent nationwide
survey that found 83% of the respondents would pay
more for a service that uses less pesticide. When
Rebecca Baldwin conducted her own survey of 600
pest control consumers in Florida, she found 87% would
be satisfied with an effective pest control strategy that
could control pests without spraying pesticides.
Pest problems, including diseases, are really indicators that your yard or local area or eco-system is out of
balance, sick, deficient or needs repair - volatile, synthetic pesticide poisons will surely not heal or address much
less correct the real problem - they only can contaminate and/or mask it temporarily at best. Often the use of these
registered poisons actually exasperates the pest problem and creates resistance and makes the pest situation
worse. Pest infestations are only symptoms of your real problem not the cause or the problem - as long as you
continue to treat just the symptoms - and do not correct the real cause or problem - you will be on a chemical tread
mill that never ceases to make the banksters and the poison industry rich and well and yourself poor and sick and
your pests prosper and increase. SLT in a 1993 speech.
Elroy L. Rice, writing in Pest Control with Natures Chemicals (1983) noted: Two basic problems have been
encountered in the use of insecticides that were developed in the past: 1. Insecticides are toxic not only to the
pests, but also to many other insects and animals as well. 2. Target insects rapidly develop resistance to them.
This chapter contains only a few of my favorite alternative tools or Pestisafes
®
and some common herbal recipes
and/or tools I warn you not to use, some of which are only mentioned here. I believe only pesticides (poisons) and
medicine need to be registered because they are or they contain dangerous volatile poisons and legally these
poisons can not be called safe or non-toxic. Obviously, if any product used to control pests is a food or GRAS and/
or non-toxic, it is not logical or possible to call it (or register it as) a pesticide poison. My favorite Pestisafes
®
contain only naturally occurring materials that are all either food-grade or non-toxic or (GRAS) Generally Recog-
nized as Safe.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generally_recognized_as_safe)
Some regulators be<b>lie</b>ve that under
FIFRA anything that controls pests must be registered as a pesticide (poison); based on their logic all of my
following Pestisafes
®
would have to become registered and/or have poisons added to them! Virtually everything on
earth can be used as a pesticide! Obviously, many manufacturers do not want their food or cleaning products to
be called or registered as pesticide poisons. The Authors Pestisafes
®
will safely control even pesticide poison
resistant pests. Remember to use even these Pestisafe
®
materials with caution as there are about 30,000 times
as many beneficial organisms on earth as there are harmful ones, e.g., mice and ants will eat up to 95% of all weed
seeds deposited in no-till agricultural plots, making them safer, more efficient and more important than chemical
herbicide poisons. Remember, even the safest spray or dust or product can be abused and/or misused.
Always remember to a choose the safest alternative or Intelligent Pest Management
®
control possible. 350
INTELLIGENT PEST MANAGEMENT
®
ECOLOGICALLY BASED PEST MANAGEMENT
BASIC PEST CONTROL OVERVIEW
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In my opinion, volatile,
synthetic pesticide poisons are destroying these rights of ours. Yet our current government pest control policy
focuses almost entirely on the use of volatile, synthetic pesticide poisons and their registration and/or extension
rather than on pest control. EPA and the various state regulatory agencies need to expand their horizons and
include support (not harassment) for the development and diffusion of alternative pest control methods and products
for urban and agricultural pests. While there are literally thousands of ways to safely and effectively control pest
problems - each situation is different and even a Pestisafe
®
control that works may not be the most efficient,
effective, safest, or most economical. Maybe your best control method will be a combination of various controls -
the choice is up to you. The economics, the entire situation, the people and pest involved, the size of the area, the
allergies, the sensitivities, the action level, the politics and the emotions involved, the long-term goals, the environ-
ment, the season and time, the stage of development, the species, the degree of infestation, the conditions
conducive, the weather, the safety and the whims of all concerned - all play a part in your choice. I leave others
to evaluate what was expedient, judicious, and/or practical. I will always try any Pestisafe
®
or alternative to any
poison as long as it does no harm - preferring always to err (if I must) on the side of safety, not on the side of
control. I will always try to do more good than harm.
While we must protect our homes from invaders, those on two legs, four legs, six or eight or more legs, remember,
most of the insects that buzz around us in the yard or invade our homes are beneficial or often just a nuisance, only
a few are damaging to us, our food, or possessions. For every person earth there are about a million insects. This
means that one square mile of rural land has more insects than there are people on the entire earth. A few simple
preventative measures stop most pest problems before they begin. Even when pests do get in, the most effective
pest control is usually the simplest: step on them, or vacuum them up and/or remove their food and moisture supply
and breeding sites. This includes such steps as changing exterior lighting, caulking, managing garbage so that it
is less attractive, cleaning up spilled food, especially pet food, and eliminating damp conditions around the house.
Sometimes, however, you may have to be a detective to find the source of an infestation. Insects can see clearly
for about one yard - beyond that everything begins to blur. Pests, such as clothes moths, carpet beetles and flour
moths can breed in a mouse or squirrel nest, an old yellow jacket nest or a bird nest, out of sight in a wall, an attic
or the eaves. Try also to try to develop some pest tolerances - before you know it you might find and make some
fascinating pets out of former pests.
When I drove in the jungles of Costa Rica and Brazil, no insects splattered my vehicles windows. Here in the
U.S.A. my vehicles windows are covered with insect debris as I drive in the summer. I believe the reason is very
simple: They do not spray synthetic pesticide poisons in the jungles of Costa Rica and/or Brazil and the natural
predators that are there do their job better than registered poisons could ever do here.
PREVENTION - This is the Very Best Control or Defense. It is the beginning of Intelligent Pest Management
®
.
To an insect or creature, your home or building and its surroundings is a macro-environment consisting of thou-
sands of micro-environments; many with their own climate, moisture, temperature, food and/or conditions condu-
cive to their invasion or infestation. All creatures have four requirements for survival: food, water, shelter, and
warmth. Most structure invading pests are controlled when you simply control water (moisture for drinking and the
relative humidity) because water is their most critical survival factor. So allow the beneficial creatures to do their job
and properly ventilate, install and maintain dehumidifiers, fans and/or air conditioners and quickly correct/repair all
moisture/crack problems.
Manage moisture: Properly install and maintain vents, vapor barriers, fans, air conditioners, and/or dehumidifiers.
Moisture is the major destructive factor to homes and the major key to pest control elimination. Control moisture
and you control pests and damage to your building.
Seal cracks: The first defense is making sure pests dont get into your home. Crawling pests enter through cracks
in or around the foundation or siding or doors and windows, while flying insects usually come in through open doors
and windows. An annual inspection of the foundation and siding to caulk cracks (use good quality silicone sealant) 351
is a good idea. Be particularly careful to seal around exterior plumbing and electrical outlets. Make sure that door
thresholds have good weather stripping under them and that the door and windows seal well when shut. Check that
screens on windows, crawl space vents, and attic vents are intact and sealed around the edges. Remember 80-
90% of all insect infestations migrate from the outside into your structure. Only 4 types of pests are
generally carried inside buildings to create infestation; they are German cockroaches, fleas, stored
product pests and Pharaoh ants, so inspect for them.
Use screens: Window screens are excellent for keeping insects out of a house, but screen doors are not very
effective. This is because flies and mosquitoes are attracted to people or food odors so they hang around outside