Friday, April 28, 2006

It's Hard Out Here For A PMP

I thought that headline would get your attention.

PMPs (Pest Management Professionals) are quickly honing their bed bug-detecting and killing skills to meet the increasing demand to rid homes of bed bug infestations. But sometimes human instinct and senses aren't enough to find those few bugs who are hidden deep within the recesses of a structure. According to this article in Pest Control Technology, one company of PMPs in Ontario decided to train and employ a dog especially trained to sniff out bed bugs. Thanks to the dog's keen sense of smell, he was able to find the bed bugs-in the plumbing between the walls!

The training of bed bug-sniffing dogs is certainly a creative idea, and I would love to find such a company in New York to sniff out any surviving bed bugs in my own apartment. While almost all the bugs I've encountered in my home have been dead, I have seen one or two living bugs, proof of survivors. And where there's smoke...

Maybe I'll make that my homework assignment and throw up the results on Bugged Out.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Can I link your blog on my blog www.pestcontrolinfo.blogspot.com ?

Anonymous said...

bugged out,

are you having any additional treatments done in your apt.?? if you dont have any scheduled, i would think about it. its been over 2 weeks, hasnt it?? isnt that the general time frame that it's suppossed to still see bedbugs in after you have sprayed? i know its ASS expensive, but probably definitley worth it. also, not that it is the publics business, but why didnt your landlord pay for the extermination? when i was dealing with bedbugs, i did some research that said that it was a landlords responsibility....just curious more than anything. and yes, i would definitley check target for an air mattress,if you havent done so already:)

Bugged Out said...

Sure thing, Billymac!

I just checked out your blog, looks great to me. I'll return the favor and put a link to your blog on Bugged Out.

Keep fighting the good fight!

Bugged Out said...

I really don't have my building's management scheduling any extermination visits anytime soon for three reasons:

1) They really are not equipped to deal with bed bugs. The pest control methods and pesticides they do have are really for roaches and more traditional pests.

2) It is cheaper for me to treat my apartment myself or hire an outside exterminator because my building's management, if I ask them for regular (bi-weekly) spraying, they might add the cost to my rent bill next month, and like most New Yorkers, I can barely afford my current rent. Plus, they will charge me more because I won't be just paying for the treatment but for the labor of having the exterminator, and of course the super is going to jack up the cost of labor if the company does plan to bill me for the treatment.

3) The current law is kind of vague on this issue as to the level of obligation a landlord has to rid a tenant's apartment of bed bugs. Some lawmakers have argued that because bed bugs do not carry disease, the presence of them is not a direct public health issue, as would be the case with rodents or roaches.

The law varies from state to state and even from city to city. Bit trying to find out what the law is in New York City would definitely be a worthwhile project.