A New Way Of Looking At Perimeter Pest Control

It seems that everywhere I go these days the pest control industry is discussing perimeter pest control like it is a new concept. It isn’t new: the treatment of the perimeter of the structure has been an integral part of many contracts since I can remember. What is changing is the attitude of the pest control operator toward perimeter pest control. The marketing concepts, the “fears” of pesticides by customers, and new approaches to training and application have fueled a wave of optimism about perimeter pest control.

Another topic of discussion around the industry is the education we provide the customer, which is becoming an integral part of IPM. Education is written into IPM programs. We seemed to have accepted that. This education is fairly easy to do when we see people all the time, whether it is in an office building where we can take time to explain a particular insect’s life cycle, or with the homeowner whose home we service monthly for ants or cockroaches. Our technicians have been trained to expect to encounter customers regularly.

Now perimeter pest control is being touted, partly because the customer need not be present! But if we don’t see them, how do we educate them? I do not believe leaving doorhangers and pieces of paper for them to read is the education that is needed.

EDUCATING CUSTOMERS. I would guess that the education of the customer begins with the first visit. The salesperson or technician is likely there because of a pest problem. The first step is to identify the problem, and then to educate the customer on why professional assistance is needed. But after that, the company representative may never spend much time with the customer again. Some interior work may be needed, but under the perimeter concept of controlling pests, most of the work will be outside.

This is all fine and good. Where does the perimeter technician come in? This technician is going to have to like crawling around looking under rocks and abandoning the “spray-and-pray” attitude. But as I see it, perimeter pest control, to many companies, is baseboard spraying outdoors. The baseboard becomes the foundation and the “jockey” attitude stays.

But this is not what is meant to happen in this arena of pest control. There are many ways we can work outside to keep the yard denizens at bay. There are a huge number of products we can use. In all likelihood in the next several years, the attitude will be Mike Potter’s “hunt and peck” or Stoy Hedges “search and destroy” and Austin Frishman’s “seek the source.”

All of the indoor methods we have talked about over the years that led to IPM are applicable outside as well. This is not earth-shaking, is it? But the earth may have to move before we really start educating the customer and the technician.

I went to a meeting this summer and during a panel discussion a PCO made the statement that his people did not have the time to educate the customer! That he had a payroll to make and his people needed to get in and get out and make those stops.

Interesting attitude, especially since a person in the audience, a consumer activist-type, stood up and stated she would pay his company $50.00 for 30 minutes’ worth of education about controlling pests.

CHANGE IS NEEDED. If the industry feels strongly about this area of pest control, then some changes will have to take place. Methods of application will have to be conceptualized and modified to give us tools that can be used in targeting the pest problem. The PCO will have to learn more about the pests and about how other factors affect them. Recently I was fortunate to attend a meeting at Purdue where future research objectives where being planned. (See story, page 24.) The attendees tackled two groups of pests: ants and cockroaches, and the subject was geared to the topic of baiting. If you think we know all there is to know about baiting cockroaches, then you should have been there. The amount of research we have yet to do is enormous. And when we start discussing ants, there are very few answers. The problem is, as we become more specialized in our concepts of baiting, we suddenly realize how little we know. We rely on our old standby, the pesticide.

Some may feel that because a pesticide label lists a specific insect on it that the pesticide actually works in all situations, all environments and under all conditions! But it just doesn’t happen that way. It’s time we used our gray matter to solve these problems, instead of always depending on pesticide products.

For example, ants indoors, for the most part, come from outdoors. If you can keep them out of the structure then you will have a happy customer. However, when you step outside into the ants’ world, where are they? They sure do not come up and let you know (except fire ants). The PCO has to develop a method to keep these insects out of the house. Some PCOs spray and try to knock down populations or use repellent materials around the structure to keep them away. Baits are being used more frequently, but evaluating the results of baits are difficult. I believe these labels need to be changed to reflect what will really impact the ant. And what species of ants are we dealing with? Are they huge, multi-queened colonies like fire ants, Argentine and some carpenter ants, or are they relatively small colonies that are easy to find? Whatever they are, you will need to have a well-educated technician seeking them out to really get to the source, along with some good educational sources for the customer. They’ll need to understand that although the problem appears solved, trouble could be a bread crumb away.

PCT contributing editor George Rambo is president of George Rambo Consulting Services, Herndon, Va.