WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:04.719 Ktr H Garden Line does not necessarily endorse any of the products or services advertised 2 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:19.160 on this program. Welcome to KTRH Garden Line with Skip rictor so Smelly Shrimp. 3 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:44.759 Just watch him, so many cure a sign sun. Well, good 4 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:48.640 morning, Good Sunday morning. You're listening to garden Line, and we're here 5 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:52.320 to talk all kinds of things gardening. But this hour we're going to focus 6 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:56.079 on all kinds of things creepy crawley. All the pests around your house, 7 00:00:56.119 --> 00:00:58.799 Well, let me let me limit that, not the two legged pests, 8 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.759 not the four legged us. But if it has six or eight legs, 9 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:04.079 we're gonna talk about it today. How about that. We're gonna welcome Scott 10 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:07.799 McGrath from McGrath Pest Control. Scott, Welcome to garden Line. So glad 11 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:11.840 to have you here. Thanks Skip, It's fun. I'm looking forward to 12 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.799 it. We're gonna wear you out by picking your brain. Okay, I 13 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:17.920 think we already have a call coming in here on that. Uh. You 14 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:23.480 know. When it comes to insects, people range from I am very comfortable 15 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:27.719 with insects too. I have someone in my family. Let them go unnamed 16 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:30.959 in case they're listening to other day. But I mean, if something with 17 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:34.799 six legs crawled in that door, they would be going out that window. 18 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:41.280 I mean, you know, absolute intomophobia, right, And I've got the 19 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:45.680 kids that grew up playing with insects and bugs and things, you know, 20 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.879 tying string to cicadas and flying them around the yard, blowing them up a 21 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:56.359 little piece of thread. I forgot who I'm talking, dude. This is 22 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:00.120 a guy armed with a can of AquaNet hairspray, a big lighter. Yeah, 23 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:04.200 man, after my own heart. My weapon of choice was a magnifying 24 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:07.200 glass. But you know, compcious is the same thing, you know, 25 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:10.080 sunshine right right? Oh yeah, there's many ways. It's funny talking about, 26 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:14.520 you know, people having phobias of different insects. I talk to people 27 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.360 all the time that it's funny. Someone some of them are great with roaches, 28 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:21.879 and ants are fine, and then spiders just freak them out, yeah, 29 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:23.800 you know. Or some of them are okay with spiders, but if 30 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:27.159 they see a roach, oh my gosh, they're, like you said, 31 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:30.599 they're jumping out the window. So it's funny. You deal with so many 32 00:02:30.599 --> 00:02:34.240 different people in this industry, right, Yeah. I usually get called I 33 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.360 when I had young kids, raised them up. They're all out of the 34 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:39.719 house now, but I could tell by the pitch of the scream in the 35 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:45.120 back bedroom about what size the little thing was that they saw. Usually it 36 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:47.400 was a jumping spider in the window, and I would explain, look, 37 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:51.840 they're fuzzy, they got a little monkey face, and they're catching flies for 38 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:53.560 you, and you know, none of that matter. Just just bring the 39 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:57.039 heel of your shoe, dad, Let's get this over with. Yes, 40 00:02:57.159 --> 00:03:00.719 exactly, yes. I mean I've actually had customers say, okay, I'll 41 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:02.599 ask him, so, how bad is the is your infestation? Well? 42 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:07.759 Is he? Um? My daughter screamed four times this morning, so it's 43 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:10.120 really really bad. Like I understand, Okay, I'm on it all right, 44 00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:14.680 bring in a professional. Speaking of that, what are some of the 45 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:19.599 common insect issues that are kind of floating to the top of the list during 46 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:23.919 this hot summer season. Well, you know, Houston is good for for 47 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:25.360 bucks. You know, we always laugh and say in this industry we have 48 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:29.719 job security. There's always gonna be bugs here, you know, so every 49 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.039 season's kind of something else kind of pulls up. You know, we can 50 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:36.879 and we can kind of tell every month what's going to be different. You 51 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.639 know, right right now during the summertime, it's it's hot and we're not 52 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:43.479 having a whole lot of rain, and so we get the normal. We 53 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:47.400 get the roaches and the ants and the spiders. The mosquitoes are always always 54 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:52.400 prevalent. Termites are always going to be there. So just kind of the 55 00:03:52.439 --> 00:03:55.319 general insects that you get. Earwig you see earwigs a lot, silverfish, 56 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:00.280 springtails, all kinds of little thing just kind of occur around the house and 57 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:05.280 inside the house. Yeah, that's true, and silverfish can really spoil the 58 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:11.240 party. We had some family books that were very old. They were stuffed 59 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.759 in a box. I'm on a shelf somewhere. I don't know how the 60 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.160 silverfish found them, but when they found them, they ruined them. Oh, 61 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.120 they do that. And that's usually where we see the nest because silverfish 62 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:24.399 are attracted to glue and paper products. So a lot of times you'll see 63 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:27.839 them in boxes or around like I said, books, Um, they'll they'll 64 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:31.040 nest in addicts a lot, or in garages, comes down the walls and 65 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:34.279 uh and I mean also too, they'll they'll even get into your clothes and 66 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:39.439 they'll they'll make little holes in your clothes as well. So that's something that 67 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:43.879 official will do that. Yeah. No, I've seen silverfish do that as 68 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.920 well. Yeah, so another reason to not like them, yes, and 69 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:47.639 and so that's why we say, you know, if you've got that, 70 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.360 you know, especially in addicts, get rid of boxes, you know, 71 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:55.720 get rid of of different things, or storm in in tupeware containers, you 72 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:00.600 know, plastic containers that'll help you know the minutes that that popular. Well, 73 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:04.439 I'm always amazed, you know, insects. They're incredible creatures. I 74 00:05:04.439 --> 00:05:09.800 mean, fascinating, the way they've adapted, the way they survived, just 75 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:14.079 all aspects of entomology as you get into it are just really I think they're 76 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:16.279 really cool. Stuck, but I'm always getting amazed. You know, we 77 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:20.279 lived in a house I lived over in Lockhart, Texas from all and we 78 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:25.399 had a garage. But there's a crack through the foundation garage and I'd set 79 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:31.560 a bunch of boxes on the floor of that garage and when I came out, 80 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:35.920 there were termites in the paper of the box that had gone under the 81 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:40.319 slab come through. I never in a million years thought about if I set 82 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.360 a box in a crack in the foundation. You know, I'm gonna get 83 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:47.120 termites. Well, so the key with termites is all they need is one 84 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:50.360 sixty fourth of vintache to get in somewhere. That's it. How big? 85 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:55.000 One sixty fourth vinach? So huge? No, it's a very very small 86 00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.439 area. So for us, it's all about identification when it comes to termites. 87 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:00.560 You know, we have to be able to see the foundation, we 88 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.360 have to be able to see the tunnel. We have to know, you 89 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.600 know, we can see where they're coming from to figure out how they're getting 90 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:11.399 in. They're attracting a moisture and fungus. So a garage area like that, 91 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:14.199 you get a little crack. I mean, it's it's gonna be dark 92 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:16.720 and probably human in there at some point. And then you put a box 93 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:20.279 over it, which is made of paper, which is trees, which is 94 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:23.639 wood. You know they now they don't eat the wood. They eat the 95 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:26.600 cellulos inside the wood. Okay, and that's what they do. And so 96 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:30.519 but that's that's a perfect area. And we see so many areas well. 97 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:32.800 We'll say, okay, you have termites in this area, Well how do 98 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:38.399 they get there? And then we kind of deduct and move things around and 99 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:42.240 put our Sherlock Holmes hat on and look, and sure enough there's a small 100 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.040 little crack that's hidden in some far corner of the house or the slab or 101 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:49.000 the garage or something. You're like, oh, there it is. Well 102 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:53.079 and this is your business and you know what to look for. So when 103 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:57.680 you go to a home, you have you know all the insects deepest secrets, 104 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:00.680 and you're able to hopefully get ahead out of the well the game where 105 00:07:01.240 --> 00:07:03.439 we hope, so we hope. So I will say this, and I 106 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.959 tell all my staff all the time, is I said, you know, 107 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:11.160 we learned something new every year when it comes to this, and you know, 108 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:14.079 a new way that they're coming in or how they're getting in or why 109 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:16.399 they're getting in, and you know, and kind of my new slogan is 110 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:19.680 we think like a bug. And that's kind of it's it's kind of a 111 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:23.680 joke, but it's true. Is that you need to figure out you have 112 00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.639 to think like a bug. If you were a roach, how would you 113 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:30.120 get in this little area right here? That's it, you know, get 114 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:35.680 in tune with your inner exactly. You meditate, We meditate that good inn 115 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:39.600 insect. We can have some fun for that. Well, that's good. 116 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:45.720 We're we're talking to Scott mcgraf mcgraf pest Control on all things insects. We're 117 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:47.399 about to take a little break here. If you will give us a call 118 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.879 seven one three two one two fifty eight seventy four, you can ask Scott 119 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:55.480 a question and Jarrett out in Delago you will be first up when we come 120 00:07:55.480 --> 00:08:07.199 back. Awesome, spot does whatever Spotty can spins a weathering handy size good 121 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:16.279 just thieds just like flies. Cow Well, good Sunday morning. You're listening 122 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:18.839 to garden Line and we are here to talk about things that interest you in 123 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:22.639 this morning at during this eight o'clock hour, we're talking with Scott McGrath and 124 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:28.959 McGraph Pest Control about all things insects. I think everybody probably has a few 125 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:31.399 creepy crawleys that they have some questions about, and now would be a good 126 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:35.159 time to call seven one three two and two fifty eight seventy four. We're 127 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:39.399 gonna start by going out to del Logo and talking to Jarrett. Hello, 128 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:46.679 Jarrett, what's up? Good morning, Good morning everyone. I've got something 129 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:50.639 maybe I will but looked or couldn't see the pants or maybe it's not a 130 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:56.559 pant at all, but kind an ornamental pepper plant. Um. It's probably 131 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:00.840 about twelve minutes, just tall or so now, and the lower leaves are 132 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:05.480 getting me swirthly brown lines on them. It looks like maybe something was in 133 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:09.200 the leaf or eating it. I don't I don't know it. It's not 134 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:11.960 like this jump through. I got you, I got you, Jarrett. 135 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:16.720 I'm just gonna answer thistion right quick. That is it's called a leaf miner, 136 00:09:16.799 --> 00:09:20.840 a serpentine leaf miner, and they attack tomatoes, they attack peppers, 137 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:22.679 They take a lot of plants, and there's even a type that attacks your 138 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:28.799 citrus trees. The leaf miner there, it's a little insect that's tunneling between 139 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:31.399 the top and bottom surfaces of the leaf. It's inside the leaf, so 140 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:37.679 a surface spray doesn't kill it. But if you will use a product that 141 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:41.919 contains spinosaid in your garden. You mentioned this is ornamental that especially with you 142 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:45.399 know, a pepper you're gonna eat, if you'd rather not put a pesticide 143 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:48.559 in general on spinosa, it soaks into the tissue and it'll kill the insect 144 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:52.679 inside. And so that would be what I would recommend all right, and 145 00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:01.080 okay, and what place would sell that? Bottom? Almost everywhere, every 146 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.360 mom and pop garden center, we talk about ACE hardware stores, thirty nine 147 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.440 of them all over town sell it. Even feed stores are often going to 148 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:15.279 have a spinosid based insecticide for you. Okay, thank you very much. 149 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:18.799 All right, thank you, Jared. I appreciate that. Yes, Scott, 150 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:22.000 So, I kind of am curious about like when you go out to 151 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:24.519 a house, someone calls you and says, hey, I got some paths, 152 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:28.320 but I just kind of want you to come around and do a general 153 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.320 treatment. What what what are you looking for when you're out there, and 154 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.240 kind of what's the approach to that kind of first time. Hey, we're 155 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:37.480 going to help you out here and get you off to being start. So 156 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:39.799 first musically, you know, if I come out for a brand new customer, 157 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.080 if they're not sure what they have, then I'm you know, I'm 158 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.519 gonna walk around. I'll probably walk around the perimeter of the house look and 159 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:50.840 see if I see any kind of ant mounds or a guest, termites or 160 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:56.440 spiders or cracks and crevices and holes different things that insects come in, you 161 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:00.960 know, how they can get into the house as far as inside. First 162 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:01.440 of all, I want to ask them if they have, you know, 163 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:05.480 if they are they seeing something? Are you seeing evidence in anything? Is 164 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:09.120 there anything that UM you know that you're worried about. UM. I may 165 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:13.679 look underneath kitchen cabinets, UM and maybe an addicts. I'm gonna look for 166 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:18.399 droppings. I'm gonna look for smudges, you know, anything like that, 167 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:22.519 because usually, especially if you have like a like a roach issue, you're 168 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:28.360 going to see droppings in cabinets or underneath sinks, sometimes even in um in 169 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:33.639 pantries. So I'm gonna look for different things like that, and that's going 170 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:35.480 to kind of give me an idea of what we're what we're looking for. 171 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:39.279 Ok Now, if I don't really see anything, then I want to suggest, 172 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:43.320 Okay, this is what we can do for you to help prevent you 173 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.279 from getting insects in the future. And sometimes it could be a treatment. 174 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:52.080 Sometimes it could just be kind of a a pest prevention thing where we seal 175 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.240 upholes. We don't necessarily have to put insect in secticide out right, that's 176 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.879 good and I know that you know they can come in through the thresholds because 177 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:03.679 sometimes those little things that are supposed to seal up the threshold up you do 178 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:05.879 a really good job over time, and they can do that. I know 179 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:09.519 with gardeners, we're always telling them, hey, don't put the flower beds 180 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:13.519 up with where the soil is at the wheat poles or where there's multu over 181 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:18.360 the wheep poles, because that just gives termites an easy way in where you 182 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.600 can't walk by and just visually look for the mud trails. And that's that's 183 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:24.559 a big thing now, Yeah, especially if we're talking about termites, because 184 00:12:24.559 --> 00:12:30.320 I can Like I said earlier, the key to term identification is visualization, 185 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.039 which means I have to see the tunnel to know you have it. Okay 186 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:35.720 again, termitesied one sixty fourth minutes to getting somewhere, and they're attracted to 187 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.200 moisture and fungus. So we have to be able to see that foundation to 188 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:43.639 see any sort of termite activity. Okay, that connection. Yes, And 189 00:12:43.799 --> 00:12:46.480 you know, if we can't, then I don't know if you have termites 190 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:48.879 or when you're can get termites. And when way I'll know that is all 191 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:52.200 of a sudden you started getting little holes come out of your chi rock. 192 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.919 Oh boy. Yes, And then and then you think you've got an issue. 193 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:58.879 Yes, bad, Yes, you mentioned looking for insect droppings. One 194 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:05.159 the biggest surprises of my life. It was meeting a forensic entomologist at Tech 195 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.000 SAM and he works on all these issues. You know, somebody was found 196 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.879 in the woods and New Jersey or whatever, and they go in and they 197 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:18.200 look at insect droppings on the body and determine you know, no, this 198 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.080 was actually killed in Arizona really in the spring, and it was hauled in 199 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.720 New Jersey and drop. I mean, it's crazy stuff. Intomological scatology. 200 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.799 Yeah, that's that's a little above my pascale, I know, but it's 201 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:35.840 so cool, you know, like the caterpillars that folks bear with me. 202 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:41.240 I realized it's lunch is coming. That hang on with me for a minute. 203 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:46.159 Caterpillars like their digestive tract and rear and then everything have ridges and stuff, 204 00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:48.679 and it's like those little playto things where you push playto through and it 205 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:52.559 comes out as a star or a half moon or whatever. And the bologists 206 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:58.440 can often actually look at the droppings from the insect and tell you exactly what 207 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.519 insect it is. I just find that to be oh yeah, like for 208 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:03.000 us for us. You know, we can we can tell because a lot 209 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:09.720 of people will mistake roaches and mice droppings and you know, or is it 210 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:13.960 an American cockroach? Is it a German cockroach? You know, the droppings 211 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:18.399 are different that way. Is it a subterranean termite or is it a drywood 212 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:20.799 termite? The dropping, Yeah, the droppings are different that way too. 213 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:26.120 So talking about lunch, it's you can always tell if a bunch of pest 214 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:31.039 control people get together because they don't care. They can be out having fine 215 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:35.919 lunch and and talking about German roaches. I don't care. I know people 216 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:41.320 that are into the deal. Well, we're visiting with the entomological, scatology 217 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:46.120 and expert scottograph this morning about all things pest control. Scott. We got 218 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.799 a call from Bill in spring and we're gonna find out what Bills up to. 219 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:54.960 Hey Bill, good morning, Welcome to Gardenline. Hey Bill, you're 220 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:01.240 on, Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Into station. And for the 221 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:05.960 last couple of weeks, a little small flying bugs they land on the wall 222 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:11.279 and they're about an eighth of an inch wall and it looked like they're asleep 223 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:15.799 or something, and you touch them, they'll start flying offs well, seeing 224 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:18.519 them before they just showed up. I don't know what they are, how 225 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:20.879 to get rid of them. You know that it could be a couple of 226 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:24.039 different things. It sounds like to me you could just be ants. I 227 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.600 mean this time of year you get a lot of a lot of flying ants 228 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:28.799 that will come in, especially kind of during nighttime. They're attracted to light. 229 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:33.320 Um, you know they could be doing that now. It could also 230 00:15:33.720 --> 00:15:37.360 it could be it could be turn my swarmers. Um, this this time 231 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:41.679 of year, drywood turn my swarmers or are active. I saw my first 232 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:45.639 infestation the other day of the year, and um, so it could be 233 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:48.080 that. It could be it could be nats. It's it's kind of hard 234 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:52.000 to tell. It could be a couple of different things. I probably suggest 235 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.240 one thing I to a lot of customers is trying to take a picture of 236 00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:56.200 it. You can take a picture of it. You can email it to 237 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:58.399 me, you could, you know, you could text it to us. 238 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:02.679 We can kind of let you know what it is. Um, you know, 239 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:04.639 if it's if it's a fly, or if it's a gnat or something 240 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:07.919 like that. That's more of a sanitation issue that then we want to dress 241 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:11.919 on the outside, or there's other issues that we need to dress. If 242 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.159 it's just a little a little flying ant um, like I said, they'll 243 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:18.679 come into the during the u the nighttime, they'll try to light you know, 244 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:22.759 turn off outside lights, or we can maybe we can treat the outside 245 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:27.639 area for you. Hopefully that may help, all right, ant No, 246 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:32.759 it's more like a little well, it could be a moth then, you 247 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:34.279 know, it could be it could be a pantry moth. A lot of 248 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:38.360 people you'll get maybe go look in the pantry and see if you see like 249 00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:44.320 little cocoons, uh like kind of forming on the corners of the pantry, 250 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:48.320 or see if you've got little little black little bugs um in your pantry. 251 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.039 A lot of times you'll get that. And then they'll they'll molt into into 252 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:56.519 moths and then and then they'll fly out everywhere. And if and if it 253 00:16:56.600 --> 00:16:59.679 is a moth, then we need to address that pretty quickly because they'll they'll 254 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:03.160 spur everywhere and it's really really hard to get rid of them. So Bill, 255 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.200 I guess starting with a good close up photo and a good sharp focus 256 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:11.240 would be probably the best thing. And you can if you want to send 257 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:14.839 me that picture. If I can't. If I can't identify it, I 258 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.279 can certainly pass it along and have Scott or somebody doing identification. But I 259 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:23.319 tell you, the closer and the sharper the focus, the better. Otherwise 260 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:26.880 it's just going to be Yeah, you're right, that's some kind of an 261 00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:30.440 insect. Okay, I could certainly do that, Thank you very much. 262 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.960 All Right, I'm gonna put you on hold and Josh, my producer, 263 00:17:33.079 --> 00:17:37.599 is gonna give you an email. All right. I appreciate that call. 264 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:41.400 You know that this is a season for a lot of different things, and 265 00:17:41.519 --> 00:17:45.279 of course it always seems like it's a roach season around here, and people 266 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:52.599 get concerned and we have a lot of different kinds of roaches that that is 267 00:17:52.279 --> 00:17:56.559 one of the things that I think most people are concerned about because they see 268 00:17:56.599 --> 00:17:59.799 them in the house. They feel like, oh my gosh, it's it's 269 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:03.240 it's disease, filth, it's all that kind of stuff, right. Uh. 270 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:07.480 Actually, cockroaches are kind of clean. They're grimming themselves all the time. 271 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:10.359 So I don't know, if you know, i'd want one crawling across 272 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:12.279 my sandwich. They still no, you don't, you don't, but yeah, 273 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.640 it's kind of funny. You can you can always tell people who just 274 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:21.759 moved here to Houston, because if they haven't experienced a July, August, 275 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:25.920 September and Houston, they have no idea about about the big the roaches we 276 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:29.839 call them bombers or water bugs or something, you know, and they're they're 277 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:33.039 huge and they fly. Uh. Yes, see, the American cockroach is 278 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:37.200 always going to be here. Um. Just because you see them inside or 279 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:40.839 or dead off out somewhere, it doesn't mean it's not a cleanliness thing. 280 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.920 Doesn't mean you're dirty. It just means you live in Houston. And so 281 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:48.559 then we just got to figure out how they're getting in and eliminate them from 282 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:52.480 coming in and stop that. So do you do look at things like dusts, 283 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.920 cracks and crevices or sprays or do you use a bait or all the 284 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:59.839 above? All the above? Yes, there's there's a bunch of different things 285 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:03.279 that we can use. We basically we'll try and specialize what we do base 286 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:07.799 on the house itself and what the infestation is. You know, sometimes sometimes 287 00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.240 it's as easy as just sealing up these areas to keep them from coming in. 288 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:15.079 Okay, good, Well, we've got a bunch of calls coming in, 289 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:17.640 so let's you jump to those. I'm going to start off and go 290 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:22.119 to let's see, we're gonna go to Carl and Beaumont, and Carl has 291 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:26.960 a termite question. I believe. Awesome, Carl, we got about one 292 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:30.880 minute, so let's see if we can get that done. Okay, mine's 293 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:33.160 more of a readerational. Scot's been talking about about the termites find their own 294 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:40.279 way, and they're smart little creatures. Years ago had no knowledge of termites. 295 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:45.519 And the perimeter visualizing the perimeter of the house is so huge, as 296 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:52.400 you've said, I had a visual on the entire slab except for where a 297 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:56.200 Fawcett came out of the ground next to the slab of the house, of 298 00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:00.240 course, and you've gotten I don't know, a half inch between in the 299 00:20:00.279 --> 00:20:04.119 slab the pipe in the slab, and he even put some insulation behind that 300 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:08.559 around around the pipe. And Carl, I hate to interrupt that we've got 301 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:12.319 about twenty seconds or fifteen seconds here? Do we need to hold you over 302 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:15.720 pass break? Sure? Go ahead, all right, Sorry about that. 303 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:19.279 We're about to take a break for the news. We're talking about Scott McGrath, 304 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:25.200 about all things insects. McGrath Pest Control. If you got insect questions, 305 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:27.079 give us a call. We'll get you on the line seven one three 306 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:48.079 two one two fifty eight seventy four. You're listening to Garden Line and as 307 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:52.759 always, our music comes as a surprise. We are visiting today with Scott 308 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.839 McGrath about all kinds of things insect related, and we're gonna just jump right 309 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:02.039 in and go back to Carl Beaumont. Carl, did you have a question 310 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:07.000 connected to that? I really didn't have a question. Mind was more of 311 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:10.680 a reiteration of what Scott was talking about about the termites being smart little critters 312 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:15.799 and going up on this on this house exactly where the only visual visual couldn't 313 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:22.680 be gotten behind the pipe. Yeah, it always happens that way. Yeah, 314 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:26.480 it always happens that way. The one area that you overlook because you 315 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.839 never think that some of them will get there, that's where they'll be there. 316 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:33.799 You go right exactly, Well, Carl, I appreciate that call. 317 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:36.920 Thank you very much, Carl very much. We're gonna get back. You 318 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:38.960 know, it's hard to think of termites as a beneficial insect, but when 319 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.400 you think about the eons and eons for us, we would be a mile 320 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:47.920 deep in tree trunks if it wasn't for the termites and fungi and a few 321 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:52.160 other things. Let's now go out to Brazoria County and we're gonna talk to 322 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:57.000 Louise. Hello, Louise, Louis or is it Lewis. It's Lewis. 323 00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:03.160 Good morning, Good morning. Question about mud davers I have, I said, 324 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:04.920 come home on the coast of county that I'm prepping to sell and just 325 00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:12.519 got through climate. How would you repel mud dabbs? Discourage them? Move 326 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:18.920 now I'm kidding. Um, yeah, maybe it's spray some pam non stick 327 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:22.279 sprang stick out there. Yes, yes, Um, you know I always 328 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:25.839 always heard the old old story that if you paint your the your porch roof 329 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:27.480 blue, they'll think it's a sky and they won't gone there. That's that's 330 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:33.200 not true. I'll see them do that. Yeah, okay, but they 331 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:34.640 mud dog run on the side where the white and the blue come along. 332 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:38.319 But yeah, the blue actually work. We did it about five years ago. 333 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:42.480 Hate blue okay, good good, Yeah, it's yeah. It's it's 334 00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:45.160 hard. It's hard to totally get rid of them. I mean, like 335 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.039 any flying insect, they're going to be around. You know. That's why 336 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:51.640 we can we can do things to you know, we can spray some stuff 337 00:22:51.720 --> 00:22:53.720 or some dust on there. That'll that'll that'll help it, that will discourage 338 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:56.519 them. Um. But you know again, you know they make their little 339 00:22:56.599 --> 00:23:02.000 mud mud things there in the the corner, and what I use I just 340 00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:04.240 knock them off or wash them off with the hose. Um. And because 341 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:07.519 they don't stay in there, all they do is they fly around, they 342 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:11.160 go get their their carcasses and they go and they put them inside the little 343 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:15.359 the little mud thing and there, so it's hard to fully get rid of 344 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:18.039 them. Yeah, I just want to always want to drop some bison or 345 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:21.720 something to you just on a discourage for the next three or four months until 346 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:22.799 it's a little taller, you know that. Yeah, that could help you. 347 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.440 Spray around there, Spray around your yard area, spray your bushes. 348 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:29.519 I mean we do that for for WASP all the time too. We can 349 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:33.079 spray under the bushes and around the bushes and you know, if there's a 350 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:36.240 nest something, that'll get rid of them. But um, eventually they're going 351 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:38.119 to come back. Yeah. So you know, I just want to mention 352 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:41.920 Lewis. Lewis when you're when you're doing spraying, especially up on the eaves 353 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:45.960 like that, you just want to be careful with any pesticide that doesn't drift 354 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:48.039 down into your eyes. And a lot of times when they do it yourself 355 00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:51.640 job, we don't quite have the equipment, and so we try to get 356 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:53.920 a little bit more range out of our little pump up spray or something mend 357 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:56.920 up standing right underneath it. So right, be a little careful with I 358 00:23:56.920 --> 00:24:00.200 always wear some PPPs. There you go. Good, good point. One 359 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:03.920 of the quick questions or comment. I think Skip claimed that pillbugs out bugs 360 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:06.960 are adable. I just want to know your no, No, I did 361 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:08.960 never. I've never said that. Where there was that once? I didn't 362 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:12.039 know? Well, they are crustations, So I guess what did we be? 363 00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:17.799 Pillbugs on the half shell or something like? Good show. Thank you 364 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:19.960 for the help, Thanks a lot, Lewis. I appreciate that insult very 365 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:25.839 much. Thank you for the call. Glad you're Let's go to Parallel now 366 00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:27.440 and talk to Craig. We've got a lot of calls coming in here. 367 00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:32.119 Hello, Craig, how are you doing this morning? Fine? Start and 368 00:24:32.200 --> 00:24:37.319 thank you gentlemen taking a call. Just got a question about the status of 369 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.519 the crazy answer, because we don't have an infestation. But I remember several 370 00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:45.039 years back there used to be in the news and you know, there were 371 00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:48.720 stories of them overwhelming different parts of the city and actually knocking out power. 372 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:55.160 But I haven't seen any at all in years. And have they moved on? 373 00:24:55.240 --> 00:25:00.119 Are they still around or whatever happened to crazy about those ants are actually 374 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:06.079 raspberry or tawny ants, and so they were pretty prevalent for a couple of 375 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.160 years or so, but yeah, they've kind of gone kind of downhill on 376 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:11.359 that. I haven't I haven't seen an infestation of them in a very long 377 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:15.000 time. Um. The thing about them, it used to be because there 378 00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:18.920 were so many and they were so populous that you know, you would you 379 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:22.559 would spray something around uh the ants would would you know, walk across that 380 00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:26.640 they would die, But then the other ants would walk right on top of 381 00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:30.359 the dead ants and not get to the chemical and that that's what was making 382 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:33.279 them so hard to uh to uh to kill. Um. Yeah, those 383 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:36.839 tawny ants, I haven't seen those in a number of years. So, 384 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:41.400 but there's there's all kinds of different crazy ants, NUIs and ants that are 385 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:44.759 out there um right now. A lot of the rover ants, which a 386 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:47.559 lot of people see, a little small black ants, which a lot of 387 00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:49.759 people call them the crazy ants. They're pretty prevalent right now. The ghost 388 00:25:49.799 --> 00:25:53.920 ants um. You'll see those a lot around the outside perimeter of your house 389 00:25:55.160 --> 00:25:59.759 or in bathrooms, in the kitchens because they're attracted there, attracted to moisture. 390 00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:03.279 Um. So I'm not sure if you're seeing those or not. No, 391 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:07.480 No, we don't. Haven't had any issues whatsoever. I was just 392 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:11.640 I was just wondering whatever happens the state. They actually were in our neighborhood 393 00:26:11.640 --> 00:26:14.440 and they the fire ants out. I mean, there were so many of 394 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:18.119 them. Oh yeah, you didn't see fire I said, anymore. But 395 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:21.559 they've just never come back. I've never seen any So I'm gonna status us. 396 00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:23.079 Yeah, I'm just gonna say. McGrath's control got rid of them all 397 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:27.279 everywhere. There you go. That's why you've gotten to the bottom of it. 398 00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:30.039 Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Appreciate that. 399 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:33.880 Call Craig, if you'd like to call and talk insects today with Scott 400 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:40.319 McGrath seven one three two one two fifty eight seventy four. All right, 401 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:42.319 Scott. Well, let's talk a little more about mosquitos. You mentioned them 402 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:48.240 earlier on what are the options from just a home doot yourself to a professionally 403 00:26:48.359 --> 00:26:52.599 done job on the mosquitoes. So, yeah, mosquitoes are pretty bad here 404 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:56.240 in Houston. And actually, kind of funny thing is we were just talking 405 00:26:56.240 --> 00:27:00.200 about people. This has kind of been a slow mosquito season, which is 406 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:03.559 good for I guess for people, but bad bad for us because of the 407 00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:07.799 because of the temperatures and the lack of rain. Anytime you've got a lot 408 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:11.359 of raincome and the mosquitos are going to hatch. You know they're there, 409 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:14.559 they could say dormant and until there's a little bit of water. Um. 410 00:27:14.599 --> 00:27:17.359 As far as your house, there's a bunch of different things you can do. 411 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:21.440 Um. You know, you if you keep your grass mode, if 412 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:25.079 you keep your bushes trimmed, make sure there's no standing water, make sure 413 00:27:25.079 --> 00:27:27.599 there's no staggnant water anywhere. I mean they can they can lay up to 414 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:33.000 thousands of eggs in just a little bottle cap somewhere. So you want to 415 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:34.640 make sure you don't have anything like that land around the house. You know, 416 00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:38.119 Gutters, checker gutters, make sure there's no leaves or anything in there 417 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:41.440 that they're they're clean. Um, you know, any kind of tires or 418 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.519 anything like that. Um. You know, if you're still getting them. 419 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:49.279 One thing you can do is high fans like ceiling fans or box fans. 420 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:53.200 Uh, you can you can turn those on and the mosquitoes won't. They 421 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:56.000 can't stay when there's a lot of high winds on there, they'll go away, 422 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:00.400 um, you know. And then there's there's certain plants that you can 423 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:03.799 buy that some people say that helps, you know, certain um, rosemary 424 00:28:03.920 --> 00:28:08.680 and centronella plants, different things like that, UM, that will help eliminate 425 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:11.559 them. But then you know, of course with me, I own a 426 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:15.839 pest control company, So I'm gonna say getting a backpack fogger done you know 427 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:21.319 every three weeks or so was good. We have mosquito systems that I love. 428 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:25.119 That helped too. And that's something that's put on the eaves. Yes, 429 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:27.680 so mosquito system. It's it's been around for a number of years. 430 00:28:27.720 --> 00:28:30.680 It's one of those you know, gets a little nozzles. You put them 431 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:33.920 on the eaves of the house around the fence line. UM. It goes 432 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:37.279 off about forty five seconds. That dust get at dawn because that's when the 433 00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:41.440 mosquitoes are most active, and and it kills any kind of flying insects around. 434 00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:47.440 It's also great for june bugs and spiders and flies, anything that's flying 435 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:51.079 around. Now, the good thing about it too is it doesn't it doesn't 436 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:53.680 like have a residual. It doesn't stay on the grounds. It dissipates after 437 00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:57.599 so many minutes. So it's safe for kids and dogs and toys. And 438 00:28:57.640 --> 00:29:00.960 we can even be out there. Um. In fact, I laugh and 439 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.359 say, I'm out there with mine. If I forget it's going off, 440 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:07.319 I'm just gonna cover up my drink and I move out of the way and 441 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:11.160 I'll be good to go. That's sound like at pirethrun or what's what what 442 00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:14.319 I means. Yeah, it's a promethrin based chemical, Yeah, that we 443 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:19.000 use persistent. Yeah, And promethean is a very popular active ingredient. It's 444 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:23.000 in a lot of flea and tick meds and and soon any certain repellents things 445 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:27.599 like that, you know. And then we also offer of some the pyrethrum 446 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:32.920 chemicals to the rip ties and the natural stuff. Okay, good, Hey, 447 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:36.160 you're listening to garden Line. We're talking to Scott mcgraffin and we're gonna 448 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:37.279 take a break and we'll be right back if you'd like to get on the 449 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:47.880 boards called Josh seven one three two one two fifty eight seventy four A pant 450 00:29:47.960 --> 00:29:59.799 and the need to day come on day and the pants, Well that on 451 00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:02.519 tell you something number one. You're listening to guard line number two. We're 452 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:07.119 talking bugs entomology today. We've got Scott McGrath with McGrath Pest Control here with 453 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:11.359 us. Hey, we've talked about different products and things like that, and 454 00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:15.160 I just wanted to mention if you're looking for the one source where you're going 455 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:18.920 to have the best selection of all kinds of things like herbicides and secticides, 456 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:23.000 fungicides. If you're an organic gardener you want organic products, you're not going 457 00:30:23.079 --> 00:30:27.240 to find a better selection than Southwest Fertilizer. You know, Bob Patterson and 458 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:30.279 his team, they know what they're talking about. And if you walk in 459 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:33.480 there with a picture or a sample, they're going to be able to identify 460 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:37.000 it. They're gonna be able to tell you what works and what doesn't work. 461 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:38.559 They're not going to say you something you don't need. They'll sell you 462 00:30:38.599 --> 00:30:41.720 something's effective and tell you how to use it, and that in and of 463 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:48.039 itself is well worth the price of admission. They have lots of garden tools. 464 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:52.119 They are sharpen you mower blades and even fix your small engines there in 465 00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:56.759 the shop. It's easy to find Southwest Fertilizer there on the corner of Bissonette 466 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:00.599 and Runwick, or just go online to Southwest Fertilizer dot com. And trust 467 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:03.839 me, when you go in there, you will be very impressed and you 468 00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:08.480 will come home with a quality product that is specifically designed for the issue you're 469 00:31:08.519 --> 00:31:12.240 trying to deal with. Well, we're talking to Scott McGrath today and Scott, 470 00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:15.759 i'd like you to tell a little bit about maybe the history of the 471 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:19.759 company, how you got started, and just kind of give people an overview 472 00:31:19.799 --> 00:31:25.880 of what McGrath Pest Control is today. Sir, so McGrath Pest Control was 473 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:30.079 started in nineteen seventy four by my dad, Doug. He was a school 474 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:33.759 teacher out in the Cyprus area did it for a number of years. I 475 00:31:33.799 --> 00:31:37.799 didn't want to get out and do something customer oriented, and you know, 476 00:31:37.839 --> 00:31:41.640 back then it was this was a great customer service thing, and I kind 477 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:44.480 of allow because I kind of grew up with it, and I remember him 478 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:48.160 working out an oldsmobile with a hand tank in the trunk and just kind of 479 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:52.839 group them there, you know, and he kind of still just the old 480 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:56.799 fashioned customer service, very honest type, you know what I'm gonna do to 481 00:31:56.079 --> 00:32:00.039 take care of the company. And so I've kind of grown up with this 482 00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:04.680 business and I've been doing it full time for about twenty four years. I've 483 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:08.519 owned the company for fourteen years now. He's he's retired, and they didn't 484 00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:12.799 want to hear the word bug anymore because you're doing it so long. But 485 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:16.079 but it's been a great just a honest, family, family run business that 486 00:32:16.119 --> 00:32:20.079 we've had, and I'm hoping it'll keep going for another couple of you know, 487 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:22.160 another couple decades. Oh yeah, I mean you grew up witnessing from 488 00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:28.880 your dad the concepts of hard work and honesty and taking care of the customers 489 00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:31.599 and the value of that, and that is so important today. Nothing turns 490 00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:36.799 me off faster than to go into a store or to you know, hire 491 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:39.160 a service, and it's just like they could care less that you're there, 492 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:43.160 give me your money, I'm going to my next job, and instead of 493 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:46.920 you know, really communicating and respecting the customers, showing up when you're say 494 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:51.440 you're going to show up, all those kind of things that that in and 495 00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:53.079 of itself is worth a lot. Oh it is. And you know, 496 00:32:53.079 --> 00:32:57.799 and that's when that we try and pride ourselves onto this company is you know, 497 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:00.720 I tell a lot of my technicians don't sell services. Let's help the 498 00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:05.720 customer. Let's help figure out what the problem is, because maybe there's something 499 00:33:05.759 --> 00:33:08.039 that we can't do or we don't need to do that they can do on 500 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:12.359 their own as long as it solves a problem. And I want to make 501 00:33:12.359 --> 00:33:15.400 sure that we give good value to you know, to our customers, and 502 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:17.400 we make them proud to have us, you know, in their house. 503 00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:20.960 That's good. That is good. Hey, we're going to go out to 504 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:23.960 Cleveland. Robert has a question for us, and so Robert, how can 505 00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:28.880 we help today? Yes, good morning, Scott, thank you for being 506 00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:35.720 there and asking questions. My wife has a sunflower plants and we have a 507 00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:42.039 twofold problem. We have small dogs and we have what appears to be small 508 00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:50.599 snails on the sunflower eating the leaves and the point snails. Well, I'm 509 00:33:50.599 --> 00:33:52.920 going to take that at face value. If you've got snails, you know, 510 00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:55.960 the best thing you can do out in the garden is to get a 511 00:33:57.119 --> 00:34:00.799 bait for them, bait product. You want to get it fresh, and 512 00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:02.599 you want to put out enough of it. You don't want them to get 513 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:07.160 a little sick and then not eat it anymore. That bait shyness thing can 514 00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:10.199 happen with snails. But there's a number of them. There's a Slugo out 515 00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:14.920 there, I believe. I believe there's an organic one. I can't think 516 00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:17.000 of what it is now, but Slugo has iron phosphate which gives them a 517 00:34:17.079 --> 00:34:21.400 terminal case of constipation, which if you don't like snails, that's a happy 518 00:34:21.440 --> 00:34:24.599 thought. But anyway, and that's usually what we suggest, is you just 519 00:34:24.599 --> 00:34:28.639 get some that slugo stuff. Yeah, that works great, all right, 520 00:34:28.760 --> 00:34:34.400 Robert. Do you know if that's safe for dogs as well? Or I'm 521 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:37.079 sure it is. Yes, I think it would be, because it's not 522 00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:42.199 like, you know, a chemical pesticide type thing. It's more just an 523 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:46.239 iron phosphate based bait. There are some other baits out there. I would 524 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:52.519 put them in some kind of a structure where the dogs can't get to them. 525 00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:54.800 If you're worried about it, but just remember that when you put them 526 00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:58.320 out, you want fresh bait, and you want to get it out there 527 00:34:59.239 --> 00:35:02.400 and have plenty of access for them to eat all that they can. All 528 00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:06.480 right, all righty, thank you so much, you bet, thank you, 529 00:35:06.599 --> 00:35:08.960 Robert. I appreciate that call. Let's go to Lake Jackson now and 530 00:35:09.000 --> 00:35:15.199 we're gonna talk to Danny. I believe Danny's got an entomology question. Yep, 531 00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:22.000 good morning, I do. My question is, uh, is there 532 00:35:22.039 --> 00:35:28.000 you know we have a lawn schedule. Is there a schedule for pest control? 533 00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:32.920 Is it in the spring, maybe before winter? I have a I 534 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:37.719 have a rental property enrichment and I want to the rent as happy. Yes, 535 00:35:37.880 --> 00:35:43.880 so so yeah. I mean the good thing about Houston is that you 536 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:46.000 know, we have we have we have slow winters. You know, we 537 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:51.079 have warm winters pretty much, so you can pretty much our schedules are usually 538 00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:53.199 every three months, every ninety days. That will come out of what tree 539 00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:57.000 to house. UM. Now, if you're not looking to getting on any 540 00:35:57.079 --> 00:36:00.440 kind of set schedule or anything like that, UM, we used to say, 541 00:36:00.519 --> 00:36:02.119 let's just start something in the early spring. If you can get something 542 00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:06.239 done to early spring, tweet the house, treat the yard. That should 543 00:36:06.360 --> 00:36:08.920 last you for the majority of the summer. But if you're looking for some 544 00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:13.000 sort of a schedule, yes, well, use you do every ninety days. 545 00:36:13.320 --> 00:36:15.960 I used suggest getting the yard done probably twice a year, which would 546 00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:20.559 be every other every other quarter. If you get that done, you keep 547 00:36:20.599 --> 00:36:23.960 on a regular basis, and you know and you keep you keep everything kind 548 00:36:23.960 --> 00:36:28.559 of clean and sanitation free. You shouldn't have any issues, at least not 549 00:36:28.639 --> 00:36:34.320 even major issues. Good do you, guys? Service Richmond. We do 550 00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:38.519 every day, all day, every day you'll be hearing from me. I 551 00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:43.039 appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thank you, Denny. I appreciate 552 00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:45.679 that very much. Appreciate that call. By the way, if you want 553 00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:47.639 to get a hold of Scott, you can call two eight one four six 554 00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:52.800 nine eighty two forty or just go to MacGrath pest Control dot com and you 555 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:57.320 can learn a lot more and get in touch with them. Well, we 556 00:36:57.440 --> 00:37:00.320 got about about a one minute or less, but I'd like you, if 557 00:37:00.320 --> 00:37:05.119 you would to just talk a little bit about the rodent issues, some of 558 00:37:05.159 --> 00:37:07.559 the four legged creatures that we deal with. So here in Houston, the 559 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:12.639 rodents are everywhere you're you're going to have them. People get disgusted when they 560 00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:15.159 see them in a yard and I say, you don't worry about They're always 561 00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:16.960 here, okay, we just don't want to get them inside the house. 562 00:37:17.400 --> 00:37:22.199 So that that's a big it's a big issue um using the winter months when 563 00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:27.039 it gets colder, because squirrels and rodents have like to come inside. So 564 00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:30.000 we have to be able to seal up around around the area to keep them 565 00:37:30.039 --> 00:37:32.400 from coming in. There's things we can do on the outside to that to 566 00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:37.559 help eliminate and determine, you know, and reduce it. But if we 567 00:37:37.079 --> 00:37:39.760 if we can keep it from coming in, that's the major problem. And 568 00:37:39.800 --> 00:37:43.519 again that's something that we do on a daily basis. We would love to 569 00:37:43.559 --> 00:37:45.079 help someone out with that. You know what to look for when you walk 570 00:37:45.079 --> 00:37:47.599 around the house and you look up in there and you know, yeah, 571 00:37:47.639 --> 00:37:51.440 that's that's where they're coming in. That's one of them. We see it 572 00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:54.400 every day. I bet well, Scott, I so appreciate you coming into 573 00:37:54.480 --> 00:38:00.199 Thank you Great sex. A lot of interest from callers as well. If 574 00:38:00.199 --> 00:38:04.559 you're interested in getting in touch with Scott McGrath Pest Control, go to MacGrath 575 00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:07.639 Pest control dot com or give m a call to eight one four six nine 576 00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:13.840 eighty two forty. We'll be back for our last hour this morning of in 577 00:38:13.880 --> 00:38:17.199 fact, last hour this weekend of garden Line. Remember that if you miss 578 00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:21.639 garden Line, you can listen to us by podcast. You can catch up 579 00:38:21.639 --> 00:38:24.639 with an old show or maybe maybe you heard Scott or I say something and 580 00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:28.360 you like, what was it they said? What product did they talk about? 581 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:31.559 Well, go back and listen to the past shows and on your podcast, 582 00:38:31.719 --> 00:38:35.519 and that's a great way to do it. I appreciate all the folks 583 00:38:35.559 --> 00:38:38.960 from all over the country really that listen to garden Line by listening live on 584 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:43.679 the computer as well. It's just great to be able to help folks. 585 00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:45.039 And again, Scott, thank you so much. You were quite welcold, 586 00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:45.480 great time.