Like the Hulk, Cryonite is a big, green, killing machine! The super hero of the pest world, it’s Cryonite to the rescue when the bad guys invade. Blood-sucking little bed bugs, nasty German cockroaches, vicious pumped-up pesticide-resistant bugs — Cryonite mows them all down with ease. Like Mr. Freeze on steroids, Cryonite shoots a carbon dioxide snow that stops insects in their tracks and freezes them dead. Cryonite is the summer blockbuster hit of the pest control world!

You can find Cryonite at Stern Environmental Group, recently named a North American sales rep for the revolutionary ”green” bed bug and insect extermination system. What makes Cryonite “green”?

• It’s chemical-free and non-toxic making it safe for sensitive environments like the food industry, day care centers, nursing homes, hospitals and your home.
• There are no messy wet residues, no pesticide smells, no health implications when Cryonite is used. Hotel rooms can be placed back in use right after treatment. You don’t have to worry about the health of your children and pets after treatment.
• Cryonite uses only food-grade quality CO2 so there is no risk of contamination. 
• The CO2 used by the Cryonite system is recycled from industrial processes and does not release additional CO2 into the atmosphere.

To find out more about the revolutionary “green” Cryonite bed bug killing system, visit Stern Environmental Group.

In our last post (May 30) we chronicled the woes of a Fox News Channel staffer who has sued the company charging that she now suffers post traumatic stress syndrome because of “a continuous and ongoing bed bug problem at work.”

Jane Clark’s plight points out the extreme difficulty of treating bed bug infestations, particularly in office buildings, hotels and motels, apartments and condominiums, and any place where you have a large number of rooms inhabited by a large number of people who come and go daily. Clark is only one of many traumatized by these small insects that feed on human blood — and she’s not the first to sue.

The very nature of these nuisance pests makes the scenario playing out at Fox News Channel likely to be repeated with increasing frequency as the bed bug problem in the U.S. escalates. Bed bugs are easily transported. They move into a building on the clothing or in the luggage of an infected person. You can pick them up on a bus, taxi, subway or airplane if you happen to sit on a seat recently vacated by an infected person. You can bring them home from a hotel room or a friend’s home.

Next time: How Bed Bugs Spread

Insects are at their most active during the spring and summer. Warmer winters have contributed to an even bigger bug population than usual, meaning more bugs to bedevil you this summer. You may need the expertise of a pest control company to fight back.

Here’s what to look for when hiring a pest control company:

• Ask to see their license. Find out how their technicians are trained and screened. Ask how long the firm has been in the community. Check with the Better Business Bureau and ask for references from customers. When hiring a pest control company look for an honest firm you can trust. Their staff will be coming into your home, opening drawers and looking under the beds in their search for pests. You don’t want to give just anyone that kind of access to your home, family and possessions.
• Discuss the company’s approach to pest control. Look for a firm that practices Integrated Pest Management which uses an analytical approach to minimize the use of pesticides. Determining entry points and sealing them up so that pests can’t return is as important as killing the pests currently crawling around.
• Find out what is included in the services. Some pest problems can be cleared up with a single application; others require follow-up treatment. In many instances, pest management services — periodic inspections and applications — will best serve your needs.

How do you know when to hire a pest control company? Some pests can present a health threat or property damage risk that demands the immediate attention of a pest control professional. It helps if you can identify the cause of the problem.

If you hear scurrying across the ceiling at night or hear scratching or high pitched cries coming from the attic, chances are squirrels or a raccoon have moved into your attic. Little black pellets on the floor or shelves of your garage or basement are likely to be mouse or rat droppings. The sight of a trail of ants across the kitchen floor, a cockroach scurrying under the stove, a beetle or two on the carpet are all signs of a potential infestation.

Sometimes a problem is first noticed by the effects the insect’s presence. If you wake up with itchy welts on your body, bed bugs could be the culprit. If you discover round holes in the fascia of your house, be on the lookout for carpenter bees. If you find dirt tunnels on the side of your home, it’s time for a termite inspection. The discovery of mounds of sawdust along your foundation could indicate carpenter ants.

If you see signs of a pest problem, contact a pest control professional. He can tell you what your treatment options are and take care of the problem before more damage occurs.

Students at the University of Vermont were on the move last week. Bed bugs moved into one of the dorms at the Burlington, Vermont school, forcing students to move out. Fast action by the university kept bites to a minimum in the “German House” suite shared by 8 students. Students were moved to other rooms while the suite and neighboring rooms were treated.

“All of their belongings had to go into bags and they had to wash all their clothes,” said freshman Nick Leggett who had to vacate his neighboring suite during fumigation.

It’s too early to tell whether the problem will spread. In multi-room facilities like college dorms, hotels, apartments, nursing homes, etc. fumigation can eliminate bed bugs in the treated room but force them to seek harborage in nearby rooms, expanding the problem. Bed bugs move easily through wall voids, electrical and plumbing conduits, vents and air ducts. If a bed bug infestation is found in one room, it is likely that adjacent rooms as well as rooms on the floors above and below the original site are also infected.

If you discover bed bugs, it’s important to immediately consult a pest control professional with a proven expertise in bed bug eradication to make certain that all appropriate measures are taken to eliminate the problem.

If rats or mice are causing you trouble, Stern’s innovative Track & Trap rodent control program is the answer. The smart solution to rodent problems, Track & Trap uses a special tracking system that allows you to actually see all the places where disease-carrying, destructive rodents are getting into your home or business. One-pound, one-foot long rats can squeeze through an opening the size of a quarter. Mice can push their tiny bodies through spaces that don’t seem to be much bigger than a baby’s fingertip. Finding their entry points can be a challenge.

The Track & Trap program begins with installation of a special tracking box. Packed with tasty rodent treats, the box is dusted with a special fluorescent powder that adheres to the feet of the hungry varmints. As they come into feed, they track the powder around, leaving trails to their entry sites and back to their nests. Stern’s rodent eradication experts use a special UV light to follow these tracks. We know exactly where homes and buildings have to be sealed to prevent rodents from entering.

The program is eco-friendly and comes in two sizes for mouse or rat control. Click here for more information on Stern’s innovative Track & Trap rodent control program.

New York City has gone on a rat rampage in an attempt to make a dent in the city’s considerable rodent population. Rat czar Bobby Corrigan, the noted rodentologist, and his team (dubbed the rat pack) are scurrying about the city looking for signs of rodent infestation. When a problem is found, property owners must correct the problem quickly.

The world record for biggest rat is held by an Asian rat that weighed in at a hefty 1 pound 7 ounces. (As a comparison, “purse dogs” like those favored by Paris Hilton weigh about 3 pounds; the average house cat weighs, 6 pounds.) Fortunately for NYC residents, it’s the Norway rat that makes the Big Apple its home. Weighing just a pound, adults grow to be between 1 and 1.5 feet long, though that’s plenty big enough.

At least we don’t have the problems found in some parts of the world. In the remote state of Mizoram, India, an army of rats has caused a critical food shortage. Initially attracted by tasty bamboo flowers, the rats have been feasting on standing crops and rice stored in granaries.  Rats have devoured nearly three-quarters of the region’s annual rice supply. State authorities have initiated a “kill a rat, get cash” program, paying 5 US cents for every dead rat. What they need is Stern’s Track & Trap mouse and rat control program.

The New York City Health Department claimed that progress has been made regarding the battle with cockroaches. However 30% of the households have reported to be hosts for the annoying pests. They are residing primarily in poor neighborhoods.  One resident claimed he has not seen a cockroach in 10 years. He was pleading with them to come home (perhaps not).

There are a variety of products which can destroy the cockroaches. For those of you who are adventurous you can hire a gang of wasps to destroy the eggs. You can utilize the pest control services of wasps belonging to the Ampulicidae family. They’re predators of the adults and nymphal cockroaches. The house centipede is the star when it comes to getting rid of cockroaches. If you have human visitors, some might consider your choice of exterminators to be quite rude or very silly or quite odd. 

Cryonite, used by Stern Environmental has been very effective at destroying German cockroaches as well as their egg cases. It’s a non-toxic carbon dioxide that freezes them to death and has been very effective with bed bugs. We don’t recommend a battalion of wasps or purchasing three tons of centipedes (even if you have a coupon) because if you do city officials might put your name in a special file. Try some Cryonite.

In Hollywood you can tour the Homes of the Stars, but the Rat Tour is only offered in the Big Apple! The Rat Tour was the culminating event of last Friday’s town hall meeting hosted by NY State Senator Bill Perkins to highlight NYC’s new rat eradication initiative. Held in Perkins’ 125th Street office, the meeting featured “Rat Czar” Bobby Corrigan, the city’s noted rodentologist.

Dragging a dead rat from his backpack and tossing it into the air, Corrigan got the meeting off to a quirky start. “I caught this rat myself in New York City, so there’s one less out there for sure,” he joked. Corrigan, who has been stalking rats for 35 years, said, “I have a lot of respect for this mammal.” Rats are smart and capable of learning from experience. However, they also destroy enough food worldwide to feed more than 200 million people a year.

NYC is populated with Norway rats which range from 1 to 1.5 feet long and weigh about a pound. Highly adaptable, they can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter, jump 3 feet vertically and fall 5 stories without injury. “Rats are not as big as alley cats,” claimed Corrigan, who attributed the myth to the fact that rats puff up their fur when frightened which can appear to double their size.

Scientists have known for some time that cockroaches produce allergens than can increase the severity of asthma symptoms, particularly in children. According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one in five children in the U.S. is severely sensitive to cockroach allergens. These allergens are introduced into homes through cockroach saliva, droppings and decomposing bodies. Now new research indicates that cockroaches may also harbor molds that can trigger allergic reactions.

In research on Madagascar hissing cockroaches — at 3 inches long and up to an inch wide, the King Kong of the roach world — a trio of Ohio doctoral students have found that the giant bugs carry 14 different types of molds. Several of these molds produce spores that can trigger stuffy noses, itching eyes, wheezing coughs and irritated skin in people with allergies. Additional research will be needed to see if common roaches and the hard-t0-kill German cockroaches that bedevil American apartments and homes similarly carry molds.

Allergies generally increase with repeated exposure. Since there is no such thing as a single cockroach, allergy risk increases exponentially if roaches enter your home. Allergens enter the air and then your sinuses and lungs on minute dust particles. Professional cockroach extermination and pest control is needed to eliminate the allergy and asthma risk caused by cockroaches.