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Re: Controlling Pests



I'd be concerned about your groundhog. It may be setting you up for some
real problems by burrowing under the building. We had to have a colony (?)
of them trapped last year because they were starting to dig under the
building, which has only a mudsill foundation and half basement.

Just out of curiosity, what's a cluster fly? Our problem is ladybugs -
thousands of them converge on the only warm shelter within a quarter mile
each fall. Last fall our mail clerk, a high school kid, got so annoyed by
them swirling around him as he tried to work that he emptied most of a can
of Raid inside the building. End of ladybugs, but almost end of him and me;
we had to evcauate and let the place air out before we could work inside
again.

Best wishes,

Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
16623 Liberty Hi Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Phone 419-352-5616
Fax 419-352-6086
tberry@wcnet.org
http://www.hcea.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Fitzgerald, Rebecca" <rfitzger@MSMARY.EDU>
To: <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2001 1:42 PM
Subject: Controlling Pests


> I'm hoping someone can help me.
>
> The building that houses the Archives of the college were I work is out
> in the country and thus fairly isolated, and was infested with cluster
> flies this past fall, winter, and spring.  Since the Archives holds an
> extensive collection of artwork on canvas, as well as many other
> significant paper-based collections going back 200 years, I became very
> concerned about the damage done to the collection by fly droppings, dead
> bodies, and other contamination.  I ended up hanging sticky fly paper
> strips in every window upstairs and in several windows downstairs.  That
> seemed to do the trick, but the arrival of warm weather was probably
> what finally ended the invasion.  While doing some research into how to
> prevent another outbreak this fall, I came across a site set up by the
> Virginia Cooperative Extension that recommends spraying the outside of
> the house with synthetic pyrethroids.  I did some searching, and the
> chemical seems to be fairly safe to humans if it's not ingested.  One
> site said, "Dermal contact may result in skin irritation such as
> stinging, burning, itching, and tingling progressing to numbness," but
> I'm not planning on rolling around in it.
>
> I also have a groundhog living under the back steps.  I've become
> surprisingly attached to it, and worry about the effect on him/her.  I
> could have it trapped and removed.
>
> Now I have two questions.  Does anyone know if those sticky fly paper
> strips have any fumes or other side effects?  They say they don't, but I
> don't believe everything I read.
>
> Secondly, would you take the risk of spraying the building with
> chemicals since the flies can't be prevented using any other means?
> They come inside through tiny cracks and openings that are impossible to
> find and plug.  And they were horrible:  think of Hitchcock's The Birds,
> only with flies.
>
> Thanks for any suggestions, advice, etc.
>
> Rebecca Fitzgerald, CA
> Mt. St. Mary's Archives & Dept. of Special Collections
> Mt. St. Mary's College & Seminary
> Emmitsburg, MD
> 301/447-5397
> 301/447-6868 (fax)
> rfitzger@msmary.edu
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
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>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>