We don’t give much thought to grasshoppers these days but in the 1800’s our ancestors suffered through swarms of Rocky Mountain grasshoppers of biblical proportions. Swarms over a mile high, one hundred miles wide, and more than a thousand miles long. Trillions (yes, trillions) of insects stripping miles of countryside bare of all vegetation.

Strangely, because the insects breeding grounds were the very lands cultivated for crops, the plow is credited with driving that species of grass hopper into extinction.

According to the Wa. Dept. of Agriculture, there are over 100 different species of grasshopper in Washington State.

Grasshoppers are still a major pest of crops. In most years there is no need to treat for them, but when we get successive years of dry spring conditions along with abundant food their populations can climb to destructive levels. Populations tend to build up in rangeland and spread to nearby cropland.

The last major outbreak occurred in western states in 1985. The federal government sprayed a record thirteen million acres of rangeland to protect croplands.

The last significant outbreak in Washington was between 1978-1979.

There are a half dozen species responsible for most crop damage but the Red legged grasshopper is the one encountered most often in Grays Harbor.

Red legged grasshoppers are one of the most common grasshoppers in North America, ranging from as far north as the arctic circle all the way to southern Mexico.

This grasshopper prefers grassland, and will feed on a wide variety of plant materials including grass, leaves, grains, and even bark. They can be particularly destructive of clover and alfalfa and are significant pests of soybeans, wheat, and other grain crops.

Red legged grasshoppers lay eggs in the soil that spend the

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When I chose to do pest control as a career I expected to have to deal with some strange things but some days are stranger than others.

Hard to believe: While inspecting a crawlspace for rodents I noticed the insulation in the floor was

hanging strangely. When I touched it I was nearly buried in dog food kibble. Turns out the homeowner was feeding dogs on the porch and the mice were stashing it on top of the insulation. I figure there had to be at least 200 lb. of dog food stashed in the floor. The insulation package had to be completely replaced.

While servicing a home for termites I noticed grain moths flitting about inside the home. Continued…

Quarterly publication of BEACON Pest Control © All Rights Reserved. Fall 2017 www.beaconpestcontrol.com

Wow! What an amazing summer. I actually managed to put over 1,500 miles on the bike just over the 4th of July week. Hells Canyon and the Umatilla forest are spectacular in summer. Several projects that have been in the works have gotten underway. We added 2 more technicians and finally broke ground on our building project. -Ed ■

Grasshoppers:

Phone: (360) 289-2752 or 1-800-300-2752 402 Damon Rd, Hoquiam, WA 98550

Nobody enjoys cleaning gut-ters. Because of that, gutters and downspouts are the most neglected systems on most homes.

If the roof leaks, you’ll fix it. If the toilet leaks you’ll fix it. If the furnace quits, you’ll fix it.

But, for some reason homeowners often let plants grow a foot tall in the gutter. Leaves and debris can clog the down-spouts until water runs over the side of the gutter. Drain fields can be choked up till water backs up onto the roof and still get ignored.

A 1500 square foot home can have 2000 square feet of roof and only four downspouts. With one inch of rain you have to move 1200 gallons of water from the roof, to a point away from your home where it won’t cause damage.

It is a nasty job but winter’s coming with a lot more than one inch of rain so, make sure those gutters and downspouts are clear. If the drain field is clogged, have it repaired or discon-nect the downspout and redirect it to a point well away from the foundation.

Lastly, if you have trees that drop litter on your roof you may need to clear the gutters and downspouts more than once over the course of the winter.

Strange days:

Honey Do:

winter in the ground and hatch as nymphs (wingless hoppers) in spring.

They remain nymphs shedding their exo-skeleton 5-7 times, each molt successively larger, before emerging as a winged adult in late spring to early summer.

Adults have been known to travel 20-30 miles in search of habitat and can remain active until the first frost of fall.

Grasshoppers have many predators that attack them in all stages of their development including birds, predatory wasp, and even a weird fungus that causes the dying insect to climb to the top of grass stems to allow the fungus spores to be spread on the wind.

Some grasshoppers use colorful wing displays or produce noxious chemicals in their bodies to discourage predators but the red legged uses flight and camouflage.

I know from experience that even an immature grass hopper can be hard to catch. With a 5 foot hop a nymph can virtually disappear in dry grass. Being cold blooded they can’t hop too many times in succession before running out of energy. If you’re persistent and have a good eye you can run them to ground after about 7 or eight hops. Winged adults make it more difficult by flying up to 50 feet.

Predators usually keep populations in check so, they seldom do enough damage to residential gardens to warrant the use of chemicals to control them. Commercial farmers seldom treat until populations exceed 18 insects per square yard.

So, while it’s been a very long time since the plagues of Egypt, just remember, inside of every grasshopper beats the heart of a locust. ■

Grasshoppers: ...continued Strange Days: ...continued

When I pulled the cabinet away from the wall we found mice had cached 40 lb. of dog kibble in the toe space under the cabinet.

Too funny: In an age before cell phone cameras, a technician encountered an area that could only be inspected if you stuck your head between two pipes. The maneuver required him to turn his head sideways to get in. As he completed the operation a mouse ran along the ledge about 4 inches in front of his nose. He banged his head and chin half a dozen times before he remembered to turn his head. A contractor I was working with went into a shallow crawlspace to assess damage I had found. The floor of the building was so close to the ground that you had to decide, on the way in, whether to crawl on your belly or your back. Unbeknownst to him, the owners basset hound was in the habit of going into the crawlspace. As he reached the area to be inspected the dog, unseen by him, stuck his nose in his ear. Momentary terror ensued.

We rescue wildlife here on occasion and now and then we end up using the bath tub as a holding area. One of our young technicians got particularly dirty in a crawlspace and decided to shower. After a couple minutes in the bathroom we hear a scream like a 12 year old girl. Sheila forgot she had put a pelican in there.

Sounds strange: A woman called for service to have us treat for crickets. This not being an area known for crickets I asked “ Are you seeing any in your home?” “no” she replied “It’s hiding behind my smoke detector and even though I sprayed it with bug spray but It’s still chirping.” Just then the smoke detector chirped. “There it goes again!” she said. I had to explain to her that the low battery chirp meant the smoke detector battery was dying. Naked truth. I knocked at the door of a clients home who apparently thought she knew who was at the door. She hollered “Come in.” and when I opened the door, there was grandma in all her naked glory halfway down the stairs. I’m pretty sure she made it back up the stairs faster than any professional athlete. Turns out the family was preparing for a wedding and she thought I was her daughter.

I called upon the home of a woman who had called for service. Turns out she was a comic stripper. No not the news paper kind. She was running late so she decided to get dressed (undressed) for work right in the middle of setting up the terms for service.

Some days you just never know what your going to run into.■

Service Targets

Moisture ants and dampwood termites swarm from August to late September but in spite of this flurry of activity these in-sects are harmless unless you find them swarming out of your home. Spiders are the most visible sign of fall and treat-ments will focus on eaves and areas where they hang out.

Bare ground services touch up treat-ments continue through August. Pre-emergent applications for winter will begin in September to prevent weed re-growth over the winter. ■

The BIG facelift continues!!

I apologize in advance for how our offices are going to look for the next few months.

The sewer project has ended and the re-zoning is complete.

Now come the plans and permits, and permits, and permits for permits. Did I mention the permits?

The first building is just a memory and clearing has begun.

Site design should be completed by mid-August and hopeful-ly, we’ll be pouring concrete by September.

If we stay on schedule we should be able to occupy the gar-age by Christmas.

Thank you for your continued patience. ■

Going…

Going…

Gone.