PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The owner of Do it Yourself Pest Control, Richard Frank, said he has been busier than usual over the last couple of months as more and more people are dealing with the secondary impact of hurricanes; bugs.
"A lot of the bug situations are weather-related, so that's why I consider myself a weather buff," Frank said. "We had a good bit of debris everywhere, and people had a lot of rodent problems."
We watched as customer after customer came into his store at 57932 54th Ave North asking for supplies. Some people had rodents in the attic, and others were dealing with roaches. Frank said roaches love storm debris.
"Whenever they clean it all out, bringing a lot of the debris out to the street, roaches go running looking for another house basically," Frank said.
Frank said rodents like to nest in the palm fronds, and when the winds kick up, they get knocked out and start looking for a new home.
"Our number one pest in the state of Florida is ants; they like living in the trees that get blown down by wind and rain storms in the Summertime. So too wet they come in, too dry they come in, and we got a lot of that going on."
Frank recommends people spray the outside of their homes two feet out and two feet up every six months.
With the incoming cold front and the holiday season fast approaching, he knows even more customers with bug problems will come in for sprays, baits, and traps. So Frank said don't wait to come in.
"They want to be bug-free. It's my job to let them know that if they come in here two days before thanksgiving, they will not get rid of their roaches in two days. I let them know what to expect, so they aren't calling me in two days saying I still got them," Frank said.
According to a 2015 U.S. Census Bureau American Housing Survey study, Tampa and St. Pete were at the top of the list for roaches. However, according to their most recent survey, our area wasn't mentioned, but Miami was high on the list, just below Houston, Texas.
