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What do I need to do about pest control? And what about scorpions?

Roger Selway — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:50:00 GMT

Generally pest control is a good idea here in the desert especially if your home and property have been vacant for a while or properties adjoinging yours have been vacant. Also, when your neighbors treat their property and you don't, guess where the pests come? Right, onto your property.

Some of the nuissance or even harmful critters we want to prevent or remove are: crickets, roaches, earwigs, black widow spiders, wood rats, spidermites, scorpions, etc.

By watching your home and property Sun Valley Home Watch can advise you if pest control treatment is necessary. Generally treatments are needed more during the warm weather when bugs proliferate. The only service we recommend is At Ease Pest Control, a Surprise-based company that uses eco-friendly approaches and treatments.

Their service includes spraying the whole property, inside the water meter box, irrigation valve box, around the windows and doors, treating any ant hills on the property, spraying the garage and putting glue traps in the garage for any pests that make it inside. On the interior, they spray all the base boards, inside the closets (if we have room to spray), under the kitchen sink, and under all major appliances. You can email them at ateasepest@cox.net or call Trina at 623-875-1100. Mention you are a customer of Sun Valley Home Watch for a $10 discount on your first service.

Regarding scorpions: Scorpion stings can be compared to a bee sting for most people (without an allergic reaction). If you are stung stung and not having serious symptoms (such as seizures or unconsciousness), you should always call The Poison Control 24 Hour Hotline 1-800-222-1222. They will talk you through what to do and what to look for. They will also call back in an hour to check on the person. If someone is having a serious problem, call 911. There is an anti-venom for scorpion stings, if it's bad enough.

The spray used by At Ease Pest Control will kill a scorpion within 48 hours, however that is enough time for a scorpion to enter the home, sting someone, and leave the home. The two easiest ways to kill a scorpion are (1st) by stepping on it with a closed toed shoe. Do not use an open toed shoe since the stinger can come up and sting you on the top of the foot. The second way is to spray it with hairspray. Scorpions breathe through their skin and since hairspray is so sticky it will clog the breathing pores and they will die very quickly. Keeping a can nearby is a good idea. The cheaper the hairspray the better.

When you buy a home in Arizona, the seller disclosure statement asks the question "Have you ever seen a scorpion on the property?" However if the home was a foreclosure, the previous owner may have been the bank or an investor who flipped it within days or weeks. They would have no knowledge if there was a scorpion problem. Asking the neighbor's if there is a problem is a very good idea.

Living in a house with scorpions, will change your habits a little bit. We suggest never walking barefoot, do not leave wet items on the floor (scorpion's favorite hiding spot), look before turning on a light switch, always turn on a light switch, and do not pick up pieces of lint/ rubberbands/ or small articles with out looking to make sure what it is. The most common place to be stung is on the hand or feet. Do not leave your shoes in the garage since they love dark hiding spots. Also make sure the garage door is sealed tightly at the bottom. If you can see light from around the front door, while you are standing inside, we suggest using some weather stripping to seal the gaps. Scorpions only need the thickness of a credit card to enter a home.

Being informed is the best way to handle these critters. Buying a black light (like for Halloween) is not a bad idea. Scorpions will glow in the dark when exposed to a black light and it's great way to seek and destroy them.

Golf Car Summer Care

Roger Selway — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:38:00 GMT

This information is provided courtesy of Dave Mahoney, AC Edge golf car service and is drawn from maintenance manuals for golf car storage.

1. Fill the battery cells with distilled water to just below the cell sleeve. Batteries need to breathe when charging.

2. Make sure the charging area is well ventilated as small amounts of hydrogen gas are discharged during charge cycles.

3. If the cart is equipped with a tow switch, move that switch to the “tow” position. The tow switch isolates the battery system from the sensitive electronics system of the controller and is a safeguard for lightning strike surges. It does not affect charging.

4. Turn the key to “off”.

5. Leave the charger plugged in. Most new carts have a fully automatic charger that will shut off after the batteries are fully charged or after 16 hours have elapsed. The charger will turn back on when the batteries discharge to 80% charged.

6. Place a catch pan under the cart for acid leaks.

7. Have your home watch provider unplug and replug in the charger once every 2 weeks at a minimum. Since summer heat discharges the batteries quickly this will restart the charging cycle.

8. Check the water level often in summer.

9. If you know you have bad batteries and will replace them upon return, don't bother charging them. It is a waste of energy and a hazard since the charge process discharges hydrogen gas. Older, bad batteries will emit more hydrogen because the charger is trying hard to charge the batteries (up to 16 hours) before shutting off.

If you have any questions on the information above or golf car care in general, contact Dave Mahoney, AC Edge golf car service at 623-249-7945 or email Dave at anyeagles@yahoo.com.

Dave offers a free battery test and provides on site golf car maintenance.

Donate your citrus fruit to St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance

Roger Selway — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:42:00 GMT

St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance wants all the extra citrus in the Valley. In January, the food.bank will kick off a volunteer gleaning program in hopes of collecting 2.5 m1llion pounds of oranges and grapefruits. The program begins Jan. 4 and will run until March 31. Residents and homeowners in the Northwest Valley, especially the Sun Cities, are encouraged to gather unwanted fruit or call the food bank to schedule a time when volunteers can come collect. In addition to being distributed to those in need, the citrus is exchanged for other types of food from food bank organizations in vartous states.

This program is a win-win for residents. You get help with the yard situation and the food bank benefits. Food bank employees can pick up the fruit or volunteers can pick the fruit for you for a $10 donation per tree. This covers the cost of the bins and pallets used to ship and store the fruit.

To sign up for the program or to volunteer call the "Citrus Hotline" at 602-343-5658. For more Information about St. Mary's, visit www.firstfoodbank.org.