Creepy-crawlies turn out in force to greet new owners

     By Shana McLarry
     Real Estate Writer
      As home construction continues in Las Vegas, increasing numbers of unwanted creatures are being disturbed from their underground haunts. And this, for many unsuspecting new-home owners, is a rude awakening.
      While a new home's menagerie of pests may include cockroaches, crickets, scorpions and silverfish, most exterminators agree that ants are the No. 1 pest problem for Las Vegans.
      "We are taking their territory," George Botta, general manager for American Pest Control and a member of the Nevada Board of Agriculture, said recently. "The bugs were here first, and the new construction causes the ants to run out of places to go."
      Ants make their home under concrete foundations and are already in the house when the owners move in. Ants enter through woodwork, lights, pipes, foundation cracks, electrical outlets and dishwashers. Wherever there is a minute hole, ants can invade.
      "We had a lady call in who sprayed pesticide inside her dishwasher to kill the ants crawling through," Botta said. "That just poisons the dishes. All she had to to was run the dishwasher and the ants would have drowned. If people see ants on their counter or in their cabinets where food or dishes are kept, they shouldn't use harsh chemicals to kill the trail. Ammonia, like in window cleaners, kills ants and isn't going to cause anyone to be sick."
      Tom Duran, branch manager at Orkin, agreed and explained why ants are a problem.
      "Ants are absolute in their persistence to find food and water," Duran said. "We are capable of eliminating some ant species, but the Argentine ants (the most common in Las Vegas) hoard food and have a tremendous population. They are the king of ants and pest controllers are challenged by them.
      "Pests populate according to available food sources. We have created food for them by turning the desert into a tropical paradise. An increase in the water causes an increase for potential pests."
      Ants are best fought with bait, which they carry back to the colony to share with the others. Cockroaches and silverfish are also treated with bait.
      "Scorpions (get) trapped in the home during construction," Botta said. "The builder isn't at fault; the insulation is outside before installation and the bugs make their home inside. Then the builder unknowingly puts the infested insulation into the home."
      Scorpions also find their way into a home via scrubs or trees planted next to the home. "This is their highway in," Botta said.
      June through September are peak months for creepy-crawlies coming out of the lawn. As underground moisture dries up, bugs come to the surface in search of food and water. Ants and silverfish are a year-round nuisance, while black widow spiders and crickets are seasonal pests that are less active in winter.
      "Black widows are mother nature's pest control," Botta said. "This hasn't been a bad year for crickets, and with the cold weather coming on everything goes back underground to keep warm."
      However, October through early spring is the season for mice, which prefer the food and warmth found inside the home. Deer mice, especially, pose a threat.
      A deer mouse has white feet, a tri-colored tail and carries the hantavirus, which can be fatal to humans. Botta said the Centers for Disease Control are researching the causes of the infection, but it has been proved that breathing contaminated air caused by the droppings of the mouse is a factor.
      "CDC can't figure out if it's one breath or 100 breaths of the contaminated air caused by the droppings which would transfer the virus," he said. "I don't like using poison to kill the mice in the homes because then you don't know where they die. Traps or glue paper work best. Then you can see what kind of mouse it is and know that it's dead. Mice can travel through holes as narrow as one-quarter inch. We don't have a rat problem in Las Vegas yet, but people think when they see a mouse scurrying through the room on the floor, it is gigantic and must be a rat."
      New, green landscaping also brings more pests, especially Oriental cockroaches, according to Marylou Seely, branch manager at Terminix.
      "They are outdoor creatures, get inside the house and are completely disoriented," Seely said. "They usually stay in the garden. Ants re-occur, as do cockroaches of any kind. The best thing to do is upkeep the pest control."
      Fleas are not a problem in the Las Vegas area, according to Seely.
      "The only benefit of living where the temperature (gets) so high is there aren't any fleas. Even if you see a few, wait a day and they will die. It (can be) too hot and not humid enough for them to live long."
      Termites are another issue, according to Botta, who said established neighborhoods are more at risk of infestation than new neighborhoods. New homes, he said, are treated to prevent termites, and custom homes are not necessarily treated. It is in older homes that the termites prefer to live.
      Seely agreed, but said while pretreated homes create a barrier against termites, the owners should watch for telltale signs of termites along baseboards as the home ages.
      Sealing windows and garage doors reduces any pest's ability to enter the home. It also helps to pick up the area around fruit trees, clean up after pets, avoid overwatering, and ensure the bird feeder is clean.
      Pest controllers agree the most effective pest control is monthly maintenance.
      "Bugs are here to stay," Botta said.

Real Estate home