Nothing worse than a moth goring!

Ah.. moth balls. I did a job about 9 years ago at a bed & breakfast that had a skunk problem. The owner threw several boxes of mothballs into the crawl. He ended up paying me to remove the mothballs, (PITA!)and then of course to trap the skunk. Mothballs are a poor mans coyote urine to "scare off" skunks, and we all know how well that works.

I just got off the phone with a client in Oklahoma (not Tulsa) who told me of a home they did a bid for a bat exclusion on and the homeowner felt the bid was too high and decided to take the matter into his own hands.


The homeowner read up on all the recommended bat harassment techniques on the internet and use a few of them like mothballs, lights and lots of noise. Well the home owner got more then he bargained for since most of the bat colony ended up in the living area of his home and in the sleeping area of his young 4 year old daughter.


That's right the homeowner ended up having to get his young 4 year old daughter rabies shots and still had to have his home sealed up.

http://batremovalpro.com/the-bat-removal-professionals-of-us-canada/bat-removal-home-remedies/

Hey guys, I can actually give an example of mothballs working. ( And of course, by now, I realize that this was probably illegal too. ) Twenty some years ago, when I first started in ADC work I had a dead raccoon in a kitchen wall. The smell was overwhelming. I went in the crawl space and threw about six or eight moth balls down the kitchen wall. Believe it or not, the two odors balanced out each other so perfectly that the drywall guys thought that I had removed the dead raccoon. I put an X on the wall and they came back and got it the following day.

I have also used it to get rid of skunk odor back then. ( Again, probably illegal ) But it did work well. You balance out the odor by adding or subtracting moth balls in a cup or saucer. Has anyone ever tried using mothballs to keep moths out of closets. I'll bet there's an idea nobody has thought up yet!

Cheese and rice, guys!

I'm sorry I mentioned it.

I don't use moth balls for much, and when I do, it's only as a last resort. Why? Simply because I hate the way they smell, too! My gosh! If somebody filled my house with them to get rid of me, IT WOULD WORK!

I only made the suggestion because it IS an alternative. And, whether you want to admit it or not, sometimes they DO work.

Keep in mind, I said "...as a last resort." but if I had a job as was described, where I could not close up all the entry points, and there are still many of those places like that, I would want to consider all my possibilities before I simply gave up and told the customer "Live with it."

If you have a better repellent, then tell us about it. I'm all ears and ready to learn some new tricks. In my defense and Trapper Jon's defense, sometimes repellents are all you can do!

In my state the label is the law and if you put mothballs in a consumers home and they reported a problem you would be fined unless the label is for BATS ! Just saying!

Exactly.

Muddawg - Other folks including myself are just trying to keep new folks to the industry from going down a road that could legally damage them. Most sole proprietors couldn't handle the legal hit, myself included.

I think the statement of yours I quoted is untrue. Sometimes you have to explain there isn't a way to solve this issue within the legal and biological constraints given, and thus you should walk away and be honest about it. I'm not saying your dishonest, lets be clear about that.

What I am saying, is when I look at a situation that cannot be solved without resorting to things that are illegal, unlabeled or thought to maybe work, I'm not putting my name on them and taking anyones money.

That is how I live and work, I wouldn't want someone to come to my house and say, "i think if you pay me $175.00 and I put this bag of moth balls by your soffit, these things will likely leave."

Again, just trying to be sure the new guys don't go down the moth ball trail!

Justin

People tend to forget that mothballs are a pesticide because they are a relitively common household item. However, they are regulated. You must be licensed....and you must follow the label.

[quote=Robb Russell]

I just got off the phone with a client in Oklahoma (not Tulsa) who told me of a home they did a bid for a bat exclusion on and the homeowner felt the bid was too high and decided to take the matter into his own hands.


The homeowner read up on all the recommended bat harassment techniques on the internet and use a few of them like mothballs, lights and lots of noise. Well the home owner got more then he bargained for since most of the bat colony ended up in the living area of his home and in the sleeping area of his young 4 year old daughter.


That's right the homeowner ended up having to get his young 4 year old daughter rabies shots and still had to have his home sealed




I can see this same thing happening tonight . Just left a log home that was Plained for bat removal today . I got there with a good supply of matching calk . I had to drive 1 1/2 north to . I get there and she tells me she needs a contractor to replace the trim on the house . I'm thinking what trim its a log home . She also has a pestcontrol company on the way to spray repellant . Ok now i know whats up she talked the spray guy and got sold a line of bs .I'm thinking great there's goes today's video on log homes . But anyway I just soaked it up and composed myself thinking that's fine that's what Im here for .I have other jobs that need work just wish I hadn't waisted 4 hours . She did give 120 bucks so atleast I'm not out the gas to . Funny thing is she fresh out of the city and is looking to have her ten acres brush hogged of before the twp gives her a ticket for having weeds growing . I'm like what your out here in farm country off a dirt road . Wait till the shooting starts . She's looking to have a windmill because the whole country is going green now you know . I would get a windmill to but not buying this reason why thing

Pesky, you should have paid her for not letting you do that bat job. Traveling an hour and a half every day because she still has bats doesn't sound like any fun at all. ( Of course the bat spray guy will probably learn a lesson on this one )

I just gotta ask again; why would you get a windmill?

On a log home...with a 5 year? Paul is right...dodged a bullet there.

I only went one year on that house because of the thing falling apart . there's no attic so the bats just fly in one side and out the other . No the spray guy covered his rear end before he got there because she needed the trim replaced by a contractor . And seeing there's really no trim how would you replace it . A wind mill with a 12 v system is cheap so you just have 12v lights in your house that run off the windmill or the battery .

Received a call last night, I am down to about 20 bats. The chimney on this home has been a real issue with getting the house buttoned up. BUt I am working on it!

Jon

They play follow the leader.

Pictures of the only few bats left in around the house.

Jon

Ditto what Robb, Justin and DaveK say. Moth balls are not a solution.

Who is using moth balls? Not me, all I asked is i there was any chemical that I could spray around that I was not aware of. And all of a sudden I am being told I am using moth balls, or am I missing something?

Jon

Trapper Jon,

You are just a victim of Muddawg mentioning moth balls, not your fault, don't sweat it, everyone including me just got off on the tangent as we
feel it is an important issue too often mentioned.

Best and thanks for sharing the pics, nice little group!

Justin

Ok I was wondering, Anyway thank for looking that little group was on the outside. I have been working very hard to get them out of the house. It has been a job, but it needed to be done.

Jon