With the spring season underway, it is time to start planning summer adventures. Vacations offer an escape from everyday stresses and fun with family and friends, but they can also bring on encounters with certain unwelcome guests. (We’re not talking about those annoying relatives you try to avoid). Seriously, outdoor adventures and family vacations can be derailed by irritating (and sometimes dangerous) bugs and rodents.
Dream Vacation Awaits
Picture this: you’re gearing up for your annual family camping trip. You are packed and ready to hit the road. Once you arrive, you set up the campsite. You’re enjoying a fun night singing songs and toasting s’mores by the campfire when you suddenly feel something piercing your skin. Ouch! Nasty mosquitoes are swarming around. You try to ignore it and continue the family fun, but you can’t get past the itching sensation as the mosquitoes start biting. You decide to call it a night and head to your tent in the hopes of escaping the mosquito madness.
Now, you’re settling into your sleeping bag, all warm and cozy when you feel a sharp pain in your foot. You jump out of your sleeping bag screaming from the painful sensation shooting up your leg. When the family runs to check out the commotion, upon shaking out the sleeping bag, they discover a scorpion. At this point, your foot is completely numb and begins to swell and your dream family trip has quickly turned into a nightmare.
Whether it's camping or enjoying a day of hiking, fishing, kayaking or any outdoor adventure -certain bugs can put a damper on activities. To keep these dream outings from going south, it’s important to be fully prepared and protected. There are a variety of products Bug and Weed Mart can help make summertime adventures more enjoyable and less bug-filled.
Keep Mosquitos Away
Whether it’s a weekend camping trip or dining on the patio with friends, a Dynatrap is one of the most effective gadgets for trap and eliminating mosquitos and other bugs. The Dynatrap attracts and kills various mosquitos, moths, flies, beetles, and yellow jackets. It’s chemical-free, using heat and light to draw these critters to their demise. Dynatraps are easy to set up in the backyard or to pack and bring along on a camping trip.
Mosquito dunks are another great product for protection against mosquitos. Mosquitos enjoy the warm weather and any body of water that offers an ideal place for laying eggs. Mosquito Dunks contain BTI, or Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis, which kills mosquito larvae before they have an opportunity to hatch. Dunks can be dropped in standing water, including ponds to eliminate larvae. Do not to fear, mosquito dunks are safe to humans, fish and other species, they only target the larvae.
Scorpion Hunting
A blacklight is at the top of the list if camping in the desert. One of the last things you want to encounter in the middle of the night is a scorpion. Scorpion stings cause immense pain and can be dangerous. A blacklight flashlight is a useful tool for checking your surroundings when the sun goes down and the scorpions come out. The purple-colored light illuminates a scorpion in complete darkness with a bright white-blue glow, exposing them and their movement.
Blacklights come in all sizes, and they are an extremely affordable tool for revealing the whereabouts of scorpions and helping to keep them out of your home and away from a campsite, and other outdoor areas.
Shoo Fly
If only it was that easy. Flies are persistent pests that are fairly harmless but extremely annoying. You can always pack a traditional fly swatter – but then you will need to be on guard the entire time. Fly lights are an electronic insect trap that uses ultraviolet light to attract and catch flies. The lights lure flying insects toward their bright light, where they fall victim to an attached glue trap, which they are unable to escape. Fly lights require a power source, limiting where they can be useful. But any outdoor setting with an electrical outlet, a cabin, condo or home patio is a good spot for a fly light.
Bed Bugs Be Gone
Beg bugs can be one of the worst souvenirs to bring back when traveling. These tiny little pests can go unseen in your hotel sheets, eating you up while you are trying to sleep, and they can hitch a ride back in your suitcases and backpacks. Packing bed bug detectors is one of the easiest solutions to keeping bed bugs from ruining a trip. They are sticky sheets that are easy to pack and when you check into a hotel or Airbnb, place these detectors at the corners of the beds. Within about 10 to 15 minutes, you will know if there are bed bugs onsite.
The next time your family is planning an adventure, consider packing the gear needed for a bug-free trip. Visit any of our five stores in Greater Phoenix and talk with one of our experts to learn which pests may be a problem and determine what you need to help stay safe.