Termite Inspection Orange County Termite Terry Pest Control

Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, South Orange County, Long Beach Area

Don’t Let The Bugs Bite While You’re Having Fun!

    A young couple had been working hard all summer and one day, they decided it was time to take off work for a few days and escape. The husband had a favorite campground he had enjoyed years ago and he thought it would be the perfect place to take his wife. She had never been there but she said it sounded like a great place to go for some hiking, dirt bike riding and relaxation.

    They loaded up their truck and made the long drive to the campground. The wife was really impressed when she saw the area for the first time. The campground was surrounded by hills and had a small creek running nearby. It was a beautiful sight to behold and now, they thought they were finally going to be able to relax together.

    Unfortunately, things didn’t work out as they planned. In hardly no time at all, the wife discovered she was being attacked by mosquitoes. They thought that moving their camping site further away from the creek would help, but the mosquitoes kept attacking her. So, after a few more hours of pain and misery, she told her husband it was time to load up and head home.

    Folks, that’s no way to have fun. Unfortunately, some people are just more attractive to bugs and these pests just can’t seem to resist the urge to start biting them.

    What is a person supposed to do when they have a problem like this? Does it mean they have to stay locked up inside of a house or car all day to protect themselves from biting bugs? You don’t have to let the bugs ruin your fun because there are ways you can protect yourself.

    Diseases transmitted by insects are a major source of illness and death worldwide. Mosquitoes alone transmit disease to over 700 million people annually. Did you know that Malaria kills over 3 million people each year, including one child every 30 seconds?

    We’re fortunate here in the U.S. because insect-borne diseases aren’t nearly as big a problem as they are in tropical and sub-tropical climates. But, we still have to deal with sporadic outbreaks of encephalitis and other diseases, such as West Nile Virus.

    Protection from insect bites is best achieved by avoiding infested habitats, wearing protective clothing and using insect repellants. In many circumstances, you’ll find that insect repellents may be the only feasible way to deal with insect bites.

When you consider that even a single insect bite from an infected insect
could result in transmission of disease,it is really important for you to know
which products can be relied on for protection.

     There are a lot of insect repellent products available and they can be divided into two categories – synthetic chemicals and plant-derived essential oils.

    The best known product is called DEET. This is a synthetic product that was originally developed by the U.S. Army. DEET can be applied to the skin or on clothing and is primarily used to repel mosquitoes. It is also very effective against tick bites. Ticks spread Lyme disease, rickettsioses and meningoencephalitis. Test reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that products containing DEET provide the longest lasting protection.

    When you’re shopping, it is very important you read the product labels and check the concentration rates. In their test, products with 23.8% DEET lasted up to 6 hours. Products with 4.75% DEET only lasted 1 ½ hours. Great examples of this would be when you compare S.C. Johnson’s “Off Deep Woods” (contains 23.8% DEET) with their “Off Skintastic” (contains only 6.7% DEET). The “Deep Woods” product lasted 6 hours, but their “Skintastic” product lasted only 2 hours.

    None of the non-DEET products tested were able to offer protection for more than 90 minutes. Only the soybean-based repellent (HOMS Bite Blocker) was able to come close to matching the products containing the lowest levels of DEET.

    Citronella oil was found to offer protection for 20 minutes. Another product you hear being touted a lot is “Skin So Soft”, by Avon. Test showed that Avon’s product only offered an average of 10 – 20 minutes protection.

    Most alternatives to topically applied products, such as wrist bands, devices that emit sounds and products you swallow (garlic & thiamine), have all been proven to be ineffective.

    DEET has a remarkable safety record after 40 years of use and nearly 8 billion human applications. If you’re still concerned and would like to use a more natural product, then “HOMS Bug Bite” with soybean oil might be your next best choice. Just keep in mind that it only offers about 90 minutes of protection.

    Are you having a problem with bugs biting you at your own home and you don’t want to have to walk around wearing insect repellant everyday?  Then call us at (949) 631-7348 or use our online order form for a complimentary 57 Point Pest Audit. You’ll receive a lot of valuable information, you’ll learn what you can do to help yourself live bug-free and there’s absolutely no obligation to use our services!