The Bedbugs Bite Back

A BBC news article (link below) caught my eye the other day for being on the subject of bedbugs; one of the worst types of pests one could suffer an infestation of, second perhaps only to scabies (based on all those that we were trained to treat for).

An unusual article, in that when reporting on an outbreak of bedbugs in Paris, it was uncertain on certain details, questioning whether reports of them biting people on the Metro system were true or just internet scaremongering; an uncertainty that perhaps stems from the extremely out of date notion bedbugs aren’t really a problem anymore. Continue reading

The Worm that Turned

Indian-meal_Moth_(10209774676)There was once a very popular chain in the UK famous for its Pick and Mix sweet/candy selection. Whether if was famed around the world for it—it wasn’t in origin a UK company—I don’t know. What I do know: this is one of the pest control stories that people hate hearing most.

I’d been paged a message to get a particular branch with bells on. Continue reading

What a Waste (Tickets, Please)

“I could be a writer with a growing reputation; I could be the ticket man at Fulham Broadway Station. What a waste . . . What a waste.”

I used to walk past that ticket man made famous by Ian Dury’s lyrics on regular occasion. Going to and from Chelsea matches at Stamford Bridge. It was always a man, as I remember. Not that I paid too much attention.

Except for one particular game against  Continue reading

N. P. Ryan vs. The Spiders from Mars

Recently the BBC reported an elderly woman had to be rescued from a burning mobile home after it had been set on fire by blow torches being used to remove spiders from its underside.

A bit excessive, perhaps?

I once worked in pest control. While people calling us out and paying through the nose to have a casual spider removed was pretty much unheard of, they were something in our text book of how-to-deal-withs. Continue reading