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The San Francisco Bay Area has been hit by large swarms of a of the Western Tussock Moth Catepillar. The local oak trees are covered with these beasties. They not only eat the oak trees, defoliating them, but they also hang down from the trees by silk threads, so any passerby usually picks up a few hitchhiking caterpillars.The good news is that these caterpillars are harmless, and they'll go away in a couple weeks. The bad news is that lots of people are complaining and exterminators are being called in.
So my landlord took action, and called in one of those Terminex pest control people. The Terminex people just posted a warning that the property will be sprayed Friday morning with an insecticide called Carbaryl.
Carbaryl? I google it. I discover it's a broad-spectrum insecticide and very toxic. It kills every damned insect, including honey bees, and can kill fish and birds too. The EPA lists it as a probable carcinogin. It's one friggin sledge-hammer of a pesticide; it'll get rid of them caterpillars for sure!
Then I discover websites strongly advising against the use of Carbaryl for caterpillar control. The UC Davis agricultural experts point out that using Carbaryl will also kill all the 'beneficial' insects, that help control caterpillar populations. Instead of Carbaryl, they recommend something called 'BT'.
BT? That'd be Bacillus Thuringiensis. Turns out it's a naturally occuring soil bacteria. The hazards to humans are negligible. If there is an environmentally friendly insecticide, this is it. Best of all, it targets only insects in the larval stages, like caterpillars. Won't kill anything else. I talk to a certified arborist at Stanford University. They say BT is the right way to go.
So, I find my landlord, and ask him to spray BT instead of Carbaryl. He says nothing doing, he trusts the judgement of Terminex people, but that I can talk to the Terminex people if I want to. So I call Terminex, but they stonewall me, not answering a single one of my questions.
Argh! So what do I do now? Could I inform the landlord's tenants about the choice of insecticide? This would risk pissing off the landlord, who doesn't want tenants getting upset. Me? I'm getting the hell out for the several days the insecticide is active. This Carbaryl they plan to use is quite toxic.
I'm fishing here for advice and suggestions. Have I already fought this battle and lost? Should I try communicating with tenants? Should I try more communication with the meathead landlord? Is the human species mentally crippled and stuck on overkill use of insecticides?
Follow Ups:
Which is not meant literally. You might be rather large of stature. Ain't it a bummer that you have to spend your life tryin to convince others not to do things harmful to other? What ever happened to enlightened self interest. Your landlord sounds like a mental giant.
I can hardly believe that my opinion registered with the landlord or with Terminix. I did, however, speak to one tenant, who was alarmed about the use of Carbaryl. Maybe that tipped the balance towards use of the environmentally green incecticide BT.Somehow I still feel more trampled than victorious. A whole lot of effort went into researching insecticides and communicating my findings. I'm spent. I celebrate tomorrow, after getting some good sleep first.
Good work, Vacuous. This is proof that persistence and determination pay off.
Mike "use your ears" Z
I was going to suggest that you do the right thing by your "neighbors" and inform them of your findings as the last thing you would want on your hands would be to see your neighbor carrying out their dead dog, cat, bird, etc, knowing all along that you could have prevented this.But I would still be a little leery about the Terminex people. "Oops! We used up all of Product A. What else do we have....(hmmmmm). Well, we have lots of this stuff, and it says it kills things....."
Be afraid.
Ergo grex, ergo sum.
I can't see why they would even consider the more harmful stuff in light of the facts. In fact, I'm rather intrigued that the bad stuff is even allowed for such general use and not under stricter policies.
Carbaryl can be sprayed just once, and the job is done. BT sometimes requires two applications. That's it. Terminix wants to blow in and blow out of jobs as fast as possible, without return visits.Your health? Terminix really doesn't care, and will only post the warnings required by law.
Just try talking to these people over the telephone about health concerns. Questions I asked: Isn't BT safer? Isn't Carbaryl overkill for this caterpillar infestation? What are your professional qualifications? They refused to answer any of these questions.
Good luck finding a pest control service that you can trust.
Two visits should equal double the billable hours, which would be more profitable. And, in this case, they would get extra credit for being more "green".But what do I know? ;~)
The almighty dollar wins out over ethics.
Carbaryl is sold over the counter as SEVIN (and probably under other names as well). The concentration may vary but basically any fool can walk into a garden center or hardware store and buy this stuff. I'm not anti pesticides and herbicides per se but the regulation is actually quite weak. One of the not-so-pleasant aspects of my work is that I get to see the public misusing pesticides on a regular basis.
I would inform the other tenants of your findings. They have a right to know as well. I think if you have a little backing from the other tenants meathead will listen.
Remember if the other tenants get what they want, and get the benifit of being safe in the process, then I am sure that is the option they will take.
Contact the city where you live, maybe the public works department or the building department. Find out what environmental regulations and restrictions apply. You might also contact the EPA. If you find out that Terminix can get away with it, I think your only alternative may be to get other tenants to sign a petition and present it to the landlord. If you want to rock the boat, call the local TV stations :-) If the landlord stands firm your only other choice is to move.
Best regards,
They say they no way can they contact the landlord. Next I'll call the county, but methinks their hands are tied too. Just for kicks I'm going to call the EPA, though I I'll get the same story.The city did tell me they're currently using BT on their trees, and that they won't use Carbaryl. If the county and state agencies have similar recommendations, then at least I can communicate this to the landlord and tenants.
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