Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

A few years back when I was still teching I went to a customer home in Georgetown, Texas to do their regular service, as I was walking around the back of the home I noticed what looked like blood along the pavement I as moved further around I came to find out their dog was bleeding. I immediately did all I could to reach the customer finally getting a hold of them thanks to a neighbor of theirs. The Mrs. was able to get home in time to get the dog to the vet and save the dog.  When I came back for the next service she explained to me that the dog had been bitten by a rattle snake and thanked me for trying everything to get in touch with here and not just leaving, during that entire service I was scared that the snake was going to bite me, so it took me 40 minutes to do a 20 minute service because I was so cautious. Then when I went to get the ticket signed she commented that it took me longer than normal so I explained why that was.  Then she told me they had already killed the snake as they found it in the dog house. Doing what I did that day is a direct action taken by me due to the influence of my managers and the owners of the company.  To be honest, since I have been at bulwark exterminating I feel that I have grown in ways I never imagined due to the way the company treats its employees and its customers.

Robert Morales Jr

Austin TX

As a technician in San Antonio, Texas you see a lot of different things, meet a lot of people & enter some interesting houses.  As usual, on one of our hot summer days, I stopped by a customer’s home that was on my route for a routine service.  I parked my truck, got out & walked to the front door to greet the customer.  A lady pleasantly answered the door. I proceeded with my routine script, “Hello Ms, my name is Ande. I’m from Bulwark Exterminating & I’m here to do your routine service. Are you having any pest problems or seeing anything inside your home?” She replied, “Yes. I’ve seen a couple of those pincher things inside my kitchen,” as she moved her fingers in a pinching motion. I smiled & informed her that I could do an interior & exterior treatment for her.

I went to my truck, grabbed my equipment & returned to the home. She told me to come on in. I asked her if she wanted me to treat just her kitchen or the whole interior. She opted for the whole interior. I tend to work clockwise in a home, so I informed her that I would start by the front door & just work my way around. She responded okay. The first room to my right was a bedroom as I entered I noticed there was a lady lying on the bed, under the covers watching TV. I asked her if she wanted me to treat her room. She said yes.

As I proceeded to the window, to do a window treatment, I could here a faint growling sound. I turned around to see where the sound was coming from, but I did not see anything or anyone besides the lady. I continued towards the window and as I’m treating the window the growling continues. I looked back towards the lady on the bed and she just smiled. As I move towards the back bedroom corner to finish checking the corners for pest, all I keep thinking about is why is this woman growling at me? I tell myself that I need to hurry up & finish this room because the lady no longer wants me in her room. The growling intensifies & as I turn to head out the room barking begins. Now I’m really thinking this woman is crazy & I need to get out of this house. Just then she grabs the covers & says, “Princess stop barking!”

To my relief she pulls a small tea cup Chihuahua from under the covers.  I’ve never been so on edge in a in my life. I’m glad my imagination didn’t run wild, the lady wasn’t acting crazy & a cute little “Princess” could entice more than just pests to leave a room.

During one hot summer in Austin, I was performing first time services for new Bulwark customers and training a new technician.  It was getting late in the week and the two of us had performed several first time services, so I told the trainee to get started on the outside and I would go inside, talk to the new customer, and get started performing the inside service.  I expected the trainee to come inside after doing the weephole screening and power spraying the perimeter, but after about half an hour, he had not yet come inside.  I explained to the new customer that I was going outside to check on my partner and that I would be back inside in just a few moments.  The hose was on the reel in the back of the truck, the weepholes were already meshed, but the trainee was nowhere to be found around the outside of the home.  I didn’t want to start yelling his name and cause any of the neighbors to question the professionalism of the technicians working for Bulwark, so I decided to finish the inside service, and think about where the trainee could have gone.  I completed the interior work and explained to the new customer, what I had done on the inside, what products were used and how they worked.  After thanking the customer and in the process of walking out the door, the customer said very calmly and nonchalantly, “make sure the dog doesn’t follow you out the gate, she has a habit of escaping” and the customer followed me out into the yard.  As we walked, I recognized the trainee, sweat dripping off of his face and petting a little dog in the yard.  The customer then told the trainee, “I’m surprised you two are getting along, she’s quite an escape artist, anytime someone comes into the yard, she gets out”, to which the trainee replied, “oh no ma’am we pay close attention when there a pets in the yard, we would never let anything happen to someone’s pet”.  The trainee and I left the home and hopped into the truck and asked him, “where’d you go, I was looking for you?”  To which he replied, “That little dog got out when I was reeling up the hose, so I tried to catch her.”  “I have been running all over the neighborhood for that last half hour.  I couldn’t pick her up and carry her the three blocks back here because I’m allergic.  So I caught up to her and fed her my sandwich to get her to come to me.  I took off my belt and made a leash and the two of us walked back to the house right before ya’ll came out.”  We laughed for a few minutes and I offered to buy him a Gatorade and something to eat.  As we pulled into the parking place at the convenience store, there was an unmistakable “LOST DOG” picture and poster in the store’s window from one of the previous escapes by his new friend.

Russel Shoffner

Branch Manager Austin

One day I was servicing a home while training a guy that had been sitting in the truck while I did all the spraying and all the services. He always was having an excuse to be on the phone. I was really getting frustrated cause I believe that he was just being lazy. I knocked on the customer’s door and there wasn’t an answer. I checked the gate, it wasn’t locked, so I went back to the truck and asked if the trainee wanted to spray the house. He was still on the phone so I just started to spray the house. When I got to the backyard I made it to the far side when this big dog came from under the dog house, filthy dirty, and growling viciously. The dog came towards me, and I felt like I had to run. I jumped the neighbor’s wall and came to the front yard. I saw that my trainee was off the phone and I just quickly asked him to finish up the back while I made a phone call to the office. He went towards the back yard where I was sure that he was going to have to jump the wall like myself. To my surprise he finished the service and rolled up the hose while I faked being on the phone with the office. I guess if I would have not run the dog would not have chased me. But at the least it got this tech to start to spray houses and learned the lesson that not all dogs of this sort are really vicious.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Richard Wickoff

Mgr. Las Vegas

One day, I went and serviced this home and when I got to the back yard, I was all into spraying the house and making sure I hit every spot.  I thought to myself as I was admiring my work, “This customer’s going to love me!”  Since I was facing the house and walking backwards while still spraying, I didn’t realize that they had a pool and then CRASH!! The lights were out and before I knew it I woke up at the bottom of an empty pool.  And as I woke up I saw a “BIG CHIHUAHUA” licking my face as to say “What the heck are you doing in MY POOL!!!”   I quickly jumped up in total embarrassment and looked around as I slowly climbed out of the pool, hoping the customer didn’t see me.  Boy, I felt like an idiot.  Luckily the customer didn’t see me and I escaped with just a couple bruises on both my elbows and a sore back.  When I got back to my truck I realized that I had been there for 40 minutes, I must have had a nice long nap!!! That’s what I call a knock-out service!!

Tevita Fine

Las Vegas, NV

I was working out in Scottsdale.  I arrived at the home and checked the back gate only to notice a BIG dog charging at me.  I quickly shut the gate.  I called the customer and she answered the phone.  She was home, but didn’t hear me knock.  She told me the dog was nice and would just jump on me.  The dog was put away and I started spraying the perimeter of the house.  I was in the front yard when the customer opened up the door to take out the trash.  The dog snuck out and started running at me.  Again she said the dog was nice; however, the dog had his own agenda.  He charged at me and I jumped back only to be bitten in the right butt check.  The customer felt so bad and quickly grabbed the dog.  It hurt pretty badly.  It was the first time in a year and a half that I have been with Bulwark that I have been bitten (and hopefully the last).  I was fine but sore and bruised.  I told the customer she had nothing to worry about.

Jameson Hunter

Phoenix Branch