Imagine an excruciating burning and itching inside your ear. After three days of constant pain and ear tugging, you are shocked to discover a maggot crawling out of your ear; and the worst part… Not being able to tell anybody about it! That’s exactly what happened to 92 year old Catherine McCann of Arlington Heights, Illinois.
57 Maggots Found Living Inside Woman’s Ear
CBS Chicago reportsthat 92 year old Catherine McCann was living in an Arlington Heights’ nursing home, and was unable to speak because her Alzheimer’s disease. While living in the $10,000 a month nursing home, the elderly woman had a fly crawl into her ear and lay eggs. The result was 57 maggots that hatched inside the woman’s ear canal.
After three days, a nursing home aid grew concerned over Mrs. McCann’s constant tugging of her ear and brought her to the nursing home’s medical director. It wasn’t until then, when the maggots were discovered. Mrs. McCann was sent directly to Northwest Community Hospital.
Removing The Ear Maggots
Doctors removed all 57 maggots from Mrs. McCann’s left ear. The woman’s daughter, Mary McCann Stassen, could barely look at pictures of her poor mother’s ear, and said the worst part was, “hearing her mother scream as they were taking the maggots out.”
“It’s a picture I will never, ever get out of my mind –ever.”
The infestation was documented by doctors at Northwest Community Hospital who made a videotape of the scene before beginning extraction. The tape was so graphic, however, CBS declined to air it.
After the gruesome incident, an exterminator examined the nursing home for flies, but couldn’t find any. Officials believe that the fly must have flown into Mrs. McCann’s ear canal when she was taken out for her daily walk.
Ear Maggot Lawsuit
After the horrific ear maggot incident, Mrs. McCann’s husband is suing the Lutheran Home for the Aged nursing home for negligence and emotional distress. Just nine days prior to the ear maggot infestation, Mrs. McCann had her ears treated for a wax build and was prescribed ear drops to prevent infection.
The family is questioning whether or not she received the medication in her ear after the treatment, because one would think you’d notice the 57 maggots while administering the medicine drops. The Lutheran Home for the Aged nursing home admits to no wrong doing, stating that the maggots were not big enough for their staff to see them at the time. The nursing home had been very well respected up until the recent incident.
Maggots
A maggot is the tiny, white, worm-like larva of a fly. They look much like a grain of white rice and feed on rotten or dead organic tissue. Fly eggs are laid directly on a food source and when the eggs hatch, the maggots move towards their preferred conditions and begin to feed.
Flies quickly reproduce during the summer months, and maggots can appear in massive quantities. Often times this creates a maggot infestation, and increases the risk of myiasis. Humans are not immune to the feeding habits of maggots and can also contract myiasis.
A woman living in China had to have a spider removed from the inside of her ear after experiencing some major ear canal itching and burning. The spider made its way inside her ear canal while she was sleeping and had been living there for approximately five days.
The spider couldn’t be removed with surgical tools, because the attempt would only drive the spider deeper inside the women’s ear and force it to dig its barbs into the ear canal. Instead of manually retracing the embedded spider, a doctor opted to flush it out with saline solution. The procedure was a success, and the women reportedly wept with gratitude after the spider crawled out.
If that incident isn’t a big enough reason for spider control, I don’t know what is!
In Related News: Ear Plug Sales On The Rise
With all of this recent news about maggots, spiders, and other creepy crawlies climbing into our ears, maybe we’ll start to see a sharp increase in the sales of ear plugs.
Las Vegas Pest Control Reviews Earn Bulwark an Award!
Super Service Award 2011
Bulwark Exterminating has been awarded the 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award in Las Vegas for the fourth consecutive year for the branch’s exceptional service and customer service rating.
Angie’s List, the pay-for consumer review website, awards its annual Super Service Award to approximately five percent of its listed businesses. Business operators are rated each year on aspects such as customer reviews, maintaining a limited number of reports and abiding by operational guides.
“It’s a real testament to the hard work and dedication of each of our technicians,” said Branch Manager Wayne Bryant. “We treat every customer like our best and most loyal customer, and they notice the difference.”
Bulwark’s Las Vegas exterminator branch has won the prestigious award since 2008. Since then the branch has seen consistent growth from year to year not just in customer base, but employed technicians and office staff. The Las Vegas valley also presents unique pest problems which are not easily eliminated.
“Scorpions in Las Vegas are the hardest household pest to eliminate,” said Bryant. “It’s quite satisfying to be recognized for our ability to successfully treat the homes of our customers, knowing they have some one of the most challenging pest problems.”
Bulwark Exterminating has been the center of attention in recent online marketing events for their insights on turning satisfied customers into online reviewers. Back in March of this year at the Search Marketing Expo in California, Thomas Ballantyne of Bulwark Exterminating spoke on the correlation between online reviews, customer satisfaction, customer retention, and customer referrals. “The type of behavior that is required to earn an online review is the same behavior that improves customer satisfaction which improves referrals. Our Las Vegas branch scored high in all of these areas. Wayne Bryant is a fantastic leader and motivator.”
Bulwark Exterminating LLC is based in Mesa, AZ and is an industry leader in providing high quality pest control service. Bulwark is fully operational in seven states, including the eleven U.S. cities of Charlotte, Raleigh, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta, Tulsa, Mesa, Phoenix, St. George, and Las Vegas. While Bulwark provides pest management for common insects such as ants, roaches, crickets and spiders, the company’s differentiating specialty is scorpion control. To do this, Bulwark uses the finest and most effective products in the world to solve common pest problems. Bulwark is privately and family owned, has approximately 250 employees and services over 50,000 customers nationwide, providing pest control in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. Local offices in Las Vegas are located at:
Bulwark Exterminating, 3932 Octagon Road, North Las Vegas, NV 89030
Bulwark Exterminating Earns 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award
Angie's List Super Service Award 2011
Bulwark Exterminating has been awarded the 2011 Angie’s List Super Service Award for the company’s excellent customer service rating in Arizona.
Super Service Award recipients have maintained an “A” grade average in Angie’s rating formula. Only an estimated five percent of companies listed on Angie’s List receive the prestigious award on an annual basis. This will be the 3rd time that Bulwark has received the award here in the Phoenix area.
“Our technicians and office staff deserve this award 100%”, said Mesa Branch Manager Joe Davey. “They work tirelessly to ensure the needs of our customers are met day in and day out.”
Bulwark Exterminating services over ten thousands customers valley wide from offices in Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and Peoria. The family owned exterminating company has made a name in Arizona as the pest control provider in the valley that absolutely guarantees to eliminate scorpions with a money back guarantee. In 2010, 97% of Bulwark’s current customers said they would recommend their pest control services to a friend of family member.
“We appreciate that our customers take the time to recognize the hard work of the technicians that service their homes,” said Davey. “Our techs are the face of Bulwark. Receiving the Super Service Award is an honor and it validates the hard work of our entire staff across the valley.”
While the award went to the Mesa pest control branch of Bulwark Exterminating the owners feel that the award is shared by all of the valley locations as customers on Angie’s list don’t often realize which branch services them.
Phoenix Metro Locations include:
Bulwark Exterminating, 40 N Central Ave #1400, Phoenix, AZ 85004 (602) 652-2251
Bulwark Exterminating, 10401 North 91st Avenue, Peoria, AZ 85345 (623) 572-3016
Bulwark Exterminating, 1228 East Broadway Road Mesa, AZ 85204 (480) 969-7474
Bulwark Exterminating, 18256 E Williams Field Rd # 2 Gilbert, AZ 85295 (480) 539-4933
About Bulwark Exterminating
Bulwark Exterminating LLC is based in Mesa, AZ and is an industry leader in providing high quality residential pest control service. Bulwark is fully operational in seven states, including eleven major cities. While Bulwark provides pest extermination for common insects such as ants, roaches, crickets and spiders, the company’s differentiating specialty is scorpion control. To do this, Bulwark uses the finest and most effective products in the world to solve common pest problems. Bulwark is privately and family owned, has approximately 250 employees and services over 50,000 customers nationwide, providing pest control in Raleigh, NC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Tulsa, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, St. George, UT, Phoenix and Las Vegas. For more information, visit http://www.BulwarkPestControl.com.
Spider silk is becoming a hot commodity. Because of the strength of spider silk fibers, five times stronger than steel fibers, research is being done on potential uses. From bullet proof skin to artificial tendons, medical doctors are looking to capitalize on the health benefits a super spider silk lends itself to. But sadly the spider silk just doesn’t come quick enough. Noted by the spider silk tapestry that took millions of spiders to create. So scientists genetically engineered silkworms to produce a spider like silk. And that silkworm spider silk officially stopped a bullet. Taking that one step further, silkworm spider silk weaved with human skin was created, tested, and also stopped a bullet. Interesting enough, a professor from Utah might just have a gold mind on this hands if he can take this mutated silkworms spider silk and produce similar fibers from goats milk. By mutating the goats genes, the goat will produce milk with the same protein in the milk. The Utah professor then takes these proteins, isolates them, mimics the spider’s weave, and spins a spider like silk.
The longest I had ever ridden my bike was 85 miles, and that was only 2 weeks ago. Everyone that I knew riding in this year’s El Tour de Tucson was riding the 109 distance. I was thinking I might only do the 80-mile race, but when a couple of older riding buddies (44-year-old female and 58-year-old male) kept egging me on to go the distance, there was absolutely no way I could back down from that.
I buckled down about 3 months ago. I went from riding once or twice a week to three or four times a week. I haven’t had a normal Saturday morning in that long. I would actually get up earlier on Saturdays than any other work day. Up at 4:15ish, meet my riding buddies around 5:00, back at home by 9 or 10. Home around 1:00 more recently.
I ran cross country and track in high school, and continued to run recreationally in college. I even entered a couple home-town races just to make my running worth it and feel the edge of competition again. But this was different. The physical demands were different. The training and inherent tactics were different. The nutrition was only similar. I never ever drank anything in the middle of a run under 8 miles. I was having to learn to not only drink during a ride, but also eat once and sometimes twice. I was having to learn how to properly eat for the rest of the day after a long ride. And post-ride naps were out of the question per my wife and mother of our two small children. If daddy was going to be gone on Saturday morning, then there was no napping or other me-time for the rest of the day. Or weekend, for that matter.
El tour started at 7:00 am, but with nearly 9,000 riders, we’re wanted to get in the start line around 5:45. We were up at 5, trying to down bagels and peanut butter at 5:15, checking tire pressure at 5:30 and out the door at 5:35. Arrived to our place in line around 5:45 and had the next hour and 15 minutes to chat and stay warm.
Seven ‘o clock came rather quick and before we knew it we were off. It felt like it took me a good 15 or 20 miles to decipher how cold I was vs. how much adrenaline I was pumping vs. how hard I was really working before I settled into a manageable pace that would work for the next 90 miles. Just when my saddle started to feel somewhat comfortable around 8 miles in, we came across a dried river crossing. One or two riders tried to brave the dirt pathway, while the remaining 8,990 of us didn’t hesitate to get off the bike and safely walk across the ravine. The culture of Tucson awaited us on the other side, and I was in a much better mood now than I was going to be much later in the race, so I had to document this…
Other than the dried river and another wooded hiking trail that would come a little while later, I didn’t take my first real pit stop until 45 miles in. Refill one of my bottles, grab some orange slices, stretch a little bit and apply some Bengay on my left knee, and off we go. I was a little disoriented as to where we were in relation to downtown where we started, but the next several miles were through the suburbs of Tucson…I think. I’m not gonna lie, it was fun to blow right through red lights as police had traffic stopped in all directions. A lot of the locals even took time to camp out on the sidewalks with their cowbells and signs of encouragement. I figure that’s about as close as I’ll ever get to climbing the Alps in the Tour de France with thousands of rabid fans running along side my bike waving United States and California flags in my face.
At this point there’s still 50+ miles to go, so one, especially a newcomer like myself, has to be smart about how you ride. As a first timer, I didn’t have any shame or guilt about drafting behind other riders the entire race. Drafting can save up to 40% of your energy, and with winds coming out of the south at 20 mph, I made sure to never lead any packs. I’ll admit it, I even drafted behind a couple of girls. Another factor I couldn’t overlook was fatigue. That sounds simple enough, but I was about to surpass my longest ride by 25 miles. I was feeling my way through the race as far as food and drinks were concerned. How much to eat, how much to drink, a Clif Bar with higher density vs. an energy gel with no density and maybe half the calories. When the body is tired, then the mind soon becomes tired. When the mind is tired you forget things. Simple things. I needed to consciously remember to eat and drink and map out the remaining miles ahead in my mind to do so on a course I had never ridden. My friends that have raced Tucson before cramped up around mile 85 or 90, so I needed to stay well hydrated to avoid that.
Things were going about as well as I could have expected until I hit the frontage road of the I-10 going south back to downtown Tucson. The winds were still blowing as hard as they were earlier, but now I was getting a face full of headwind. I knew I had the energy to finish, but I didn’t have any explosion left in my legs, so I was consigned to finish the last 12 miles at whatever pace I could go. Riders would creep up on me and pass right by. A couple times I tried to go with them, thinking that if I could get enough momentum to stick behind them, I could use their draft. But every time I tried to fall in line, they just kept passing me. Five feet head. Ten feet ahead. Now twenty. Oh well. I’ll try it again with this next group. Nope. That didn’t work either. Oh well.
Aside from it being the last 10 miles of the race, there were 2 things that made it exponentially more difficult than I expected. First, the wind. Physically speaking, if there is no wind whatsoever, and you’re riding 20 mpg down the road, you actually have 20 mph of wind pushing back against you. We call it “drag”. But now there is actually 20 mph of wind pushing back against me, plus my drag at about 12 or 13 mph. The second characteristic of this final stretch was loneliness. It’s a frontage road, so there’s not a lot of businesses, or parking lots, or neighborhoods along side. Which means there were no spectators yelling and clapping. It all of a sudden got real quiet. Just the sound of my wheels spinning and my legs hurting.
Eventually the police escort standing in the middle of the intersection directed me to turn left. All of a sudden, people. And they were clapping. For me? I think so! And more people. Still clapping. I turned one last corner and the finish line is about 100 yards away. And then, out of the hum of hundreds of people cheering I hear “STEVE-O!!!” Me: “Hey, that sounded a lot like my wife!” In fact, it was my wife. After I crossed the finish line and got off the bike I was staggering back towards the crowd and I see my wife emerge from a sea of people. After 7.5 hours of riding with complete strangers it was nice to see a rather familiar face. There was absolute, positively no way I would be riding and racing as much as I have without the love and support of my wife. She’s been the #1 reason I’ve been able to get on the bike and push myself like the good ‘ol days. And then I saw 2 more faces. My 5-month-old, Leia, and my 2-year-old, Max. I picked Max up and to no surprise all he wanted to do with play with my glasses and helmet.
I was done. I did it. This was something no one could ever take away from me. This race was apart of me. I didn’t really beat anybody on the course but myself. I pushed my body further than it had ever gone before, for longer than it had ever gone before. I was an El Tour de Tucson finisher.
I have to admit it was a bit emotional for me to finally be done. Months of training. Rides at 5:00 am. No Saturday mornings. Gatorade economy cases at Costco. Clif Bars. Smoothie Powerbars. Two or three tube changes a month. A new bike. A different pair of shoes. Stiff legs. Pulled muscles. Rides in the rain. Rides in the wind. Fifty five degrees outside. A hundred degrees outside.
Three days later I’m still a bit stiff. I’ll get back on the bike sometime this week and warm my body back up and let my muscles stretch back out. And then…I’m not touching my bike at least until after New Years. But I already can’t stay away. I’m already thinking about how I want to train differently next year and areas I want to work on. Maybe I can make it out to CA for either the AMGEN Tour de California or Levi’s GranFondo. Tour de Phoenix will be a must. And it’ll all end this time next year at El Tour de Tucson.
An article in the East Valley Tribune stated as follows:
FACT OR FICTION
Myth: My home could become infested with scorpions.
Truth: Scorpions don’t nest. The most you’d see at a time is four, maybe five, according to Andy Baldwin of Mesa Community College’s life sciences department. And that’s just the bark scorpion, which is more tolerant of living with other scorpions and is the only one of the East Valley’s three species common around people.
To our pleasant surprise, two of Bulwark’s satisfied customers responded to this falsehood. But the Tribune seems to have lost those comments. Fortunately we captured them before they disappeared.
Read below:
Michele
…We live in a neighborhood with scorpions and my experiences with them differ from some of the things she states…
Fact: Your house COULD become infested with scorpions!
We used to kill between 7 – 12 a NIGHT on our property before we found a good pest control company. On one bad day we found 4 inside the house DURING the day. One on the wall behind the microwave, one on the ceiling above the kitchen island, one in the kitchen sink, and one in our son’s bedroom. I have neighbors who have reported killing up to 30 on their property in one night.
Fact: Pesticides ARE effective against scorpions.
After the above mentioned fateful day, we switched our pest control company to the only one in the valley who will guarantee scorpion service. I will not identify the one we switched from, but the one we switched to is Bulwark Exterminating. (I have no involvement with them, other than as a satisfied customer). We immediately began seeing dead scorpions on our property and now only find about 1 scorpion a YEAR inside the house.
The TYPE of landscaping doesn’t seem to make a difference in this neighborhood. Folks with desert landscaping have just as many scorpions as those with lawns. However having a lot of debris in your yard gives scorpions more places to hide and invites them to stay. No matter what your landscaping tastes, keep a clean yard!
However, I will full heartedly agree with the PROTECT YOURSELF AT HOME statements. A pretty good article, just not fully my experience as someone who lives and deals with scorpions.
March 31, 2007
Gilbert
Regarding the scorpions being territorial – maybe true or not, if one territory means one “brick block”. Every night I walk out with a black light and find a scorpion in between a brick block and another next block to it. I spray them with scorpion killer from ACE hardware, instantly they drop and tries to crawl up but drops and dies.
One pest company from the several of them I tried, only one, had an impact with scorpions, you’re right Michelle, BULWARK, call them and let them know what they’re up against and they will treat your home with necessary chemicals.
As far as sealing your home, I caulked cracks, gaps in my entire house. Resealed doors and windows, screened air vents and light sockets, even outlet/telephone switch. Once thats done, fog your attic and keep an eye for the next 24 – 48 hrs. They will come out. If you’re sealed only one way out – out of the attic to outside of the house.
My son suffers respiratory problems – a scorpion sting will affect your respiratory process, and if yours is weak, like my sons, it very dangerous.
April 1, 2007
Scorpion caught in marble sink.
Scorpion Myths and Rumors
There are indeed a ton of scorpion myths and rumors. The most common rumor is that little scorpions are more deadly than big ones. Not entirely true. The little one’s, as in the smaller species of Bark Scorpions, are more dangerous than that bigger ones, the Dessert Hairy. But within the same species the little ones venom cannot be conclusively deemed more potent than a large one. Speculation on whether the little one’s lack control over the amount they inject is pure speculation.
Here are a few other myths that we have heard- Myth: Pouring alcohol on a scorpion will cause itself to sting itself to death. Fact: Scientist believe that scorpion’s are immune to their own venom. Myth: Scorpion’s laying eggs in the walls. Fact: Scorpions don’t lay eggs. “Scorpion eggs” are carried inside the mother and the mother gives live birth. Myth: Scorpions will reproduce 5 to 6 times a year. Fact: The gestation period of a scorpion is around 3 months. Most bark scorpions will only reproduce once a year.
Just thought you’d like to get your scorpion facts straight. If you’d like more info then check out the resources below.
Recent Comments