# DIY pest control? Or call a "pro"?



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

MODS:

There was a previous thread that either got shut down or died on the vine, because it appeared that the starter was a pest-control person. I totally respect those reasons, and you don't have to explain. 

I'm not a pest control person trying to drum up business. I'm coping with pests like we all do.

I honestly thought that this is a good useful line of discussion that really gets to heart of what this website's about. :vs_cool:

So, with that in mind, I offer the following:

When do you DIY PC? And, when do you call a pro instead?

I'm not talking about when you're _required_ to call a pro, as when, for example, in California you're required by law to "tent" your house for termites when you sell it. I'd never, ever try that myself, even if the law allowed it, which I suspect it doesn't.

I've heard, too, that sometimes restaurants are sometimes required to hire pros to deal with rats, etc.

There's times when you have an ongoing problem that won't go away, and you might not have time to do the best job of management yourself, so it might pay then to hire someone.

For example, I have a friend who's an astrophysics researcher at Cal Tech, who has a nice garden in LA and he has gophers up the yin-yang, the wazoo, and all the rest, and they will not go away, because there's other adjoining parcels that have them, and the people don't control them there. His wife works too, so she doesn't have time to fiddle with that either.

So, after a year or two of fussing with it, he hired a professional gopher annihilator, who comes about once a month and keeps a lid on the problem. I recall it was about $35 a month. He does whatever's needed, traps, poison, etc.

In my case, I have a gopher or two, so I'll just do it myself. For now.

So, hope this is stimulating enough to keep everyone stimulated . . . . . :vs_cool:


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## Plantainchips (Aug 23, 2019)

First, poor gophers.
Second, depends how good you are at finding and repairing entry ways for pests and how much time you have to do it.
Third, it depends on the type of pest. If it's something like a snake, you probably want to pay someone to handle that unless you're confident that you can do it yourself.


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

I call a pro if the job requires the use of a restricted chemical that I cannot buy online. 

I hired someone at a cost of $350 to remove gophers and he caught not a single one. Waste of money. Added a barn owl nesting box which I hope will be occupied eventually. 

I have tried traps for the ground squirrels with zero success. 90% success with a pellet rifle. 

I avoid using poison baits so as not to kill hawks and vultures or coyotes.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Get a gopher killing cat.


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## Pestremovalwarr (Sep 24, 2019)

You can try DIY but if you see it's not working then it's better to call a pro. Pro is always the best option but it just costs money


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Nik333 said:


> Get a gopher killing cat.


Which will get eaten by a cat-eating coyote.


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## ReidJustin (Feb 15, 2021)

Well, it really depends on what the infestation problem is. If you have a big problem with bugs, termites, wasps, I think it's always better to call a pro. It could be a lot easier in a lot of instances though, it depends on how much time you can allocate to deal with the problem. For example, I've been having a problem with hawks for the last couple of summers. It's a case in which DIY techniques really work, and I've tried quite a few Pest Control Hacks every summer, all of them worked to my surprise. Now if it had been something more serious, I would have definitely called a pro to deal with it.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Sometimes pros have something you don't which is time to do things.

A few friends of mine have gardens that have been besieged by gophers. They were not able to bring them under control, but they got services that did, though it wasn't always fast or easy.

Pest problems are not created equal.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

DoomsDave said:


> Which will get eaten by a cat-eating coyote.


Not if you bring your cats in before dusk.
Like Grandma.


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Nik333 said:


> Not if you bring your cats in before dusk.
> Like Grandma.


And some like Grandma, dodge their way outside, and don’t come back when called, even rattling the sacred cat food bag. 😩

Bummer.

I think I found Grandma’s skull under a palm tree.


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