Ask the Sherpa answers from Greg Baumann: short, practical pest Q&As on ants, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and home infestations.Browse questions below, or visit the Ask the Sherpa desk to search and submit what you are seeing.
Short answer: Call a professional for flies when you cannot find or remove the breeding source, when activity continues after thorough sanitation, when a hidden carcass or wall void is likely, or when the problem involves a business, rental, or multi-unit building that keeps reseeding adults. Flies are a source problem first Adult flies you…
Short answer: Fly sprays can knock down visible adults quickly, but recurring problems usually mean the breeding source is still producing new flies. Aerosol space sprays alone rarely finish a drain, garbage, carcass, or moisture-driven infestation. What sprays do well (and what they miss) Contact aerosols and ready-to-use sprays can kill flies you see on…
Short answer: Fruit flies and drain flies are different insects with different breeding sites. Fruit flies (often Drosophila) are small, tan or yellowish, and breed in fermenting fruit, sugary spills, and recycling. Drain flies (moth flies) are fuzzy, moth-like, and breed in the gelatinous film inside drains and wet organic sludge. Matching the fly tells…
Quick answer: Do not throw old pest control products into household trash, pour them down drains, dump them outdoors, or burn them. Many pesticides require special disposal because they can contaminate water, create safety hazards, or violate local disposal regulations. In most situations, the safest option is a local household hazardous waste collection program. Why…
Short answer: A general insecticide spray on flowers can harm beneficial insects and may not be labeled for food gardens. Ants near tomato plants often farm aphids or seek moisture. Focus on identifying the ant, managing honeydew pests, and using garden-safe tactics. Read every label for “food crop” and bee precautions before you spray anything….
Ants in the kitchen after rain are common. Learn why storms push foragers indoors, what to clean and bait, and when to call a pro.
Short answer: In the United States, the hantaviruses that cause Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome are not generally spread from person to person. People usually get infected by breathing dust contaminated with urine, droppings, or saliva from infected rodents (especially certain wild mice), or by other contact with those materials. This is not medical advice; clinicians and…
Short answer: Do not count on warm weather to empty a basement of mice. Some mice move with seasons, but indoor food, nesting sites, and wall voids keep house mice active year-round. If they are established inside, a change in the weather alone will not finish the job. Why the “they leave in summer” idea…
Short answer: Stop before you fog. Fogging for German cockroaches often fails and can scatter insects deeper into walls and appliances. Switch to sanitation, gel baits placed in cracks, and boric acid dusts where labeled, or hire help built around inspection and baits rather than total-release foggers. Why office hitchhikers are common German cockroaches move…
What causes Lyme disease? In the United States, Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and, rarely, Borrelia mayonii. It spreads through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks (deer ticks) in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and north-central states, and western blacklegged ticks along the Pacific Coast. [CDC] How do people get Lyme disease? People…
