IPM Myths

June 2025 Edition by: John Moore, MSc

 

I began my career in pest control in 1981.  During the last 40 years, I have seen profound change in the industry, positive change that continually makes us better at what we do.  Many do not realize the enormous contributions that pest control has made to food safety, food quality, and consumer confidence in the brands we all consume and trust.  Think about the trust you have in the brands you use when you open that bag of snacks, soft drinks, pet food, etc. You trust that the food item is safe and of the highest quality.  Pest control plays a significant role in maintaining that trust.

However, even with the advancements in pest control technology and methods, many myths and misleading concepts about pest control impede progress in continual improvement.  These myths and misleading concepts range from the absurd to downright misleading based upon lack of understanding pests and their behaviors.  The following is a list of just a few of them with some “clarifications” on their validity.  It is the hope that you gain a little more insight into what is fact versus fiction in your understanding of pest control.

1.  Rodents go outside your home/facility to look for water after ingesting a rodenticide.

This is fiction.  This concept was fabricated decades ago to address the concerns of homeowners having rodents dying inside their homes after eating “rat poison.”  There is no data or evidence to support this concept.

2. Getting the baseboards sprayed once a month in my facility keeps pests away.

This is fiction.  Spraying baseboards is just that.  It is applying a pesticide to be applying a pesticide creating the false perception that you are gaining some level of protection.  The reality is that this type of application does little to protect you and is an irresponsible use of pesticides.  This is a spray service, not a pest control service.

3. The mouse traps on the white line in my facility are adequate rodent control.

This is misleading.  The traps on the white line are there for compliance reasons only.  They are put there to have a documented “rodent control program” for auditing purposes.  This type of program is not based on science or understanding of rodent behavior.  MOST of the time when you have a rodent issue in your warehouse or production facility, the rodents are sent to you from the supplier’s products or the trucks they send to your facility.  Items are unloaded from the trucks and staged in the middle of your operation bypassing every control you have in place.  Your white line traps will not prevent this or solve it.  No amount of white line traps will fix this.  More traps does not equal more control.

4. Adding more bait stations to the exterior will prevent rodent entry and help resolve the interior rodent problems.

Again, this is misleading for some of the same reasons listed above.  Most of the time, interior rodent issues were sent to you.  Once established on the interior with adequate resources, no number of traps outside or on the inspection line inside will resolve the issue.  Mice do not live on the white line.

5. Giving beer to rats will kill them because they cannot belch and will explode internally.

Patently absurd.  Not sure where this came from but this “concept “has been around for at least 20 years.  There is currently no data to support this.  I have heard the same thing said about chewing gum given to rats.

6. Getting my facility power sprayed once a month on the exterior will prevent most pest issues.

This is misleading.  Exterior treatments can be highly effective IF timed appropriately and targeted well.  Make the applications based on current pest pressure or well documented history of pest pressure.  Spraying once a month just to be spraying is a waste of time and money as well as using a pesticide when it is not necessary.  This is very irresponsible.  Again, this is a spray service, not a pest control service.

7. Spraying Mint Oil/Cinnamon/ Essential Oils around my facility will keep rodents and pests away.

This is false.  While it may be true that there is some level of repellency for some of these materials, it is extraordinarily little and short lived.  Pest repellents have been experimented with for decades and have not been proven to be practical or efficacious in preventing pest infestations.  However, for insects, direct contact with these wet oils can be lethal to the individual insect.  Beyond direct contact with wet material, their value is extremely limited.

8.  My pest control company says they can cover stored product pests like Indian meal moths.

This can be misleading.  Stored product pests get introduced to your facility in much the same way rodents do.  They are sent to you in the raw bulk ingredients and other high-risk products.  There is nothing any conventional pest control company can do to prevent or resolve this.  There is nothing they can spray to prevent or resolve this using conventional pest control.  The best they can do is monitor and advise.  Monitor to determine when the pest has been introduced, where, and what levels followed up with practical solutions for mitigation or eradication.  If your current pest control company is not at least monitoring these pests, you are at higher risk for brand damaging events.

9. Electronic pest repellers are effective at keeping pests out of my facility.

This is false.  They simply do not work.  The companies that sell them do not have to prove they work to sell them.  Many credible studies have been done on these devices.  They have all come to the same conclusion, snake oil.  Some of the devices tested emit no sound at all.  Just a tiny LED light when you turn it on.

10.   Here are a few of the ones I place in the “absurd” category.  There is no competent data, scientific study, or validation.  If any of these actually worked, the pest control industry would have been using these methods at scale for commercial customers.
11. 1. Putting dryer sheets in things prevents infestations of everything from Bed Bugs and fleas to roaches.
    2. Hanging bags of water with pennies in them outside of your doors will prevent flies from entering your facility.
    3. Sprinkling cinnamon around your doors will prevent ants from entering.
    4. Putting a line of chalk around your facility will kill ants.
    5. Placing plastic owls on your building will scare away the birds and rodents.
    6. Baking soda kills/prevents crawling insects from infesting.

 

With the internet and social media, more “pest control hacks” are popping up all the time.  Be careful trying these amazing new tricks, some of them can be risky to your health.  Remember, “Organic” does not equal SAFE.