Nanny state, take... I've lost count.

[kickaha]

We live in an apartment building with 5 units.

We have seen evidence of a few carpet beetles.

We would like to apply a mild pesticide around the molding on the floor to 'discourage' them from coming out of the walls. (If they're in the walls, I don't care - it's only when they come out and eat my things that I care.)

Dry pesticides won't stay as a barrier around the cracks in the molding.

I haven't been able to find a pet-friendly dry pesticide.

Liquid pesticides will, as they dry to form a nice little barrier (of a mild sort, but that's okay, that's all we're looking for.)

Got all that? Reasonable so far? Mild bug evidence, want a mild liquid pesticide that is pet-friendly to just discourage them from coming out of the walls. Nice, easy, simple, right?


NY doesn't think so. We are banned from applying *any* liquid pesticides in our own apartment because a) there are more than 2 units in the dwelling, and b) we don't own it.

To do this, we need a pest-control license.


&$%*(@#&*(%^&*@($&*()@$@#$#!


You know, I can even see the mental processes that led to this, and up to a point, in certain situations, they could even be rational. But this sort of "OH NOES!" blanket ban is so *fricking* typical up here, and of course the response to problems caused is... more legislation, licensing, and oversight. Oh, and of course more license fees, inspection fees, exam fees...

I swear to god, it's almost enough to make me vote Republican. If the NE is the spiritual heart of the Democratic Party, it is in serious need of a transplant, stat.

Comments

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

You do realize this house was built in 1864, right? The hole behind the cupboard we only found because I was poking around back there for no good reason. :) The other holes are where the old plaster has fallen away near hidden junctions, like the back of the doorjamb in the pantry. This is pretty normal.

I can plug the smaller holes with some expanding insulation foam, and I have an idea on how to close the large hole without needing to pull the cupboards out, but the cracks around the molding are simply everywhere. Old settling floors aren't exactly level or even. I've *done* the caulk-everything-in-sight before, on a 400sq ft apt in Durham, and it took most of a weekend (not to mention about 8 tubes of caulk)... I can't imagine how long this place would take to do right.

Like ginkgo said, the one good thing about this is that we're 99.99% sure that this place has no mice or rats - they could get in any time they wished, but we've had no sign of them. Heck, the fact that we only have the rare spider or bug is amazing, IMO. The carpet beetles so far in the last 14 months have numbered fewer than a dozen, and a few larva, all near the recently discovered wall holes.

Of course, if we *did* have mice or (small) rats, Bob would be a lot more entertained... :)