Still Bugging Us After All These Years: The History of Pest Control

Think ants or getting rid of cockroaches is a modern problem? Think again. Pest control in the home has been an issue for thousands of years.  Since history has been recorded, pests have been an unwelcome part of people’s lives.

What Worked Back In the Day

As far back as 2500 BC, records indicate the Sumerians dealt with their pests with a dose of sulfur. This stinking element made pests scatter.  In 1200 BC, the Chinese were already studying the problem and recorded instances of concocting varied chemical compounds to get rid of their household vermin. By 750 BC, arsenic and mercury were being used to poison unwanted critters.

Superstition Takes Over

As the Dark Ages began superstitions surrounding pests and bugs were rampant. Bugs were being “controlled” by magic potions and spiritual rituals. People with bugs or other home pests were looked upon by their communities with a careful and cautious eye. What had they done to invite the evil in? Since they ate through and destroyed entire crops, bugs and rats were considered to be the devil’s work.

1921: Air Invasions

The advent of flight saw the first use of overhead crop spraying pest-control methods. In 1921 the first planes were deployed to dust entire farms and landscapes with pesticides. The future of pest management was forever changed.

Today’s Targeted Methods

Today, with our much improved knowledge of bugs and other pests and the health hazards of harmful chemicals, we’re leaps and bounds ahead of our ancestors with pest defense.

Innovative technologies such as the in-wall Taexx^® system, formerly known as Tubes in the Wall^® can now be installed directly into the walls of a new home during construction to target bugs where they live.  Pre and post construction termite treatments can provide a protection for homes and businesses.  And Entomologists are discovering new pest control methods regularly.

Pests and bugs will continue to play an important role in our ecosystem, but we definitely no longer have to have them in our homes.  For more information on how you can keep your home pest free, please visit us at www.pestdefense.com.