A Surprise Guest

Much to our amazement, yesterday, one of our state inspectors rode along with my grandson while he did his mosquito sprays. We all

assumed the worst, which is probably a normal reaction. Nobody reported us, we were not on some kind of hit list, and this was just

something that the state does to protect the environment, which is a good thing. Outside of studying up on the chemical that we

were applying, we didn't do anything that was out of the normal. My grandson is a likable guy and we got good grades on our report.

My thought on the whole thing is this: If you never have to worry about enforcement, who would ever follow the rules?

Comments are welcome.

Wink,

Thats a good story and a good attitude about it as well. Most of these typical ride alongs and inspections are not based on trying to nail folks
but rather as you stated protecting the environment and the people and things living in it from folks who might be off kilter or just flat out
not following labels or instructions.

Good story!

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I'll relate a story I was told just a couple days ago, a colleague went out through his municipality to investigate a pigeon feeding issue causing a nuisance
to an apt. complex. When he was talking to the manager of the complex who was suffering from this issue, he stated typically they get rid of the birds by
using poison.

He asked the guy was he using "avitrol" knowing that was one avicide that had been on the market. The guy said, "no we typically buy the mouse and rat
poison from the farm and fleet and mix it with our bird seed."

(Quoted verbatim)

The colleague said while pointing to various structures in the complex, "That is a pigeon, that is a white winged dove, that is a mourning dove and those
are native songbirds in that tree, all eating this seed you are putting out."

They aren't enforcement so it was mostly a conversation from there about please don't do this or you may run afoul of a state or federal violation and face fines and charges,
if you need to remove the birds either hire someone or start a live trapping program or get licensed and learn about the correct products and their proper use.

***

Not someone in our industry or even in the PCO industry, and also not the only off label user out there in the public or commercial fronts, but again shows why we need
some people out there checking on those who are known to be utilizing product to assure as best we can that folks are following the labels and intended use.

I have some good PCO friends and colleagues now who are very strict in what they do and it is always good to know!

I like the concept. Accountability is good. At the same time lots to go wrong with the setup. What about liability in an accident?

What if the guy's wife left him the night before? Might have an effect on the grades. My guess is nobody is losing a license over a bad grade. I dont think a state can have that subjective of a license process. He was probably just looking for mistakes so he could correct; informal training. Makes me like the scenario more.

Bob, I think you hit the nail on the head, especially if the state guy knew that my 18 year old grandson did 90% of our mosquito

sprays. He did mention that although rubber boots are not mandatory for mosquito sprays, if it was one of his relatives doing the

spraying, he would have them wear boots as an extra precaution. And he said this to Gramma who is overly protective anyway. Now that

was a great way to get your point across.