Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | All About Pets
SPONSORED CONTENT
Don’t let bloodsuckers ruin your best Berkshire life Call Tick & Mosquito Control of Western Massachusetts, your equalizer in the fight against bites BY NOAH HOFFENBERG Eagle sponsored content editor PITTSFIELD — Jim Underdown and Ty-
They use it for themselves, family, furry friends Without the onslaught of bugs, Underdown, his wife and children can use their Pittsfield yard regularly, instead of seeking cover. Harrington, also of Pittsfield, lives with two dogs: Paxton, 18 months, a boxer mix, and Ralphie, 4 months, an American bulldog mix. “I treat my yard with the same thing that we use with our customers. I’ve never had a tick on me or the dogs, and I feel better when they’re running around out there,” says Harrington. Underdown says he, too, has never been bitten by a deer tick, the carrier of Lyme disease and other tickborne diseases. “You can finally go outside and stay out past dark, and not worry about being eaten alive,” says Harrington. With diseases like West Nile virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis carried by mosquitoes, a barrier treatment is ideal for keeping your family safe and free from these insect-borne illnesses, says Underdown.
Partners and competitors He and Harrington are business partners and co-owners of the new business, and they’re also competitors. The two each have their own established lawn care businesses: Underdown is the local franchiseeowner of The Lawn Doctor, and Harrington owns Berkshire Turfgrass Specialists. “We’ve been in the lawn care space for five years and dabbling with bug control individually for those five years,” says Underdown. “Now is the first time we’ve teamed up and pooled resources, and specialize in it, as opposed to a company that has it as an add-on feature.” The teammates and friendly rivals met while out doing lawns, and had heard of one another through mutual friends. It was an auspicious introduction.
Is it buggy around here? Is there a need for pest control in Berkshire County? It’s one of the state’s hotspots for Lyme, they note; and our region’s plentiful mosquitoes can carry canine heartworms, too. As an added service, the company
offers a handy tool to help deal with carriers of ticks and fleas, Harrington notes, such as mice, rats or chipmunks. “Rodents are big carriers. Our tick tubes target them with cotton treated with an insecticide. The mice bring it back to their nests, and they sleep in it. It repels the ticks but doesn't kill the rodents,” says Harrington. As some might recall from history class, it was rodents that spread the Black Plague in Europe, via fleas. “Who knows what you’re stopping?” wonders Underdown.
Two pesticide packages The company uses two treatments. The natural variety employs essential oils — cedarwood, peppermint and rosemary — to repel ticks and mosquitoes. The second is a synthetic solution made up of pyrethrins, which are based on a naturally occurring chemical found in the chrysanthemum flower. These are used in numerous insect control products, such as pet shampoos, and are not likely to be carcinogenic to humans, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Berkshire Eagle | BerkshireEagle.com
lor Harrington don’t have any love for bloodsuckers, and they aim to send them all packing from our fine Berkshire hills. It sounds like the plot for a vampire flick. In reality, Harrington and Underdown are on the hunt for ticks, mosquitoes and other biting insects with a thirst for human blood. This spring, the two lawn specialists are launching Tick & Mosquito Control of Western Massachusetts; they are now making appointments for free estimates on Berkshire County properties. Underdown, a former golf pro with a degree in mathematics, says treatments begin toward the end of
April. That’s when he treats his own yard with the barrier spray, which is applied via a backpack mister.
EAGLE FILE PHOTOS
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Deer ticks, left, are carriers for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Tick and Mosquito Control of Western Massachusetts can help you keep them at bay. Mosquitoes, like those pictured at right, can carry West Nile virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and canine heartworm.
