Lists – Pest Digest

January 5, 2017February 8, 2017

Top 7 “Whose a Good Boy??”

This article is provided by: Lake Norman Pest Control

The internet has been taken by storm over a Reddit user’s post of a dog’s before and after pictures from being called a “Good Boy!’ The post inspired boredpanda.com to create a user submission article that featured their own pet’s before and after photos from being called a good boy. There are currently 459 submissions, so you can check out the link to see them all for yourself; however, we’ve done a bunch of the work for you and picked these top “Whose a Good Boy” before and afters:

#7 Ollie “Not Really a Good Dog“

Maybe it has something to do with the title submission Melody gave to Ollie, or maybe it’s when he stands upright onto his butt, but something about this reaction wouldn’t leave me to rest while going through the other 459 submissions. He’s so pleased, but also looks like a sweet doofus who has no idea he’s not really a good boy.

#6 “Good Dragon!“

Were crickets involved? Probably, but I’m sure for many pet owners, the word treat was used to get that extra cute reaction. No fowl, no harm! Though I couldn’t even tell you if the side by side is the same reptile, it’s still such a cute lizard-about-to-eat-dinner smile.

#5 Titus

Clearly posted by a proud mother, this is easily the perfect transition into “Yes! I am a Good Boy!” Titus was featured in one other article on the main website, explaining that Titus is a victim of the well known crisis known as Resting B*tch Face.

#4 A Good GIRL

I personally dislike snakes more than spiders, but the cute little “ooo” that can be seen in this snake’s after photo is just too good. It’s worth pointing out that Greta is the original author of the post, so there’s no telling if this was one of multiple “perfect” submissions, as she also posts several articles to the website regularly. All that said, it doesn’t matter, this good girl is still loved.

#3 A Good and Happy Boy

There are several people who don’t consider cats capable of happiness, so if you’re among them and have wondered what a happy cat looks like: here it is! Forward whiskers, closed/narrow eyes, ears perked upright, this is one happy cat. Top rated cats on the article itself were ones who seemed to react terribly to the news, or not at all. This guy couldn’t be left to unseen in the far back, and not get the recognition a sweetie like this deserves.

#2 Calypso, a Good Girl?

As compared to the prior cat, Calypso here just doesn’t really know what to respond with. Already preoccupied with nothing, the words of praise fell short on this one. Perhaps Calypso knows a truth that Jordie has yet to discover.

#1 Simona

This delight! Such happiness! Simona IS a good girl! Thanks to Camila for capturing this sweetheart’s reaction. Although it’s entirely possible Simona is about to sneeze, this photo captures something completely adorable.

If you’re interested in seeing these photos enlarged, you can click on any of them to be directed to the original image. There were several candidates, and if you have some time to burn, going through the list is worthwhile.

Do you agree or disagree with this list? Comment with your thoughts on our list, or tell us from the original who would make your list instead!

December 30, 2016February 8, 2017

Top 5 INTENSE BUGS

This article is provided by: Go-Forth Pest and Lawn of Winston-Salem

There are so many types of bugs out there that we literally haven’t discovered them all. Every year we discover more and more bugs, and the amount of time it would take to find them all is immeasurable. While we may not be able to discover every bug hidden away on the planet, there are several we have found that you don’t EVER want to meet! They’re small, and some even look harmless, but encountering any of our intense top 5 bugs could mean serious damage.

#5 Giant Weta

Weta are the only peaceful bugs to make this list, but that doesn’t make them any less terrifying to find one. The only ones that even have big enough mandibles to be scary are the Tree Weta. Even those and other sub species of Weta are only interested in herbivore diet choices, especially carrots!

#4 Huntsman Spider

These spiders are completely different from what we consider the average spider to be like, as they don’t weave webs, and their bites lack toxic venom (though their bites can still REALLY hurt.) These guys are called Huntsman spiders for the fact that they actively hunt their prey, using their long legs to grab and hold what they find to bite it to death. The one above is on the smaller side of their average sizes, but you can find much MUCH bigger ones no problem. They’re only native in Australia at this time though, so you can easily avoid encounters by just not going to Australia.

#3 Asian Giant Hornet

This hornet in Japan is called the Japanese Giant Hornet or Yak-Killer hornet, and has several different sub species depending on where you’re visiting in Asia. Their stings have caused hundreds of injuries and deaths, leaving people hospitalized after encountering swarms. The hornet is the largest on the planet, and prefer habitats at the bottom of mountains or in forests of eastern Asian tropical climates. They’re known for hunting other bees and their hives for food, and at times resorting to cannibalism if nothing else can be found.

#2 Africanized Bee

Or also known as the Killer Bee, these bees have the kind of origin story that can only lead to disaster. Scientists in Europe decided to try cross breeding bees, and the result were the Killer Bees. They were meant to help increase honey production, but the scientists accidentally had a few escape from testing facilities. They’re extremely aggressive, and it does not take much to provoke a colony attack from them. An angered swarm has the potential to outright kill a person, and can follow you up to a quarter-mile to do so.

#1 Bullet Ant

Listen, the bullet ant is no joke with its sting. More recently, YouTube Star Coyote from Brace Wilderness subjected himself to a single sting and was in burning pain for 48 hours, despite it should only take 24. Other YouTube celebrities have visited this tribe to take on the same challenge, and most have completely crumbled under the first few seconds. Though in the wilderness, away from their nest foraging for food, bullet ants can be quite docile when encountered. These guys rank at #1 out of all bugs, as enduring one of their stings can be the worst sting you may ever encounter.

December 16, 2016February 15, 2017

Top Bug Themed MONSTERS!

This article is provided by: Lake Norman Pest Control

We’ve covered the top video games featuring bugs, but that isn’t to say those games had the bugs! Wanna know our take on the best Monster Bugs media has to offer? Here is our top 5 Monster Bug list:

#5 Monster Hunter‘s Seltas Queen and Warrior

If you’re not familiar with the Monster Hunter series, it’s a CAPCOM game that made its debut on the PS2 in 2004. It has since made its way from Sony to Nintendo, with recent games being featured on the 3DS and one on the Wii U. The Seltas Queen and her Warrior were introduced in Monster Hunter 4 on the 3DS as the first major bug enemies you could encounter for a quest, and are considered to be based on beetles. The two work side by side, or at least until the Queen is hurting badly. Then she just grabs her handy warrior and uses him to increase her health by outright eating him. Though if you’re hoping this makes the battle easier fighting one target, don’t get too hopeful. She calls for another one each time there’s a lack of a warrior by her side.

#4 Sandworms

The credit of first known Sandworm goes to Frank Herbert, author of Dune which was written in 1965. Sandworms are those creatures that turn your average harmless worm into a terrifying behemoth that can theoretically swallow cities if they’re big enough. You’ve seen them everywhere, but I think America’s most famous instance is in the movie Tremors. You may also know of the sandworm from Beetlejuice or Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

#3 Every Giant Spider Ever

The only thing scarier than spiders is public speaking, until you consider possibility of giant spiders. These 8-legged giants are a video game enemy classic, as you’ll find them at some point as an enemy encounter (World of Warcraft, Gauntlet, Dark Souls, Monster Hunter, and Doom to name a few). The giant spiders have also made their way into several books and movies, earning it’s own spot as antagonist in films like the General Spider in Arachnophobia and Shelob in Lord of the Rings. Since there are so many giant spiders you can find in media, we just had to attribute our #3 spot to all of them.

#2 The entire Starship Troopers Struggle

If you haven’t seen this movie, I highly recommend it; however, it’s in no way for the light of heart or young children (I’m not kidding, this movie is rated R for graphic gore, intense and frightening scenes, mild profanity, and more). Starship Troopers features alien as the main antagonist, and several times throughout they refer to them as “bugs” and “insects.” Earth is being invaded by these alien bugs, and it has only been a downhill battle. You follow the space marines as they travel to the bug alien home planet and attempt to eradicate the pests once and for all. Also young Neil Patrick Harris is in it, and that’s always a plus.

#1 Mothra

The one and only Kaijū, Mothra makes our number one spot in our Monster Bug list. Mothra is an iconic Kaijū from Toho, the same company that brought us Godizilla. Toho is known for doing basically every well-acclaimed giant monster film in Japan. Mothra first appears in it’s own film in 1961 where it appears as the Infant Island’s deity that protects them from atomic testing. Mothra is always accompanied by two “fairies” which are always two women from the Infant island who are no taller than 12 inches. They have the ability to call Mothra with their song, which can be seen in Mothra’s own Mothra vs. Godzilla feature.

November 19, 2016February 22, 2017

#5 SIM ANT

This game is originally a 1991 top down simulation game where you manage a colony of ants in a backyard. The game is old enough that its first appearance was as a DOS game, but it was popular enough that it was given releases on later machines, such as the Super NES, Mac OS, and later versions of Windows. It gets position number 5 as a timeless classic that many remember being able to play on school computers, but is overall repetitive and capable of playing itself after a certain amount of time.

#4 Mister Mosquito

If you have ever wanted to experience the life of a mosquito trying to survive in a household, that’s exactly what Mister Mosquito does. It ranks number 4 on our list simply because it’s one of the few games that is simulation and action based as a bug. It was released June of 2001 on the PlayStation 2, and it’s ratings are overall mediocre. The controls are difficult to manage, but if you’re into a first person flight experience, isn’t hard to grasp with practice.

#3 MARIO PAINT’S GNAT ATTACK

If this were its own game, it could arguably be higher on this top 5 list. Gnat Attack, or also known as Coffee Break, is a mini game you can find in the Mario Paint game by clicking an icon featuring a coffee mug. It’s concept and controls are very basic, move the cursor over the fly and press to swat it. You’ll see various bugs, with the final boss of each level being some intense robot bug. This game was so well-received as a mini game that it was re-released as a mini game for Mario Maker on the Wii U. It’s important to note the above video is a speed run, and the game itself can easily last 20 minutes or longer to fully beat.

#2 WORMs ARMAGEDDON

Worms Armageddon is a full multiplayer game featuring worms as the player characters. It’s a strategy game among friends or online players where you are trying to be the last worm standing. You’re given a team of worms placed on a map and take turns shooting rockets that cause terrain damage and attack the other player worms. It ranks #2 as a solid funny and enjoyable game to play with friends, and also you’re a worm just because. To get to the review part of the featured YouTube video, skip to 25 seconds in.

#1 EARTH DEFENSE FORCE

If you’re aware of the movie Starship Troopers, that’s the easiest way to describe this game. You chose a character class to play and essentially fight giant insects that are attacking planet earth. It has traditionally been a PlayStation 2 game, but a recent version called Earth Defense Force 4.1 was released for PC and is available on the online Steam Store. The most recent version gives you 3 class options, and has you facing off against giant ants, wasps, spiders, and eventually giant monsters as you progress through the levels. This ranks number one as it’s just the best action packed game with multiplayer abilities that features buggy aliens as a main enemy.

Agree or disagree with this ranking? Tell us how you’d rank your favorite bug games in the comments!

November 4, 2016February 24, 2017

Unlikely Rescues

This article is provided by: Go-Forth Pest and Lawn

Everyone loves a rescue story with a happy ending, especially when it features pure and innocent creatures like dogs and cats. When we hear tales of animals overcoming tragedy, it’s hopeful and reaffirming that the earth we live on is a good one. While there are many rescue stories that may go untold, here are some which feature the less than expected to receive a helping hand. For all of these rescues, click on the picture to learn the whole story.

Camels are known to be resilient to the elements, as they can survive days in a desert without sustenance. They eat and drink in excessive amounts to store it as fat in their hump, and even have the ability to regulate their body temperature according to environmental conditions. This is why Sydney’s story is unusual, but also a common result of bad care takers. Sydney was born in a Petting Zoo and not given the proper care needed as a baby camel. The above picture is Sydney at his new home with new care takers that have helped him go from 118 lbs to 1400 lbs in 3 years.

You may have seen the video above, what with 3 million views and all. This video of a man helping remove a can from a skunk’s head went viral last month, but is still worth noting as an unlikely rescue. I don’t know how many people would try to do the same as this guy, especially with the risk of being sprayed.

These bees were found huddled to a fire hydrant without a queen in Toronto, Canada. Thanks to the efforts of Facebook, the man who found these bees was able to successfully gather them into a cardboard box and transport them to a Beekeeper. The keeper has since reported that they are happy and doing well in their new home!

This isn’t the story of just one opossum, but a shelter that saves an average of 100-200 of them a year. The website, WildCare, features a video of releasing a family of rescued opossums back into the wild. For the most part we think of these guys as regular home intruders or vermin, but opossums are a natural predator to several unwanted pests, such as cockroaches, beetles, even rats or deceased animals.

Perhaps the most unexpected rescue of them all is Charlotte, a gigantic huntsman spider found where you’d expect to find giant spiders: Australia. While spiders don’t both me in particular, there’s no way I’d have the ability to do what this woman from Barnyard Betty’s Rescue did. She rescued Charlotte from another person which revealed intent to kill the spider outright, but Betty wasn’t about to have any of it. Charlotte was released on the rescue grounds, and even as wonderful as this story is, I’m still glad to know Charlotte is over in Australia and not in my backyard.

May 24, 2016May 25, 2016

10 Times Mosquitoes Exercised Their Reign of Terror Over The Masses

We live in a plush society. There was a time when everything, literally everything, outside of your front door could kill you. Today we live in our ivory towers of vaccinations, guarded by flyswatters, and we clip citronella to our belts just to go to the mailbox.

Not to mention, we have the honor of sharing airspace with people who wear these:

I mean…what a time to be alive.

But did you know that mosquitoes have been plotting against us since nearly the beginning? They’ve been making cameos in some of the most pivotal events in history, that have shaped the course of mankind, and for the most part have proceeded unbeknownst to the general populace. What? How? You might ask. Allow me to explain:

1.INDIA: 500 B.C-

A priest nudges his friends and says, “Hey, I think mosquitoes might be to blame for how malaria is spread*.” As with all breakthroughs, absolutely no one paid attention to him until 1902 (many, many, many years after his death) upon which someone else took entire credit for his ideas. Yay science!

2. BABYLON: 323 B.C.-

Alexander the Great, the subject of many low budget films and the man responsible for the (almost) unification of the Greek Empire, was bitten by a mosquito and died of malaria, his ideals dying along with him. He was only 32.

3. ROME: 410 A.D.-

Alaric, a Visgoth leader, is busy picking the bones of what is left of the once prosperous, unstoppable Roman Empire. The Romans cannot defend themselves because they have taken large casualties from, you guessed it, malaria given to them from mosquitoes! In a satisfying twist of events, Alaric himself was later killed by the disease, given to him by the same flying foe.

4. AFRICA: 1593-

Malaria and yellow fever voyage across the ocean via mosquitoes stowed away on slaving ships introducing these deadly diseases to the New World.

5. ENGLAND: 1658-

Oliver Cromwell, the Protector of the Commonwealth of England is struck down by a nasty bout of malaria given to him by way of mosquito. His downfall led to the uprising of the British Monarchy. So thanks mosquitoes, for bringing us the greatest love story of all time, Will and Kate!

6. STOCKHOLM: 1902-

Remember our priest friend from India in 500 B.C.? Well his ideas are finally catching on (nearly 2,400 years later) and Dr. Ronald Ross wins the Nobel Prize, despite being late to the party, for deriving the connection between mosquitoes and malaria.

7. PANAMA: 1905-

Mosquitoes carry on their reign of terror by scaring workers away from their duties at the site of the Panama Canal for fear of yellow fever. Construction was halted for a significant amount of time and the project was nearly scrapped.

8. COLORADO: 1939-

DDT, or dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (try saying that five times fast), is tested as an insecticide. It worked at first. But unwilling to go down without a fight, mosquitoes developed a resistance to its effects.

9. GENEVA: 1995-

The WHO (the World Health Organization, not the band responsible for “Who Are You?”) declares dengue fever originating from mosquitoes to be a “WORLD EPIDEMIC.”

10. MOSQUITOES TODAY:

Mosquitoes infect around 250 million people a year with malaria and around 2-3 million will die from it. Protect yourself from mosquitoes!

But please, don’t be the guy wearing the mosquito suit. No one likes the guy wearing the mosquito suit…

*not an actual quote

Category: Lists