Although we all seem to be enjoying this mild winter, it does come with its drawbacks. We're bound to get a least one more good snow storm with a stretch of below freezing days and the plants that have started to come up will be frozen.  We've already had calls for Ants and Carpenter Bees!  The weather has a huge impact on the insect and rodent world. For example, in years where there is an abundance of acorns, there are more mice, chipmunks and squirrels. Then this abundance of little furry creatures will decline in a year with a bad acorn crop. Sooooo, to get to the point, 2010 had an acorn bonanza (therefore more mice, etc.), but 2011 had a dismal acorn showing. The increased rodent population, with less food, had to go further to find sustenance, sending them into our homes for crumbs. With less food available, the population now declines, which gives the Deer Ticks fewer sources for their blood meal. Ergo, they gravitate to our pets and US!  It isn't too early to start the tick collars (the office dog had a tick on her nose last week!), and if you plan to use your yard at all this year, you really should have Amtech's Tick Service.

There is a lot of talk lately about insurance companies having policies that cover Bed Bug infestations. Not only would these policies cover the cost of treatment and loss of revenue, but also the claims of "bodily injury, property damage and mental anguish" of the 'victims'. Infestations of any kind have typically been excluded in commercial insurance policies as they were considered a maintenance expense. So far the policies are for commerical properties; hotels and residential property managers. 
The following link is an article from the Hartford Courant just this past week.

http://articles.courant.com/2011-07-19/news/hc-bedbug-insurance-20110708_1_bedbugs-aon-risk-solutions-willis-north-america


Another article was published the same day in Medical News Today:  


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/231306.php