Magic Exterminating is a family owned business founded in 1960 offering Green Shield Certfied Services.
Magic is a Greenopia Designated Business, Member of the USGBC & the Queens Chamber of Commerce Go Green - Anyone can be Conventional
You can reach us at 212-431-5009 - 718-961-9000 - 516-767-1700

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

New York Magazine Talks about Rats & Rat Busters NYC

Big Scary Ugly Dirty Rats

They’re everywhere — but they always were.

By Mark Jacobson Published Oct 30, 2011
In this city, even a dead rat can draw a crowd.

If the rat were scurrying between garbage cans, or running down a 4-train track, some yahoo would have said it was “giant, as big as a cat, ten pounds or more.” But being dead, its greasy fur splayed out on First Avenue near 6th Street, the rat’s dimensions were clear. It was about seven inches from tapered, beady-eyed head to the base of its ropy tail and probably weighed no more than a pound, average size for a mature individual of the species Rattus norvegicus, the brown or Norway rat. In other words, it was a typical New York City rat, the sort that arrived on these shores in the late-eighteenth century, beginning its inexorable colonization of the waterfront, tenement buildings, sewers, subway stations, and vacant lots—thriving to the point where it has become no less a symbol of the metropolis than the Empire State Building or a Katz’s pastrami sandwich. As such, the dead rat on First Avenue was just one more tourist attraction, and half a dozen smartphone paparazzi were ardently documenting its fallen state.

That would have been that except for the arrival on the scene of a couple of boisterous young men who whipped beer bottles from brown paper bags and, in a leering act of frat-boy street libation, spilled some Stella Artois on the bestilled rodent. The synaptical reaction took a moment to kick in, but then the formerly dead rat appeared to levitate, spinning a full 180 degrees above the sidewalk and sending stunned bystanders shrieking into the night.

One of evolution’s more triumphant guilty pleasures, the New York rat, whose precursors waged bio-guerrilla war against the post-dinosaur reptilian rear guard 50 million years ago, comes to the table sporting a dossier of astounding and sobering attributes. Female brown rats are sexually mature at eight-to-ten weeks and can produce a litter within 21 days of impregnation. They can mate again within eighteen hours of giving birth and routinely turn out more than 50 offspring per year. Rats can swim for more than half a mile, tread water for three days, sometimes even emerging in the bathroom bowl. They can gnaw through concrete and lead, collapse their skeletons to fit through a hole no bigger than a quarter. They can go for two weeks without sleeping, utilizing this extended wakefulness to devour everything in sight. According to an estimate, rats and their rodent allies eat and otherwise despoil up to one fifth of the world’s food supply. This is to say nothing of their role in wiping out half of Europe during the Black Death plague of the mid-1300s. The plague also killed many rats, but the rodent proved its staying power when several were found to have survived the atomic-bomb testing on the Eniwetok Atoll in 1945.

When it comes to who and what will be left standing following Armageddon, the rat has a compelling résumé. Yet it wasn’t until that late-summer evening in the East Village that the Rattus norvegicus added resurrection-by-beer to its vita. It mattered little that the rat staggered barely a few feet before keeling over again, likely succumbing to some exterminator’s slow-death dose of rodenticide. He had proved his point.

We are apparently in the midst of one of New York’s periodic rat outbreaks. If there are 8 million stories in the Naked City, maybe half of them are rat stories; uptown and down, everyone seems to have one. Rats have been reported overrunning playgrounds, burrowing in children’s sandboxes, dropping from trees in Tompkins Square Park. On the Upper West Side, residents say rats have “formed a conga line” in Verdi Square (née Needle Park) on 72nd Street. Local TV crews have run outraged exclusives about rats living across from the Plaza Hotel. Rats were even threatening celebrity homes in Greenwich Village, menacing luminaries like Michael Cera and Rupert Everett, forcing Gisele Bündchen to raise her skirt in fear. At one downtown firehouse, rats were getting into the FDNY cars and eating away the wires under the dashboards. Knowing that rodent gnawing is responsible for an estimated quarter of electrical failures in the city, the firefighters employed infrared cameras to locate the rats, which they attempted to beat to death with hockey sticks. Perhaps even more vivid was the action taken in August by Jose Rivera, a city employee at the Marcy projects in Bed-Stuy, who used a pitchfork to kill a three-foot-long rat (possibly an alien rat from Africa, an escaped pet). Asked by a reporter if Jay-Z, Marcy’s most famous alum, would rap about Rivera’s feat, a project resident said, “He ought to … ‘Pitchfork, bitchfork, Marcy with the monster rat, sometime it be like that.’ ”

Vermin videos have gone viral, collected by sites like Gothamist, which specializes in the rats-on-subway genre. Callow suburbanites seem to never get enough of the rat crawling on the face of the homeless guy, but the less heartless may prefer “Rat With Full Slice of Pizza.” “Rat on the A Train” isn’t bad either. In this climate, exterminators, now generally referred to as pest-­management professionals (PMPs), are reality-show stars. Animal Planet’s Rat Busters NYC tracks the undeniably amusing peregrinations of Jimmy Tallman and Michael Morales, who in their quest to become the most famous rat-catchers since Hamelin are photographed crawling around Queens attics saying things like “Holy cow! Look at those droppings.”

The ongoing rodent scare has proved a headache for the Bloomberg administration, especially since the announced layoff of 57 (out of 185) Health Department pest-control workers last year. “You don’t slash the ranks of public-health workers on the front lines of an epidemic,” said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer at a protest in Mitchell Square Park in Washington Heights, where locals claimed the rats had “taken over.” Last month, members of the subway-workers union circulated a petition against the cutbacks, shouting, “If you smell something, sign something.” For his part, Mayor Bloomberg has pooh-poohed the outbreak as just one more thing the 99 percent of us will have to put up with in these austere times. “Rats are a problem in every big city,” a peevish mayor told a TV reporter. This was in sharp contrast to the reaction of then-mayor Rudolph ­Giuliani when faced with a “Rat Summit” during a similar rodent panic in 2000.

Giuliani (who once famously told a ­ferret-keeping citizen to get help for his “excessive concern for little weasels”) declared, “We make unprecedented efforts to kill rats. We probably lead the country in rat killing.”

All of this brings up a number of questions, ones that have vexed city health officials at least since the rodent scare of the twenties, when scientists proposed to build a wall around the rat-infested waterfront area. For instance, just how many New York rats are there in New York? For decades, the rule of thumb was one rat for every human, i.e., 8 million rats, an iconic yet mind-­boggling number. Following the Second World War, David E. Davis (called “the founding father of modern rat studies” by Robert Sullivan in his esteemed 2004 book, Rats) challenged the one-to-one ratio. After much field work, Davis concluded there were no more than 250,000 rats in New York, or one rodent for every 36 people.

Since then, however, there seems little doubt that the rat population, spurred by ever more garbage for the rodents to eat, has increased, perhaps dramatically. You hear all sorts of numbers. One PMP told me there were “three, maybe four” rats for every person. “Thirty-two million rats?” I asked. “Well, at least 20 million,” the PMP replied. No one knows for sure, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is how many rats you see.

That is because, as Steven Bruce of the Superb Pest Control company of the Bronx says, “one rat is a lot to see … because they’re rats.”

It was true, Bruce said, that the Great Bedbug Panic had kept him busy over the past couple of years. This is largely because, as many PMPs allow, “paranoia is good for business.” Pictured as a creeping army of microscopic vampires capable of lurking in even Bloomingdale’s-bought 1,000-thread-count sheets, bedbugs, or even a rumor of them, are enough to make whole neighborhoods scratch through their skin and throw bedroom sets onto the street. But when it came down to it, a high percentage of people driven crazy by tiny demons had no bedbugs at all. “One of the hardest parts of my job is convincing them they don’t have them,” says Lee Browning of Discovery Dogs, a firm that uses pint-size terriers to sniff out the insects. A good PMP often had to turn psychologist, nudge people down from the ledge. Bedbugs were the perfect post-9/11 pest; they carried an alien, unknowable claustrophobia of dread, but since they were predictably wiped out by the application of 115-degree heat, many vermin-hunters found them dull, offering little intellectual challenge.

That was why there was “something about a rat job,” Bruce said as he walked through a midtown basement with his flashlight looking for “rub marks,” the dark smudges greasy-furred rats leave on walls. Unlike the faceless struggle against the bedbug, a rat job was “a battle of wits and wills. A turf war, because where they live is where we live.” Going against the rat was personal, a measure of the man, a pride fight between species.

It was something about the rat itself, the nature of the beast, the way thousands of years of proximity have produced a highly nuanced historical and cultural bond with humanity. Would any parent think of taking children to a performance of The Nutcracker featuring a Bedbug King? Is it any wonder Michael Jackson’s first No. 1 hit as a solo artist was “Ben,” theme from a movie about a telepathic, homicidal alpha rat? Rat lit is a staple of the New York writer, with this graph from Joseph Mitchell more or less summing it up. “Rats are almost as fecund as germs … a rat at four is older than a man at ninety. ‘Rats that survive to the age of four are the wisest and the most cynical beasts on earth,’ one exterminator says. ‘A trap means nothing to them, no matter how skillfully set. They just kick it around until it snaps; then they eat the bait … I believe some of them can read.’ ”


One could become obsessional about rats, I thought, thumbing through a scholarly article by the noted urban rodentologist Bobby Corrigan. A pioneer of “green” pest management and adviser to the City Health Department with a Ph.D. in rodent control from Purdue University, Corrigan did not put much credence in the suggestion that the uptick in rat sightings was a result of projects like the Second Avenue subway and the aptly named Bruce Ratner’s ­Barclays Center. “A rat isn’t going to leave his burrow unless it is directly impacted,” said the ­Brooklyn-born Corrigan. “Vibrations do not bother them. They are not leaving home because someone has a jackhammer.”

Corrigan called the present hysteria “understandable but idiotic.” The recent outbreak, he said, may only be little more than the unsettling of a few rat colonies, involving no more than 200 or 300 individuals. So this whole uproar was over a handful of rats? “It very well could be,” said Corrigan.

His point was that people are confused about rats. The fact was man “was more indebted to the Norway rat than any other species on Earth” with all those lab experiments and the lives they saved.

That was the conundrum; humans and rats were inextricably linked by time and space. History taught there was no getting rid of them. It was a Cold War, mutually-assured-destruction situation; wiping out the rats would wipe us out, too. What was needed was distance, Corrigan said. “Rats are diabolically clever animals. By that I don’t mean they’re controlled by the devil. It is just that they are very smart, very single-minded, very determined. One thing they want to do is be close to us, which is the problem, because if you allow a rat to get close to you, he will get very, very close. Closer than you want. That’s what we do, manage the distance.”

Iwas thinking about distance while wandering around looking for rats. This was embarrassing, since there are plenty of people in New York who don’t need to go out to find rats. The rats come to them. Right into their babies’ cribs. Not that I didn’t have rat stories of my own. For instance, in the winter of 1972, I was living in a storefront apartment with my sister on 6th Street between Avenues A and B. Bimbo Rivas, Loisaida poet and playwright, was my sister’s boyfriend and was around a lot. One day, Bim, a man with a sense of flair, used the five-foot-long steel-pole “police lock” to spear a scurrying Rattus norvegicus right through the belly. Toshiro Mifune couldn’t have done it better. The rat squealed a bit, but that subsided soon after Bim, with a quick flick of the pole, tossed the body out into an air shaft and closed the window.

Corrigan was right. Rats like to be close. They hug walls, seek warmth, want to be near you, if only to burrow into the subconscious, as in Freud’s famous “Rat Man” case, in which the patient was possessed by a fantasy of a chamber pot full of rodents attached to a man’s buttocks (which dovetails with the urban nightmare of the rat crawling through a toilet; check YouTube, if you want to throw up). Rats were parasites, living off human imperfection. Humanity was a race of profligate slobs who threw Doritos out the car window and were too lazy to fasten the lids on $100 pestproof trash cans. New York had more garbage than anywhere else, so we had more rats. They existed to mock us for our grandiosity and our sloth. They were our mirror, unwanted but true.

It was about then, as I sat near Collect Pond Park, that a rat appeared. I figured one would, sooner or later. Collect Pond, down the block from the Tombs, was a flash point in the rat scare. “Holy bleep, it is like a rat zoo in there,” exclaimed one video blogger. The rat approached, got within six feet of me, and stopped. This was fine. Six feet was an acceptable distance. But then the rat zigzagged around, moving closer by six inches or so. It was now within my zone.

I don’t like it when city animals act funny; it makes me think they might be rabid. But for all the diseases they spread, rats don’t get rabies. It was then I saw the Reese’s wrapper near my foot. Inside was a bit of peanut-butter cup. Rats can’t see for shit but can smell anything, and they’re crazy about peanut butter. It is like crack to them. I could see it: the rat decision-making process. Would he chance it? Make his move? It would be a mistake, because that peanut-butter cup was in my space. Lines had to be drawn. The rat, realizing I was serious, soon ran off. But he’d be back; two residents of the city, we were stuck with each other.

Read the full article here: http://nymag.com/news/features/rats-2011-11/

Monday, November 7, 2011

NY XPO for Business 11-16-11 at NYC's Jacob Javits Center

NY XPO for Business 11-16-11 at NYC's Jacob Javits Center

Come visit Magic Exterminating at both 534

meet Ralph Maestre BCE author of "The Bed Bug Book" 
&
Jimmy & Michael of Rat Busters NYC seen on Animal Planet

New York's largest Small Business Expo

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Is that a Jumping Spider... nope... it's a Cave Cricket

Cave or Camel Back Cricket

Every fall we begin to get calls from people about Jumping Spiders. Our immediate response is "Those are just Cave Crickets".

Here in New York, especially on Long Island, Cave Crickets are a prevalent pest that invade our homes with the cool damp fall weather.

They find their way into our homes through cracks & crevices in the foundation, broken dryer vents, faulty door sweeps, broken windows or under our feet as we enter our homes.

Unlike the common cricket, Cave Crickets do not make an audible chirp. They are nocturnal and only come out when the lights are out. They can go unnoticed for some time. They usually set up shop in our basements were it is cool and damp. If they find a food source (any decaying matter) they will begin to breed at a very fast pace and become an annoyance.

Luckily Cave Crickets are susceptible to standard pest control protocols and are easily eliminated. 

Friday, October 7, 2011

Community Associations Institute Expo & Trade Show 10-15-11 9am-2pm Huntington Hilton 598 Broadhollow Road Melville, NY 11747

Magic Exterminaing is a proud supporter of CAI Long Island.

Along with our sister company Suburban Exteriminting we cover all of Long Island including Brooklyn & Queens. We are a family owned business founded in 1960. Our staff includes four (4) Entomologists who oversee our service protocols.

Magic & Suburban are full service pest control companies providing:
  • Green Shield Certified Services
  • Termite protection using Sentricon Termite Colony Elmination System
  • Bird Abatement Services
  • Bed Bug Services
          • Treatments
          • Dog Inspections
          • Heat Chamber & Vault Fumigation
  • Rodent, Cockroach, Bees, Crickets & Ant Control

To register online click here

Monday, October 3, 2011

Magic at New Green City Expo October 5th

Magic at New Green City Expo 
October 5th 10am to 6pm
Union Square Park - South Plaza
 
come talk to us about
  • Integrated Pest Management,
  • Green Shield Certified Services and
  • Advise on common Pests

Highlights for New Green City 2011:
•Kick-off ceremony featuring Ted Allen, Host of "Chopped"
•Kids Corner w/Birdie, Scribble Town, Super Earth, The Green Man
•Union Square Partnership Walking Tours
•Meet Your Recycler Panel with Q&A
•Union Square Scavenger Hunt
•Union Square Greenmarket
•Rainwater Harvesting
•Interactive Exhibits
•DIY Tutorials

Monday, September 19, 2011

Magic Exterminating at NYARM Trade Show 9-21-11

REAL ESTATE EXPO
Hotel Pennsylvania
7th Ave & 33rd St, NYC
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
8am to 4pm

Come meet the author of"The Bed Bug Book"Ralph H.Maestre BCE
and Stars of the Animal Planet series
"Rat Busters NYC" Jimmy & Michael




Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Bed Bug Apocalypse Tonight 8-17-11 at 8pm on Animal Planet

Bed bugs have descended upon the United States, creating a pandemic. These critters can infiltrate our businesses, movie theaters and homes. Entomologists, pest control companies, and victims detail the creepiest and most obscene bed bug stories ever.

Featuring commentary by Ralph Maestre BCE author of "The Bed Bug Book" and Anthony DeVito ACE of Magic Exterminating




Magic Exterminating the Company & Employees behind Rat Buster NYC




MEET THE RAT BUSTER of NEW YORK CITY

Jimmy Tallman, Service Manager for Magic Exterminating“To be a pest expert, you have to have a strong will, a strong stomach and the determination to help people.” Jimmy is a 25-year veteran of the pest control trade and has rescued thousands of homes from pests over the years. This Brooklyn-born Irish-American started his career at the age of 18 purely because he needed work and fell in love with the business. He’s a jokester, but takes his job seriously and means business when it comes to getting the job done. Jimmy currently lives in Long Island, NY with his wife of 20 years and they have two daughters ages 15 and 18.

Michael Morales, Service Manager for Magic Exterminating“As an exterminator, I have to deal with the dirtiest areas and the pests themselves – it takes thick skin.” After 22 years in pest control, Michael is a true expert in the field and particularly enjoys the science behind his work. Prior to working in pest control, he was a corrections officer. Michael is known for his outgoing personality and knack for charming customers, although his partner Jimmy thinks he spends more time talking than working! Michael, of Puerto Rican heritage, was born in Flushing, Queens and grew up in Brooklyn, NY, where he still lives today. He has three children, daughters aged 12 and 13 and a 17-year-old son.


YOU'VE MET THE TEAM, NOW MEET THE COMPANY

Magic Exterminating has been providing pest control service to the 5 Boroughs of New York and Nassau County in Long Island since 1960.

In the early 70’s Suburban Exterminating was purchased to expand our service area into Suffolk County to now service all of Long Island. To this day Magic and Suburban Exterminating are still sister companies. Magic is a second generation family owned and operated business, committed to providing superior service to our clients as we pride ourselves in being the best exterminators in the business.

Our staff provides courteous and personalized service to each and every one of our customers. Many of our employees have over 25 years experience in the complex field of pest control. Our experience includes all areas of Pest Control: Private Homes, Restaurants, Hotels, Bed Bugs, Office and Apartment buildings, Hospitals, All Commercial, All Residential, All Industrial, Warehouses, Termite Control, Bird Control etc. There is no job our exterminators can’t handle.

Magic is Committed to IPM (Integrated Pest Management), we Inspect, Identify, Recommend Structural Repairs &; Sanitation Programs, Treat, and Continually Evaluate Results. These objectives are cost effective and minimize the risk or hazard to humans and non-target organisms. This holistic approach creates an environment that infringes on the pests’ ability to develop and reproduce by eliminating factors that encourage survival, such as, food, water, and harborage and does not rely upon pesticides for results. This approach is paramount in effectively controlling pests.

These practices lead Magic to submit our services to the scrutiny of the IPM Institute of North America as well as being designated Green Shield Certified. Magic Exterminating is one of the select few authorized operators of the Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination System® which won the Presidential Green Chemistry Award. This award is presented by the EPA on behalf of President of United States of America. Magic employs a Board Certified Entomologist who oversees training and technical direction of the company and two (2) Associate Certified Entomologists. Our Pest Management professionals review and evaluate documentation from the field and oversee our Quality Assurance Program.

Our trained technicians receive continued education on the latest advancements made in Pest Control. In an industry where change is constant, we feel it is a comfort to our customers to know that we utilize the most effective methods available while adhering to the ever changing government regulations regarding safety and efficiency.

Magic stands by its mission statement “we endeavor to exemplify quality, professionalism, and respect for all our customers and teams members in all our daily functions. Our objective is to instill value in our services through quality and support by working as a team with a single goal… CUSTOMER SATISFACTION”





Thursday, August 11, 2011

Set your DVR/Tivos to our Animal Planet Shows Rat Busters NYC & Bed Bug Apocalypse

Magic's new series Rat Busters NYC on Animal Planet
Show Times:
- Sneak Peek Friday 8-19 at 11pm
- Premiers Friday 8-26 at 10pm
- New episodes every Friday at 10pm
Jimmy & Michael of Rat Buster NYC - See Animal Planet for Showtimes

See Animal Planet for Showtimes


MAGIC EXTERMINATING IN THE NEWS

 
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Newsday  


                                     Gothamist
                       Metro 1
                       Metro 2
             HotFix
        Futon Critic
      RealScreen

      ViaMedia


Friday, July 22, 2011

Happy Rat Catcher's Day

Rat Catcher's Day is celebrated on June 26 in German or 22 July in the USA, it commemorating the myth of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Brothers Grimm cite 26 June 1284 as the date the Pied Piper led the children out of the town, while the poem by Robert Browning gives it as 22 July 1376 hence the confusion over the date. It is a holiday remembering rat-catchers, similar to Secretary's Day.

The fairtale states that the residents of the Hamelin hired a strangely dressed man to rid their village of rats by playing his pipe. But when he finished the task, the townsfolk refused to pay. The Pied Piper returned while they were in church and disappeared with their children.

The Ferret Meister - Ferrets were probably introduced into this country in the eighteen century via ships that carried them as ratters. In addition, some colonists brought them over as hunting companions.

By the early 1900′s ferrets were being imported by the tens of thousands to be used as “vermin” exterminators. They were used to destroy rabbits, raccoons, gophers, rats and mice. Prey animals will usually flee in the presence of the “scent of a ferret” and so a few  ferrets were needed to protect barns, warehouses and granaries.

The USDA promoted the use of ferrets for rodent control. If your farm was infested you could call the ferretmeister to come and release ferrets on your property. The ferrets went on a search and destroy mission and then humans and dogs, usually terriers, placed around the area would kill the vermin as they tried to escape. Some establishments simply maintained their own colony of ferrets for this purpose.

When chemical rodenticides became available there was no further need for the “ferret patrol” and this practice died out.


Thursday, July 14, 2011

108 Stores with Senior Discounts

Just a little something to help out all the senior we know and love.

As our baby boomers reach retirement age, hundreds of retailers are featuring new and improved discounts exclusively for the 60 and older crowd. We have composed a list of senior savings that will help you keep more cash in your pocket. Whoever said getting older was a bad thing, obviously didn’t know about these fantastic senior discounts!

Since many senior discounts are not advertised to the public, our advice to men and women over 55 is to ALWAYS ask a sales associate if that store provides a senior discount. That way, you can be sure to get the most bang for you buck.

Restaurants
• Applebee’s: 15% off with Golden Apple Card (60+)
• Arby’s: 10% off (55+)
• Ben & Jerry’s: 10% off (60+)
• Bennigan’s: discount varies by location
• Bob’s Big Boy: discount varies by location (60+)
• Boston Market: 10% off (65+)
• Burger King: 10% off (60+)
• Captain D’s Seafood: discount varies on location (62+)
• Chick-Fil-A: 10% off or free small drink or coffee (55+)
• Chili’s: 10% off (55+)
• CiCi’s Pizza: 10% off (60+)
• Culver’s: 10% off (60+)
• Denny’s: 10% off, 20% off for AARP members (55+)
• Dunkin’ Donuts: 10% off or free coffee (55+)
• Einstein’s Bagels: 10% off baker’s dozen of bagels (60+)
• Fuddrucker’s: 10% off any senior platter (55+)
• Gatti’s Pizza: 10% off (60+)
• Golden Corral: 10% off (60+)
• Hardee’s: $0.33 beverages everyday (65+)
• IHOP: 10% off (55+)
• Jack in the Box: up to 20% off (55+)
• KFC: free small drink with any meal (55+)
• Krispy Kreme: 10% off (50+)
• Long John Silver’s: various discounts at participating locations (55+)
• McDonald’s: discounts on coffee everyday (55+)
• Mrs. Fields: 10% off at participating locations (60+)
• Shoney’s: 10% off
• Sonic: 10% off or free beverage (60+)
• Steak ‘n Shake: 10% off every Monday & Tuesday (50+)
• Subway: 10% off (60+)
• Sweet Tomatoes 10% off (62+)
• Taco Bell: 5% off; free beverages for seniors (65+)
• TCBY: 10% off (55+)
• Tea Room Cafe: 10% off (50+)
• Village Inn: 10% off (60+)
• Waffle House: 10% off every Monday (60+)
• Wendy’s: 10% off (55+)
• White Castle: 10% off (62+)

Retail and Apparel
• Banana Republic: 10% off (50+)
• Bealls: 20% off first Tuesday of each month (50+)
• Belk’s: 15% off first Tuesday of every month (55+)
• Bon-Ton Department Stores: 15% off on senior discount days (55+)
• C.J. Banks: 10% off every Wednesday (60+)
• Clarks: 10% off (62+)
• Dress Barn: 10% off (55+)
• Goodwill: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
• Hallmark: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
• Kmart: 20% off (50+)
• Kohl’s: 15% off (60+)
• Modell’s Sporting Goods: 10% off
• Rite Aid: 10% off on Tuesdays & 10% off prescriptions
• Ross Stores: 10% off every Tuesday (55+)
• The Salvation Army Thrift Stores: up to 50% off (55+)
• Stein Mart: 20% off red dot/clearance items first Monday of every month (55+)

Grocery
• Albertson’s: 10% off first Wednesday of each month (55+)
• American Discount Stores: 10% off every Monday (50+)
• Compare Foods Supermarket: 10% off every Wednesday (60+)
• DeCicco Family Markets: 5% off every Wednesday (60+)
• Food Lion: 6% off every Monday (60+)
• Fry’s Supermarket: free Fry’s VIP Club Membership & 10% off every Monday (55+)
• Great Valu Food Store: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
• Gristedes Supermarket: 10% off every Tuesday (60+)
• Harris Teeter: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
• Hy-Vee: 5% off one day a week (date varies by location)
• Kroger: 10% off (date varies by location)
• Morton Williams Supermarket: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
• The Plant Shed: 10% off every Tuesday (50+)
• Publix: 5% off every Wednesday (55+)
• Rogers Marketplace: 5% off every Thursday (60+)
• Uncle Guiseppe’s Marketplace: 5% off (62+)

Travel
• Alaska Airlines: 10% off (65+)
• Alamo: up to 25% off for AARP members
• American Airlines: various discounts for 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
• Amtrak: 15% off (62+)
• Avis: up to 25% off for AARP members
• Best Western: 10% off (55+)
• Budget Rental Cars: 10% off; up to 20% off for AARP members (50+)
• Cambria Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
• Clarion: 20%-30% off (60+)
• Comfort Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
• Comfort Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
• Continental Airlines: no initiation fee for Continental Presidents Club & special fares for select destinations
• Dollar Rent-A-Car: 10% off (50+)
• Econo Lodge: 20%-30% off (60+)
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car: 5% off for AARP members
• Greyhound: 5% off (62+)
• Hampton Inns & Suites: 10% off when booked 72 hours in advance
• Hertz: up t0 25% off for AARP members
• Holiday Inn: 10%-30% off depending on location (62+)
• Hyatt Hotels: 25%-50% off (62+)
• InterContinental Hotels Group: various discounts at all hotels (65+)
• Mainstay Suites: 10% off with Mature Traveler’s Discount (50+); 20%-30% off (60+)
• Marriott Hotels: 15% off (62+)
• Motel 6: 10% off (60+)
• Myrtle Beach Resort: 10% off (55+)
• National Rent-A-Car: up to 30% off for AARP members
• Quality Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
• Rodeway Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
• Sleep Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
• Southwest Airlines: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
• Trailways Transportation System: various discounts for ages 50 and up
• United Airlines: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)
• U.S. Airways: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking for discount)

Activities & Entertainment
• AMC Theaters: up to 30% off (55+)
• Bally Total Fitness: up to $100 off memberships (62+)
• Busch Gardens Tampa: $3 off one-day tickets (50+)
• Carmike Cinemas: 35% off (65+)
• Cinemark/Century Theaters: up to 35% off
• U.S. National Parks: $10 lifetime pass; 50% off additional services including camping (62+)
• Regal Cinemas: 30% off
• Ripley’s Believe it or Not: @ off one-day ticket (55+)
• SeaWorld Orlando: $3 off one-day tickets (50+)

Cell Phone Discounts
• AT&T: Special Senior Nation 200 Plan $29.99/month (65+)
• Jitterbug: $10/month cell phone service (50+)
• Verizon Wireless: Verizon Nationwide 65 Plus Plan $29.99/month (65+)
*Check out our Secret Cell Phone Discounts to view all cell phone discounts available to you!

Miscellaneous
• Great Clips: $3 off hair cuts (60+)
• Super Cuts: $2 off haircuts (60+)

Information courtesy of http://www.bradsdeals.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/108StoreswithSeniorDiscounts-BradsDeals.com_.pdf

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Bees are Good in the Garden but Trouble around your Home

Let us make no mistake bees are one of the most beneficial insects on the planet. Bee species pollinate around 80% of the fruits vegetables and flowers on the planet. We must consider this before eradicating them.

Honey Bees (see top right) handle the majority of the pollinating work but a hive within the wall of your home (see right) can be destructive and physically dangerous. If possible a Bee Keeper should be called for safe removal
Carpenter Bees are large and aggressive but hardly ever bite. People commonly mistake them for Bumble Bees. The shiny dark abdomen of the Carpenter Bee makes it easy to identify.


Carpenter Bees bore into wood and raise their family within the chambers. Sawdust or frass is often visible and mistaken for Termite or Carpenter Ants.

Stains (see image) are a dead giveaway of a Carpenter Bee infestation. As they enter the hole to the nest they release excrement.


Bold Face Hornets are bigger than Yellow Jackets and mostly black. They like to set up their hive under eaves to protect it from rain. As they hive and population grow they can become very aggressive.


Paper Wasps are very similar to Yellow Jackets. They set up little hanging hives from window frames and roof eaves allowing them to access our homes easily.

Yellow Jackets are one of the biggest nuisances at backyard parties. In the spring they feed on sweets but in the late summer and fall they feed on protein like my hot dog on the BBQ Grill.
Mud Daubers set up a little mud nest on just about any type of structural wall.

Magic's three (3) Entomologist have trained our Technicians to identify and eradicate them.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Here an Ant there an Ant everywhere Ants

It looks like Ants are going to be very active this year. Everyone I talk to is complaining about the buggers and asking what needs to be done.

There are many different types of ants that invade our homes Carpenter Ants, Pavement Ants, Odorous House Ants, Acrobat Ants, Little Black Ants, and Pharaoh Ants. Treatment for these various ants share similar methods to help suppress them but require specific treatment methods to eradicate them.

First, all Ant infestation begin outside the home. Growing Ant colonies forage and explore continuously in search of food, water and nesting areas. Ants are three dimensional and can travel over tree limbs, power, phone & cable wires, up walls and barriers made of any material. They are also small and can exploit any openings or cracks in the foundation and poorly sealed door & window frames. Tree limbs must be cut back off roofs and bushes must be trimmed back away from the foundation. The foundation must be checked for cracks, holes around water spigot and utility service entry points and sealed with cement or appropriate patching material. Door and window frames must be properly caulked with silicon.

Next, an exterior treatment around the entire foundation of the home is required. This will halt foraging ants from wondering into your home in the future.

The last phase of the treatment will be varied depending on the type of Ant and the severity of the infestation. Many of these Ants set up colonies within our homes these colonies can grow rapidly and divide into multiple colonies. Treatment can be as simple as applying baits, topical spray or as complicated as deep treatment into wall voids.

Magic's three (3) Entomologist can easily identify the type of Ant and prescribe a treatment plan to eradicate them.