Hi,
 
Just had a quick question about extermination.  Our landlord is very
paranoid about bugs (which I guess is a good thing) and he has our apartment
sprayed every two months.  He actually has just gotten back into doing it
this often with the arrival of new neighbors downstairs.  We have went
through this for two different visits by the exterminator now, and it's a
real hassle.  I have to move everything that the fuzzies play with, sleep
on, etc.  into our bedroom and them have them skip spraying in their.  In
the past I have just taken the kids to work with me and kept them away from
the apartment for about 6 hrs.
 
The pest control people have just called me again to set up a time for
spraying, but my husband said NO!  "It's not good to have the kids around
it, just don't let them in." I have blew them off in the past, but that was
before the downstairs neighbors moved in and demanded a regular spraying
schedule.  Our landlord currently does not know we have ferrets, and it
plainly says in our lease "no pets." We obeyed this until he let people move
in downstairs with pythons.  After that we pretty much didn't care.  Thank
goodness the snakes are gone now!
 
So, my question is, How long should the kids be away from the apartment
after they spray, and is the risk greater because they spray more even if I
keep them away?  It's a real hassle to make sure they and all of their
things are safe before they spray, but I don't want to ruffle any feathers
with the landlord either.
 
In the end, if the landlord found out we had pets, and actually made us
move, we would.  Whatever it takes to keep the fuzzies safe, and with us.
 
Thanks in advance,
Serra
(Nikki, Ringo, Chili, Dexter, and the white one)
 
P.S. you can e-mail me directly
[log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1847]