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8/12/2019 Tarp Artists

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workers, talked about a nasty experiencehe called getting piced. Essentially, itswhat happens when someone accidentallycatches a big whiff of chloropicrin.

It happens to everyone in the businesseventually, Robert says. Its kind of likebreathing in the spice of a chili pepper, andthen getting really sick. No one, understandably, really wants toget piced, but its still something of a badge

of honor in the pest-control industry. Assoon as Robert brings it up, everyone startssharing their personal experiences withgetting piced. Also a badge of honor for the workers arecalluseson the topsof their hands. Thesecome from many, many hours of rolling uptarps and closing seams. Rodriguez proudly asks his workers toshow off their calluses and bemoans the

branches. Coastal Fumigation iBranch One company, but SLOTermite does both Branch Twowork, while contracting out to cCoastal Fumigation for Branch Branch One is for young, y

Colorado says. Im more thanbring them sodas, cookies, andits back-breaking work, and twell behind me. Theres money to be made inbranches, and each has its pro

Branch One gets the biggest joits exhausting and the stakesBranch Two has high profit mand less toxic pesticides, but tsmall. Branch Three is probablucrative, but there are a lot oand fees, and its easy to get su All said, theres no such thilunch in the pest-control indurewards thorough work and a

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ti t k hil hi l tPEST CONTROL f 16


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to drop trou while he was driving home. I was praying the cops werent going topull me over, Colorado said, laughing. Thefleas were everywhere! Theres no disputing the fact that pest-control is a dirty job. Colorado has thestomach to handle all of the pests, butPatty said shes perfectly content withhandling the companys accounts payable,marketing, and business aspects. I dont know a lot of intelligent women

who will purposefully crawl under ahouse, Colorado said, with a grin. For me,though, the money is in the crawlspace. Colorado said he uses all types ofpesticides in his Branch Two and BranchThree work, ranging from the over-the-counter stuff youd find at Home Depot tomore specialized, controlled poisons. Hes even happy to use what he deemsold farmer tricks. For example, you can knock out waspswith dish soap (it makes their wings stickyand they drop right on the ground). Antswill never cross a line of Vaseline petroleumelly. And gophers can apparently bedispatched with chewing gum. Pesticides arent always the answer, andcertainly the redneck method of pesticideapplication is never the answer, Coloradosaid. Doubling or tripling down on thepesticide wont work; the insects or rodentswill just go around it. Colorado and Patty say ants are theirmost frequent pest, termites are their mostlucrative pest, and spiders and earwigs arealso common targets.

A young mans game As Colorado and Rodriguez watch theCoastal Fumigation workers apply thefinishing touches to the Blue Sail Inn job, the

conversation takes a philosophical turn. Though theyre only in their40s, that makes them practicallyelder statesmen in the pest-controlbusiness. They both remember daysof turning and burning in their 20s,when they would show up to job siteswith sunglasses instead of protectiveglasses, do many more jobs, and takemore risks, but both men say thosedays are behind them now. For one thing, both men havefamilies, and theyre also more

cognizant of the hazards of theirprofession these days. I would like to see my 4-year-old and2-year-old grown up, Colorado said.We do worry about the pesticides beingtoxic, and thats something thats alwaysin the back of my mindhow much amI exposing myself? Colorado even bought a far-infraredsauna, a portable unit placed out onhis back deck that allows him to sweatout some toxins. Ill veg out there for 30 minutes or

so, and it makes me feel better, hesaid with a shrug. Rodriguez used to be the guy whowas hoisting the 230-pound gascanister or balancing on the ladder to clipthe tarp seams closed, but now hes contentto delegate those responsibilities to hisyounger workers. For this fumigation, Robert does thehonors by releasing the Vikane gas. The gasboils at minus 67.7 degrees Fahrenheit, soit moves like a jet stream when its releasedthrough the plastic tubes into the building,causing the tubes to rattle and jump around.

In the building, nine strategicallyplaced industrial fans are blowing the

Vikane and chloropicrin fumes into all thenooks and crannies.

After the gas does its work, the buildingwill need to be ventilated with fresh air.Eventually, the workers will roll up thetarps when the building is safe again. Standing in the parking lot, Coloradofinally decides to explain how he cameby his nickname. As it happens, he wasworking a contracting job when he wasin his 20s, and one of his co-workers wasnamed Stacey. I was giving him crap, and I was

saying that a real mans name wassomething like Colorado Butkus,Colorado said. Right at that moment, abig snake came out of the ground and I

screamed. It was pret At that point, his sthoroughly underminfound the irony too riFrom that point forwstitched into his workeventually took to th Under the tarp, thedone while the gas istheir supplies, the tircelebratory Pepsis an

trucks, homeward bo

Staff Writer Rhys Heyrheyden@newtimesslo

PEST CONTROL from page 16

FAMILY KNOWS PEST John Colorado Vergeldt and his wife, Patty, are co-

Termite, an independent pest-control business that they operate out of their Sant

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