Sightings of a man with a vacuum strapped to his back riding a bicycle around the University of Colorado at Boulder campus will not turn up a "ghostbuster," but rather a "roachbuster."
Scott Harvey, who works in CU-Boulder聮s Facilities Management department, is the campus pest management technician. But he also is known as the campus "bugbuster," "roachman" and "antman."
Harvey, who has been hunting roaches and other pests for more than 10 years, uses a technique called Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, to combat the university聮s unwelcome guests.
"People have probably heard the term Integrated Pest Management used in reference to controlling weeds," Harvey said during a recent roach mission. "Basically, it聮s a proactive way to control pests."
The program relies on several tools to combat roaches and other pests, rather than using a single method such as sprayed poisons, he said. It also emphasizes prevention and the least-toxic control methods available to solve problems, thus avoiding future outbreaks.
Some of Harvey聮s tools and techniques include roach baits 聴 containers that have roach poison in them allowing for strategic and direct placement of the bait 聴 educating people about pests, sealing off entry points like cracks and old pipes, putting out sticky roach traps, and the all important "Lil-Hummer" Hepa vacuum. This high-powered vacuum is made especially for insect disposal, allowing technicians like Harvey to suck the critters out of their hiding places.
"I enter every room and make a plan of attack," Harvey said. "In some situations I can even smell out the roaches. As far as I聮m concerned, even one roach is too many."
Harvey, who has hunted everything from termites to rats, says one of the most important parts of the program is knowing his prey. According to Harvey, who seems to know everything anyone would want to know about pests, you have to know where they sleep, what they like, what they don聮t like and -- most importantly -- what attracts them in the first place.
"Basically, if you聮re after roaches, you have to think like a roach," he said.
Thinking like a brownbanded cockroach, one of four cockroaches found around campus, means looking for their homes inside computer monitors and telephones, among other warm places. Locating their nests is critical to getting rid of them, he said.
Once Harvey determines where his prey lives, which usually requires crawling around in nooks and crannies with a flashlight, he "baits" them. To do this, he uses a tool that looks like a miniature caulk gun and produces a sticky toothpaste-like substance that is applied directly to the roaches聮 hiding places, rather than spraying a chemical all over the room.
"I don聮t spray for roaches. Spraying chemicals is a band-aid solution that ignores the causes of what is usually a complex problem," Harvey said from under a table. "I like to get in there and really solve the problem. Educating people as to why the pests are here is a big part of this program, which works toward long-term solutions, rather than quick fixes."
After baiting the roaches, he moves in with his special vacuum, a strap-on unit he wears on his back, which sucks up roaches and the little egg sacks that hold the next generation -- usually about 16 per sack. The vacuum also rids the area of dead insects, which can cause sneezing and provide a food source for other insects.
Harvey is also proficient in taking things apart, a good skill to have because roaches often find refuge inside utensils like blenders in kitchens. Once taken apart and cleaned, such utensils are less likely to attract roaches, which is one goal of the program.
Harvey concedes that he probably won聮t get all the roaches, but that won聮t stop him from trying.
"I want to have this campus pest free, to the extent possible," he said. "To do that will take everybody聮s help."