Bad News: Pests are Evolving to Stay in Our Space

For years you have been treating your indoor cats with the same flea medication because it always worked. Then, one year, you noticed that the fleas were not instantly disappearing like they had in the past. Why? It is because pests of all kinds are able to adapt quickly to extermination products because pests love to infest the areas where humans, and non-pests, live.

How bad is it getting? If you read the news, you will see stories about mice and bedbug infestations in large cities that thought they had their pest problems licked. But instead of getting rid of the pests, they seem to be coming back in record numbers. The newest developments in pest control are not giving very encouraging news when it comes to allowing humans to occupy a space that is pest-free.

The Latest In Genetic Warfare
Genetically-altered crops are a big topic of discussion lately because many activist groups claim that we really do not know how dangerous these crops are to humans. According to Popular Science, the companies that grow genetically-altered crops used to have ways of keeping pests from destroying their precious product. But the pests are getting immune to the extensive efforts to keep them away from crops and the problem is getting worse.

In Brazil, there are fields of genetically-altered corn that used to be protected from caterpillars by plants that had a long history of killing corn-destroying caterpillars. But in recent years, farmers are noticing that the caterpillars are no longer dying because of the special plants and their corn is being destroyed. It only took a few years for caterpillars to develop an immunity to a plant that used to kill them instantly. That is some very fast evolution.

Evolution In Our Garbage
Mice can be some of the most destructive pests in large urban areas and they have been a source of frustration for a very long time. Scientists studying mice in New York City are starting to see mice that adapt not only to the methods used to remove them, but also to the conditions in which they are forced to live.

Mice that live in areas where there is garbage thrown everywhere have developed the ability to consume human garbage as a healthy source of food which allows them to survive in those conditions. Mice that live in other parts of the city where there is plenty of shrubbery and open spaces have developed more athletic bodies that allow them to move quickly from one area to the other. As the conditions around them change, the mice continue to evolve and become much more difficult to remove.

It Is Hard For Mankind To Keep Up
A study done my Michigan State University suggests that up to 500 types of common farm pests are able to adapt rapidly to chemicals and other methods used to destroy them. These species of insects and spiders develop a resistance to human chemicals and then they pass that ability to their offspring. The cycle continues and the evolution continues, which makes extermination almost impossible.

If you want to really keep your space free from pests, then you are going to need to alter your methods every so often to prevent pests from building up resistance. If you get complacent in your pest removal methods, then you should probably plan on making room for some new, furry roommates.

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