Information about Pest Control

“Pest Control
My Life as a Teenage Robot episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Written by	–
Original airdate	–
Episode chronology ← Previous Next ? "It Came From Next Door." –

This is a disambiguation. For pest control, please click the link.

Pest Control is an episode of the Nickelodeon television series My Life As A Teenage Robot, where Dr. Wakeman's mutant lab rats seek revenge on humanity... by using Jenny as the vehicle for their revenge.

Characters

• Jenny Wakeman
• Nora Wakeman
• Brad Carbunkle
• Tuck Carbunkle
• Vladimir the Rat (AKA, Mr. Scruffles)

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Plot

The episode begins with Brad and Tuck playing with their RC Car, while Jenny uses her body as the ramp for the car. However, their fun comes to an end when Dr. Wakeman walks outside and sees the boys "misusing" Jenny's body. She drags Jenny inside and berates her, telling her that her body is not a plaything. Jenny screams at her mother, and runs up to her room, extremely upset. Meanwhile, a mysterious creature is watching the scene. The creature is Vladimir the Rat, one of Dr. Wakeman's early experiments. Angered by the experiments conducted on him which mutated him (giving him human hands, allowing him to walk upright, and speak), Vladimir has vowed vengeance against Wakeman, along with his rat bretherin who were also mutated. He claims that Jenny's body will be the weapon of their vengeance. After Vladimir rants to his comrades about how Wakeman wronged them, he sets them to work putting Jenny to sleep, ordering them to play "Lullaby and Good Night" through the speakers in Jenny's room, while re-wiring the monitors in Jenny's room to show relaxing scenes. Jenny falls for the ploy and falls asleep. Once Jenny is comatose, Vladimir orders the rats to swarm towards Jenny. They open up a compartment in Jenny's stomach and begin pouring inside. Halfway through the rats invasion of her body, Jenny wakes up and tries to get them out. However, her resistance proves to be futile, as the rats succeed in infiltrating her body. A moment after the invasion is complete, the rats screw Jenny's head off of her body. Suddenly, Vladimir's head pops through the gap left by Jenny's head, and he begins manipulating Jenny's body, saying that he will use it to wreak his vengeance upon the human race. Jenny vainly tries to stop him, but Vladimir throws her against a wall, and knocks her out. He then marches out of Jenny's room. As Vladimir walks out, Tuck appears in Jenny's window to make sure she's alright, but sees her comatose head on her bed and panics, thinking that his antics have led to Dr. Wakeman disassembling her. He guiltily tries to make Jenny more comfortable, but his attempts are cut short when Jenny awakens and speaks to him. He drops her and screams, causing Brad to appear in the window. He asks Jenny what happened and Jenny explains how her mother's mutant rats took her body, and when Brad asks how she's going to get around, she comes up with an idea. Meanwhile, downstairs, Vladimir stomps into Dr. Wakeman's workshop. Dr. Wakeman's seems pleasantly surprised to see Vladimir (who she refers to as Mr. Scruffles), but when she sees how belligerent he is, she tries to assauge him, but her attempts fail. Just as Vladimir is about to take his revenge, Brad, Tuck, and Jenny, who has taken Tuck's RC Car as her new body, appear to save her. Jenny distracts Vladimir long enough for her mother to get away. After getting away from Vladimir, Wakeman tells Brad and Tuck to bring Jenny back to them. They comply, and Wakeman tells Jenny she has a plan. Jenny listens and agrees the plan might work, and tells them to put her on auto-pilot. After being given control of the car, Jenny leads Vladimir outside, and jumps over a ramp for the RC Car, and lands on the other side of the pool in her backyard. Vladimir follows, but is tripped up by Brad and Tuck and falls in the pool. The rats panic and begin pouring out of Jenny's body. Meanwhile, Vladimir resolves to go down with Jenny's body, and salutes Wakeman and the others as he sinks. However, Dr. Wakeman decides to save Vladimir, and jumps in the pool after him. After a moment, she reappears, carrying him in her mouth. A short time later, an exterminator takes Vladimir's mutant comrades away. Tuck feels sorry for the rodents, but Jenny is much less compassionate, claiming that they got what they deserved for turning her body into their "plaything." After she says this, Vladimir (now imprisoned in a cage in the Wakeman household) begins ranting about how he shall have his revenge against Jenny, Dr. Wakeman, and all of humanity. But he shuts up when Dr. Wakeman appears with a pair of red trousers, a "present" for the rat. The episode closes out with Jenny, Brad, Tuck, and Dr. Wakeman chuckling about Vladimir's predicament.

Trivia

• The red shorts that Dr. Wakeman holds is a reference of Mickey Mouse.
• When everybody went outside,Jenny's whole body turned dark blue.

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Pest control refers to the regulation or management of another species defined as a pest, usually because it is believed to be detrimental to a person's health, the ecology or the economy

Pest control is at least as old as agriculture. In order to maximize food production, it can be economically advantageous to protect crops from competing species of plants, as well as from herbivores competing with humans.

The conventional approach was probably the first to be employed, since it is comparatively easy to destroy weeds by burning them or plowing them under, and to kill larger competing herbivores, such as crows and other birds eating seeds. Techniques such as crop rotation, companion planting, also known as intercropping or mixed cropping, and the selective breeding of pest-resistant cultivars also have a long history.

Many pests have only become a problem because of the direct actions of humans. Modifying these actions can often substantially reduce the pest problem. In the USA, raccoons caused a nuisance by tearing open refuse sacks. Many householders introduced bins with locking lids, which deterred the raccoons from visiting. House flies tend to accumulate wherever there is human activity and is virtually a global phenomenon, especially where food or food waste is exposed. Similarly, seagulls have become a pest at many seaside resorts. Tourists would often feed the birds with scraps of fish and chips, and before long, the birds would become dependent on this food source and act aggressively towards humans.

In the UK, following concern about animal welfare, humane pest control and deterrence is gaining ground through the use of animal psychology rather than destruction. For instance, with the urban Red Fox which territorial behaviour is used against the animal, usually in conjunction with non-injurious chemical repellents.

Chemical pest control dates back 4,500 years, when the Sumerians used sulfur compounds as insecticides. The Rig Veda, which is about 4,000 years old, also mentions the use of poisonous plants for pest control. And the ancient Chinese and Egyptians are also known to have used chemical pest control. But it was only with the industrialization and mechanization of agriculture in the 18th and 19th century, and the introduction of the insecticides pyrethrum and derris that chemical pest control became the method of choice. In the 20th century, the discovery of several synthetic insecticides, such as DDT, and herbicides boosted this development. Chemical pest control is still the predominant type of pest control today, although its long-term effects led to a renewed interest in traditional and biological pest control towards the end of the 20th century.

Choosing a Pest Professional

The American National Pest Management Association offers the following tips for selecting a qualified pest professional:

• Ask friends and neighbors to recommend pest control companies they have used successfully and how satisfied they were with the service.
• Be wary of the operator who comes to your home uninvited and offers to give your house a free inspection for pests. He or she may try to scare you into authorizing immediate and costly treatments.
• If a sizeable amount of money is involved, get bids from several pest control firms.
• Don’t rush a decision. Since you are paying for professional knowledge, look for someone whose judgement you can trust.
• Before signing a contract, be sure to fully understand the nature of the pest to be exterminated, the extent of the infestation, and the work necessary to solve the problem.
• Find out if the pest control company has liability insurance to cover any damages to your house
• Choose a pest professional that is a part of an established pest management association. Such pest professionals should have taken steps in education and training.
• If a guarantee is given, know what it covers, how long it lasts, what you must do to keep it in force, and what kind of continuing control, prevention and management are necessary.
• Buy value, not price. Beware of bargains that sound too good to be true.
• United States federal law requires commercial applicators of “restricted use” pest control products to be certified. The certification program is left up to the state. American homeowners can call the certifying state agencies for information. (In Nebraska and Colorado, they call the Environmental Protection Agency).

See also

• Biological pest control, for the control of one species through the control of its predators
• Hedgehog, animal used as pest control against insects
• Crop rotation
• Invasive species
• List of common household pests
• Pesticide
• Sterile insect technique
• Weed control
• Rat-catcher
• Varminter
• Wildlife management
• Insectary plants
• List of politically endorsed exterminations of animals

External links

• National Pest Management Association
• History of Pest Management
• Pest control tactics
• Bed Bug infestations
• Association of Natural Biocontrol Producers - trade association of the biological control industry
• Pest management information from Preservation Department of Stanford University Libraries