JACKSONVILLE BEACH, FL — Perschel & Meyer Pest Management recently donated a fire ant treatment from Bayer Environmental Science to Atlantic Beach's Russell Park multi-sports complex.
Perschel & Meyer General Manager Scott Walmer received a grant from Bayer, manufacturer of TopChoice, that provided for the donation of 400 pounds of the university-tested product that is guaranteed to control fire ants for one year. The treatment is valued at $8,000.
Perschel & Meyer, a locally owned company that has provided lawn and pest control for the Russell Park baseball fields for several years, donated the equipment and technicians needed to apply the treatment at the six-acre facility that includes playgrounds, tennis courts, soccer fields and picnic areas as well as the baseball fields.
“In the past year, Perschel & Meyer has applied TopChoice to residential lawns with a lot of success,” Walmer says. “When Bayer offered a grant to provide the same product at no cost to a well-known and heavily used site, Russell Park was the first place I thought of. I knew it would be perfect out here.”
Although Atlantic Beach Parks, Recreation and Beautification Director Timmy Johnson says no life-threatening incidents have been reported in his nine-year tenure, Johnson readily acknowledges that fire ants can pose a serious risk to park visitors.
As a result, Johnson’s department usually spends a lot of time and money each year to eliminate fire ant infestations. Johnson estimates that Parks, Recreation and Beautification technicians spend a part of as many as 200 days each year on fire ant control tasks.
“You keep battling them and battling them, but the fire ants always seem to come back," Johnson says. "It’s kind of like fighting crime – you can never win.”
Given the track record of TopChoice, however, Walmer predicts that this is one war that Johnson won’t have to wage again for at least a year.
And to Johnson, that’s pretty good news.
