State-Journal.com - Pests don't have a chance

Photo By State Journal/Kelly Mackey

James Perkins and his wife, Dawn, co-own Little Hawk Exterminating. Their poster pictures two of the most common pests: ants and termites.

Dedication sometimes takes exterminator James Perkins up a chimney.

For example, a woman returned home after being in the hospital for several weeks and discovered a squirrel sitting on her coffee table.

So, she called Little Hawk Exterminating.

"She wouldn't let us trap it, so I chased it all the way up into the chimney," Perkins said.

"Two hours later, I was covered in soot from head to toe, but I got that darn squirrel."

Perkins, 41, of Owen County, is dedicated to eliminating pests.

"If it walks, crawls or flies, we'll catch it, kill it or get rid of it," he says.

He and his wife of 17 years, Dawn, co-own Little Hawk Exterminating, a company that says it's focused on "protecting the health and property of the community."

Dawn Perkins manages the office while James Perkins works in the field - it's been that way since Little Hawk opened in 1996.

The name originates from a restaurant his great uncle owned in the 1940s, and using it keeps his family legacy alive, he said.

No small task
For James Perkins, a typical day begins with a lengthy list of stops in the area.

Everyday pests he encounters range from animals to bedbugs. That includes wasps, spiders, mice and roaches.

Bedbugs - not a problem since the 1950s - have cropped up locally and he's been getting a lot of calls about them.

The box elder bug is a big issue this time of year as well.

"They're little black beetles found on the outside of houses they live in the bushes," he said.

Ladybugs, cluster flies "like in the Amityville Horror" and sow bugs will soon make appearances too, he says.

However, along with ants, termites are the peskiest pests of springtime.
"They'll eat the foundation right from underneath your house," he said.
With warmer weather settling in, requests for termite inspections and estimates are on the rise.

"They keep us real busy this time of year," he said.

Beyond the call
"You never know what you'll run into or who you're going to meet," he also said.

His wife agrees.

"We were at a 4th of July cookout one time and got a call from a customer complaining of strange noises in the walls," she remembers.

The couple went to the rescue.

At the scene, James had to scale yet another chimney.

This time the culprits were a bunch of baby raccoons.

"James pulled them out one-by-one and handed them to me," she said.

Perhaps the most unique feature of Little Hawk is even though they've been trained to eradicate pests, they have a soft spot for some pests. Dawn does especially.

"When they're too small to fend for themselves (like the baby raccoons), we'll bottle feed them and take care of them till they're grown and then release them," she said.

Though he's a trained killer, "You've got to give them a little bit of a chance," James Perkins said.

Service and care
Her husband has a soft spot for customers too, she said.

"He really does take care of people, especially kids and the elderly," according to Polly Hazlett. She's helped in the office for five years and said James is a wonderful person to work for.

"Some customers can't afford to pay, but he doesn't want to see anybody living (with pests) like that.

"There's one older man who (in exchange for services) will play two songs on his harmonica. Other people bake cakes and things like that."

According to his wife, "If a dollar is what's keeping a customer from getting what they need, James will work with them."

"We don't like to use more chemicals than necessary and we certainly don't want customers to pay more than they have to," she said also. "They're the reason we're here."

Little Hawk Exterminating
Location: 605 Louisville Road
Contact: 227-3489 or 1-800-PEST-CONTROL