RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Fat Squirrel Scarfs Down Entire Slice Of Pizza

We can all cry about the health ads on TV are telling us to lay off the fat and sugar, but when our squirrels are eating whole slices of pizza without compunction it's safe to say we have a problem.

Sure this proves that we live in a society of such overwhelming abundance that there are entire slices of pizza just lying around for woodland animals to enjoy. But it also helps to answer a question that has plagued philosophers for centuries: do squirrels eat pizza cheese first or crust first?

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Pennsylvania’s Purple Squirrel A Rainbow-Colored Riddle

A bright purple squirrel trapped by a Pennsylvania couple has experts offering all sorts of theories -- but no concrete answers.

Percy and Connie Emert from Jersey Shore, Pa., trapped the brightly colored creature while trying to keep the birds safe in their backyard feeder, reported Accuweather.com. They told the weather service they had no explanation for the rodent’s deep purple color.

"We have no idea whatsoever. It's really purple. People think we dyed it, but honestly, we just found it and it was purple," the Emerts told Accuweather.

Experts queried by Accuweather had several theories for the unusual look, but no hard answers. Indeed, Krish Pillai, a professor at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania, told Accuweather he thought the coloring was dangerous for the animal.

I’ve got to think one of the suggestions might be it fell in a Porta John that had blue coloration. - Henry Kacprzyk, Pittsburgh Zoo curator

"This is not good at all. That color looks very much like Tyrian purple. It is a natural organobromide compound seen in molluscs and rarely found in land animals. The squirrel (possibly) has too much bromide in its system," he said.

Some AccuWeather.com meteorologists had their own theories. Expert Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity thought it was merely an accident.

"The squirrel could have been looking for somewhere warm and fallen into a port-a-potty or something similar," he said,

Henry Kacprzyk, a curator at the Pittsburgh Zoo, said Thursday he thought it looked like a gray squirrel tinged in purple, after looking at a picture of the critter on an iPhone.

He knows of albino squirrels. Black squirrels. Gray squirrels. Reddish squirrels.

“But the purple coloration, from the purple I saw … it looked to me like this animal had come in contact with something with its fur and dyed its fur,” Kacprzyk said. The squirrel could have come in contact with a pokeberry patch, but pokeberries aren’t in season.

And strange as it sounds, he thought Margusity’s toilet theory might hold water.

“I’ve got to think one of the suggestions might be it fell in a Porta John that had blue coloration,” he said with a chuckle. “I have no idea why … but I don’t think it was born that way.”

When asked about the suggestions by some people in online forums of the potential impact of fracking fluid, Kacprzyk said the composition of such fluids in Pennsylvania wasn’t known. “My guess there is if you don’t know something, is that there’s no scientific proof to that. … I would find it amazing that it had that kind of effect,” he said.

In general, purple is an unusual color for mammals, let alone squirrels.

“There are definitely birds that have coloration like this … but not mammals,” he said. “Mammals don’t normally uptake color, ingest something it goes through and (then) it comes out through their fur.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bedbugs Take Cheer out of School Trip

A cheerleading squad that checked into the Quality Inn said they found numerous bed bugs and evidence of bed bugs in more than one room. Friday, they drove six hours to the Grand Rapids area for an early Saturday competition and discovered bedbugs in their room.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Squirrel Takes Out Power for Thousands

More than 4,000 Ohio Edison customers lost power for about three hours after a squirrel stepped on a substation bus and blew a fuse for a transformer covering the west side of Lorain and the east side of Vermillion.

According to FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Meyer, 4,123 customers lost power at around 11:17 a.m. when the rodent snooped too close to the electrical equipment.

“Whenever anything comes in contact with high voltage equipment, then something usually goes wrong,” he said.

The outage disabled traffic lights on Baumhart Road. A temporary stop sign was put in places for travelers turning on to Baumhart from West Erie Avenue.

More than half of the customers had power back 1:30 with the remaining customers powered on by 2:30 p.m., Meyer said.

The outage did not affect Mercy Regional Medical Center, he said.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Tenant Starts Apartment fire Trying To Kill Bedbugs

A fire started in an apartment as the tenant used a cigarette lighter to chase bed bugs, police told 24 Hour News 8.

No one was injured and the blaze was contained to a bedroom, which sustained fire, smoke and water damage.

The fire was in a second-floor residence at Fox Ridge Apartments, 1400 Alamo Hills Dr. in Kalamazoo.

Members of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety were dispatched around 6:35 p.m. Thursday and evacuated the building. They then extinguished the flames in 15 minutes.

The resident admitted to starting the fire and tried using a fire extinguisher but had to evacuate as the fire spread.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

We run into to many situations every year with clients that unknowing strand the young of an animal they wish to evict from their home.

It is important to understand some basic breeding biology when you attempt to remove the adult(s) parents from your home or other structure. These animals usually have distinct breeding seasons. If you remove the attending parents, these young animals may die or wander into your home in a final attempt to survive.

We get many frantic calls every year when customers hear cries from these stranded animals or worse, the animals die and an odor or fly infestation develops.

Please remember this when you set a trap for a mammal or seal a dryer vent after shooing out the adult nesting birds.

Either research their habits and breeding biology or call us at 877-507-0698!

John Stellberger
President - Environmental Health Services, Inc.

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bats Disturbing High School

They're baaack. Bats are lurking in a Charlotte-area high school and it's not the first time.

Students first spotted one bat in a classroom at North Mecklenburg High School before Christmas break. The building was evacuated and the problem was supposedly taken care of. But Monday morning before school, a staffer found another one.

The N Hall is a building on campus that normally houses six classes. It’s closed and quarantined after the health department removed eight bats from inside.

Senior Guy McCrary admitted he’s grossed out. Other students are, too. But they’re not surprised because North Mecklenburg High is 60-years-old.

“It does freak you out. Bats, rabbits, cockroaches, mice—what’s next,” he added.

“They keep finding more and more. I don't feel safe with my daughter back in that hall,” said one student’s mother, who did not want to be identified.

Principal Matt Hayes says when they closed the hole the first time around, some bats were trapped inside.

“By closing the hole, other bats were hiding. We had bats hiding. Now that we closed the hole they don’t have an exit point,” he said.

Instead, he says there is a one-way door to flush them out. In addition, CMS has removed all ceiling tiles to verify there are no other holes.

The problem, they say, is that bats only need a hole the size of a nickel to squeeze through. A private pest control company is working with CMS to get rid of the bats and students are expected to be allowed back in those classrooms on Monday.

A health department spokesman says they tested one bat and it came back negative for rabies. He says they don’t have to test all of the bats because no one came in contact with the others.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Defending itself from a lawsuit claiming that an Illinois man found a dead mouse inside a can of Mountain Dew, PepsiCo contends that a rodent would have disintegrated and been transformed into a “jelly-like” substance between the time of the soft drink’s bottling and the day the plaintiff reportedly purchased the soda from a vending machine at his office. In a court response to a motion filed by Ronald Ball--who claims to have found the dead mouse in a Mountain Dew can about three years ago--PepsiCo filed a fascinating/revolting affidavit from Lawrence McGill, a veterinarian who noted that he was “familiar with the effects an acidic fluid, such as common soda drinks including Mountain Dew, will have on mice and other animals.”

According to McGill, if a mouse is submerged in Mountain Dew between four and seven days, the rodent “will have no calcium in its bones and bony structures.” During those days of soft drink immersion, “the mouse’s abdominal structure will rupture.” Additionally, “its cranial cavity (head) is also likely to rupture within that time period,” McGill noted.

After 30 days exposure to Mountain Dew, “all of the mouse’s structures” would have disintegrated to the point that it would not be recognizable. In fact, “the mouse will have been transformed into a ‘jelly-like’ substance.” The only part of the rodent that could possibly survive, added McGill, was “a portion of the tail.”

PepsiCo contends that Ball, 52, opened his can of Mountain Dew 74 days after it was bottled at a PepsiCo facility in St. Louis. The company alleges that Ball has provided “no evidence” that the mouse was inside the can when it was sealed in August 2008.

In his Illinois Circuit Court lawsuit, which is pending in Madison County, Ball alleges that he opened the Mountain Dew can, “took a drink, and immediately became violently ill such that he began to vomit.” Subsequent to Ball being stricken, “the contents of said can of Mountain Dew were immediately poured into a styrofoam cup wherein a dead mouse was found.”

The rodent was eventually turned over by Ball to a PepsiCo insurance adjuster. McGill, pictured above, subsequently examined the animal and concluded that it was a young mouse or rat, no older than four weeks old at the time of its death. The rodent, according to his affidavit, had not even been born when the Mountain Dew can was sealed, and was already dead when it “entered the Mountain Dew fluid.”

McGill reported that the pH level of Ball’s Mountain Dew can was 3.43, which according to the veterinarian “indicates the fluid was acidic and within the normal range for Mountain Dew.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Dreams About Rats: Dream Meanings Explained

Dreams about rats are a common theme at bedtime. If you or a loved one has been covering this ground at night, you may have questions about what it all might mean. As part of a Huffington Post series on dreams and their meanings, we spoke to Cathleen O'Connor, Ph.D., author of "The Everything Law of Attraction Dream Dictionary," to get expert advice about the meanings of your or your loved one’s dreams about rats. Note: While dream analysis is highly subjective, this post might provide some insight into why this dream occurred or is recurring.

What do dreams about this subject mean?

Before determining what your rat dream means, you must first ask yourself what you associate with rats, says O'Connor. Are you afraid of them or do you think they're cute? "Rats are seen by many people as pests that carry disease or cause other problems so they have many negative connotations," she notes. "Yet rats are also survivors, able to withstand harsh environments and highly intelligent. The meaning will evolve from both your association with the qualities of rats as well as what is going on in your current life."

What can I learn about myself from dreaming about rats?

"The first thing to think about is whether you or someone you know is behaving unethically in a situation in your life," suggests O'Connor. "You often hear the expression that someone is a 'rat,' meaning he is untrustworthy or has betrayed someone." Alternatively, a rat in your dream could represent feeling like you're caught in a maze somewhere in your daily life.

Are there any tricks to avoiding or inducing dreams about this subject?

If you fear rats, set the intention of waking up in a dream if a rat appears. "This is a technique known as lucid dreaming," she says. "In a lucid dream, you can notice you are dreaming and take control of the dream events and overcome your fears." If you want to dream about rats, then visualize rats before falling asleep.

Beyond analysis, what cultural symbolism can be found in dreams about rats?

"In Chinese culture, the first symbol of the zodiac is a rat and people born in a rat year are said to possess the positive qualities, including creativity and intelligence, of a rat," explains O'Connor. "In Hindu tradition, rats are associated with the god Ganesh, who is worshiped as the remover of obstacles. In some Native American traditions, rats are symbols of survival and lack of fear." Dreamers from these various cultural traditions may find a different meaning from those in a traditional western culture.

Who tends to have dreams about this subject most frequently?

According to O'Connor, rat dreams do not affect one swath of the population more than another.

Does it mean anything if the rat is dead in my dream?

Dreaming about a dead rat may mean you're overwhelmed or frightful about a situation in your real life. It could also represent letting go of a relationship, especially if that relationship involves betrayal. "In that case, the dream is letting you know that the situation has come to an end," notes O'Connor.

SOURCE = HUFFINGTON POST

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Bedbugs Found at Police Station

Police officers across the city are being warned of a frustratingly stubborn enemy that has infiltrated their workplace: bedbugs.

An infestation was discovered last week in the building in Mayfair that houses the Second and 15th Police Districts and the Northeast Detective Division.

The bedbugs came to light after inmates in several holding cells were bitten, said Roosevelt Poplar, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 5.

An exterminator treated the infested areas twice, and the department's administration is closely monitoring the situation, said Lt. Raymond Evers of the Public Affairs Unit.

Joan Schlotterbeck, the city's public property commissioner, said that one inmate had brought the bugs to the building and that an exterminator believed the infestation was confined to three cells.

Those cells have wooden benches that are different from those in other units, she said. They will be removed.

The cell block has been evacuated. Cells will be power-washed, crevices will be sealed, and the walls will be repainted, Schlotterbeck said.

"At this point, we believe we're doing everything we can," Schlotterbeck said.

Poplar said the entire building at Harbison Avenue and Levick Street should have been treated for bedbugs. About 500 officers work out of the building, he said, and the bugs may have hitched rides with inmates who were transferred.

"These bugs, they can be carried on people," he said. "They can be carried in a car, to another district. The holding cells have people coming in and out all day long. We're talking about potentially thousands of people who could be affected by this."

Officers will be asked to report any signs of infestation. Employees who wish to take extra precautions can wash and dry their clothes as soon as they get home from work, Schlotterbeck said.

Poplar said several officers had told him that they might have unknowingly carried bugs home in their clothing. "These guys are under enough stress as it is without worrying about taking bugs home to their families," he said.

The bedbug resurgence began about 10 years ago in hotels and apartment buildings in large cities nationwide. The bloodsucking insects are known for resilience. Clothes and other belongings must be heated to extreme temperatures to kill them, and the bugs can hide in wooden furniture or baseboards for a year without food.

Though New York City has been seen as the center of the scourge, the problem is on the rise here. This year Philadelphia ranked fifth among U.S. cities for bedbugs, with New York still in first.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA