RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

What do you see??? To the untrained eye you see nothing but to me I see something that 99.9% of the population would overlook. It’s a decaying rat carcass in leaf/grass debris. I am on a property doing a termite inspection and I look around the surrounding area and find this dead rat about 25FT from the building.

I investigate further and find several rat burrows nearby and alerted the property manager who was thrilled I took the extra effort to uncover this. As a result we were able to nip this potential situation in the bud and protect our client.

Sherlock Holmes = You must train yourself to observe what others overlook.

Martin Hussey
Service Specialist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Mice need dark warm areas to create nests (harborage). They absolutely love to get inside air filters, engines, etc. No matter if it is your lawnmower, motorcycle, or car they will find it. The two pictures attached to this show you how amazingly fast they are at setting up shop in these areas. This is my car and it was in my driveway for JUST ONE NIGHT and I opened the hood the next morning to add washer fluid and found this damage!

As you can see they tore the felt hood + battery cover up to make a nest. This is a VERY SERIOUS & DANGEROUS issue because they can cause the vehicle to malfunction at any point. It can lead to a crash or fire at any time. It is virtually impossible to repel or rodent proof these things from rodents as there are over 100 entry points for a mouse to get into a car engine. Call EHS as we do have some creative solutions for issues like this.

Bruce Lopes Jr.
Service Manager

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Famous Brooklyn Pizzeria Has Again Been Closed by the City Health Department

One of Brooklyn’s most beloved — and frequently shuttered — pizzerias has again been closed by the city, and the owner says he’s happy to get the time off. “The only time I get to relax is when they close us,” said Domenico DeMarco, the owner of the legendary Di Fara Pizza on Avenue J in Midwood, who jokingly posed with his daughter behind the gate of his restaurant as if in prison after the Health Department forced them to close last week.

But the violations are no joke.

The city reported the 46-year-old pizzeria at the corner of E. 15th Street, known for it’s drop-dead Sicilian pie, racked up 67 violation points during last week’s inspection and was cited for mouse droppings “throughout the kitchen,” enough to shut the store and require the owner to take a course in food protection. Once the place is cleaned up and proof is provided to the city that the course has been completed, the world-famous joint will be allowed to reopen.

The DeMarco family argued it was caught off guard by the inspection thanks to what they called a perfect storm of bad timing and new city rules.

“The person who was supposed to come in and clean on Nov. 16 wasn’t able to make it, because they had a medical emergency,” said Margy DeMarco, who works alongside her father in the shop. “The inspector came that day.”

She also blamed a paperwork-related delay thanks to the massive Occupy Wall Street protests in the city on Thursday for keeping the shop closed longer than it should have been, and claimed she is now waiting on the city to reinspect the restaurant so the family could re-open it.

Pizza lovers who for years have waited up to an hour just to get their hands on an expensive-yet-mouth-watering slice were understandably devastated by the closure, and some reasoned that a ticket-happy city was simply making an example of their favorite pizzeria.

“It’s a symbolic shutdown just to strike fear through everybody else,” said Scott Wiener, a Di Fara disciple who leads pizza-tasting tours around the city.

And all the pizza-lovers we talked to vowed to return as soon as the shop reopens, mice or no mice.

“Is it worth risking rodent-borne illness?” wondered Josh Bauchner, a Di Fara enthusiast. “Certainly.”

That risk could remain: when one of our reporter’s visited to the pizza shrine on Monday, a mouse scurried under the oven, leaving us wondering if the next time we go back (and we will!), will we be getting toppings … or droppings.

It’s the third time the pizzeria has been closed by the city because of uncleanliness since 2007, and each time mouse droppings were involved. Back in 2007, it was closed twice between March and June.

The restaurant had received a B rating from the city prior to this week’s closure.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Rat Attacks Baby’s Face

A baby boy left sleeping in his stroller outside a Copenhagen apartment block was bitten on the face by rats this week.

The boy was left sleeping in his stroller in the courtyard of an apartment complex in the centre of Copenhagen on Wednesday evening. Apparently this is common behaviour in Denmark, despite the cold and other obvious dangers. As soon as the parents discovered the baby’s injuries they called an ambulance and the toddler was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment.

The boy’s father later told reporters from Denmark’s Ekstra Bladet newspaper that the youngster had been bitten by rats on the face, close to his eye. Other residents from the apartment complex also told the reporters that there was a current vermin problem as dozens of rats try to escape the harsh winter conditions looking for somewhere warm to hide.

Rats are known to attack babies, and they will go for the soft tissue areas such as the eyes. There have been more than one case of death caused by rats eating babies.

Source; Morningstarr

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

More Rodents Carrying Hantavirus Found

Six more rodents trapped by County Vector Control technicians last week have tested positive for the sometimes-deadly hantavirus, County officials said this week.

The rodents, four Harvest mice and two California Meadow Voles, were trapped in Fairbanks Ranch and northern Escondido near the San Luis Rey River bringing this year’s total to 16 rodents testing positive for hantavirus, a news release stated. In 2010, a total of 21 rodents tested positive for hantavirus.

“Recent rains have created an abundance of food for rodents, which can increase the rodent population,” said County Environmental Health Director Jack Miller. “More rodents can lead to more hantavirus.” People should never sweep up or vacuum rodent droppings and nesting materials. Instead, ventilate closed areas and use wet cleaning methods with a 10 percent bleach solution or other full strength disinfectant. The best way to prevent the disease is to keep mice out of houses, garages and sheds by sealing all holes larger than the size of a dime, the news release stated.

Wild rodents, primarily deer mice, carry hantavirus. People can contract it by inhaling dust particles from rodent droppings and nesting materials that contain the virus. The virus can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which begins with flu-like symptoms, but can graduate to severe breathing difficulties and even death, according to the news release. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for hantavirus and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that HPS has killed 36 percent of all the people known to have contracted the disease.

How to Avoid Exposure:

• Eliminate rodent infestations immediately.
• Avoid rodent infested areas. Do not stir up dust or materials that may be contaminated with feces and urine.
• Clean up rodent droppings and urine using the wet cleaning method described below.

Use “wet-cleaning” methods to prevent inhaling the virus:

• DO NOT SWEEP OR VACUUM INFESTED AREAS.
• Ventilate affected area by opening doors and windows for at least 30 minutes.
• Use rubber gloves. Spray a 10 percent bleach solution (2 tablespoons bleach to 1 cup of water), or other full strength disinfectant onto dead rodents, rodent droppings, nests, contaminated traps, and surrounding areas and let the disinfectant stand for at least 15 minutes before cleaning. Clean with a sponge or a mop.
• Place disinfected rodents and debris into two plastic bags, seal them and discard in the trash.
• Wash gloves in a bleach solution, then soap and water, and dispose of them using the same double-bag method. Thoroughly wash your bare hands with soap and water.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Near South Side Bakery Closed After Inspectors Find Rats, Unsafe Food

A Near South Side bakery was shut down after city inspectors found something customers aren’t too fond of - rats and food stored at unsafe temperatures.

Mayor Daley’s Dumpster Task Force shut down St. Anna’s Bakery, 2158 S. Archer Ave., Thursday due to a rat infestation and unsafe food holding temperatures, according to a release from the city’s Dept. of Streets & Sanitation.

Inspectors visited the bakery in response to a complaint about rodent activity and found more than 70 rate droppings throughout the kitchen. Inspectors also found St. Anna’s had problems with the temperatures in their walk-in cooler.

Food temperatures ranged from 50 to 60 degrees and more than 400 pounds of food had to be thrown away, the release said.

St. Anna’s was closed for the critical violations of inadequate pest control and for failure to protect foods from contamination. The bakery must correct their rodent problems, revamp their housekeeping and pest control programs and repair their cooler before they can request and pass a detailed re-inspection.

Source = Chicago Sun Times

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Click image to Enlarge

What you don’t know CAN hurt you! If you could only see behind the scenes like we do in pest control you would be amazed at what we find! We are talking food handling facilities or restaurants. That serve the general public!!! Some of them are historic eateries in their cities & towns! You hear about all the dangers of uncooked food and what it can do to you. What about the dangers of pests? The attached image is damaged corn from mice and it was in a walk-in refrigerator. This restaurant asked us to come in and solve a mouse issue they were having as their previous pest control company could not solve it. The problem had been going on for YEARS! Mice are eating their food supplies and what they did not eat they urinated and defecated on! Needless to say they had a CRITICAL pest issue.

Why did they let this go on for years? Where are the health agencies that are supposed to be protecting public health?

EHS solved the problem with an aggressive pest control program. I just do not understand why restaurant owners tolerate pests as it can destroy their reputation and may even harm the general public.

Pest Control, MA ,  Pest Control, RI

We never get tired of saying this, but the pest control industry is never short on funny, weird, interesting, disgusting, fascinating, etc. stories. Hence the popularity of our blog!

I took a call from a out of breath, noticeably upset, and frantic customer who had a wild squirrel running around her house. Needless to say she wanted immediate advice on how to get it out. I suggested she open all the doors & windows then monitor the situation to see if it left. I told her to call me back with an update & if it still did not leave then we would dispatch a specialist.

She called back 15min later to say the squirrel bolted right out the front door. I was curious but I also wanted to make sure there were no issues on how the squirrel got in so I asked “Do you know how it got in?” Much calmer & laughing hysterically she said I know exactly how it got in…..

“Our family got our Christmas tree last night and since it was late we left it on the back deck until today. I brought the tree in the house and a squirrel leaped out of it. I screamed at the top of my lungs HOLY S##**! and nearly had a heart attack! I am sure that if the squirrel could talk his reaction would have been the same as mine!”

There you go, another zany pest control story….certainly more to come.

MA and RI pest control

THE THINKER!

The attention to detail? The deep & intense concentration? Notice the resemblance?

We at EHS always pride ourselves on state of the art training that is why we are widely considered an industry leader in this area. Here you see EHS Service Supervisor Mike “Spike” McGoldrick (the one with the gray hair & glasses) taking an online training program on safety. It is almost like he is trying to get inside the computer!

I just could not resist using this picture for our blog and poking fun of Spike! It does show you our fun & team friendly atmosphere plus ongoing training protocols. I can’t wait to take a picture of Spike when he is trying to figure out how to use his new smartphone!

(click image to enlarge)

What am I looking at in this image? What you see is a close-up of a potted plant on a window sill. To the left of the red leaf is a mouse burrow in the soil of the potted plant. During our inspection we uncovered the spilled soil on the window sill and investigated further. Sure enough the mice were burrowing into the soil in the plant and created a nice underground nest. This goes to show you how crafty and adaptable mice are. It takes an expert like EHS to investigate and uncover these types of things.

Sherlock Holmes said, “We must train ourselves to see what others overlook.” That is exactly how every EHS specialists inspects when in the field.

John Stellberger
President