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 

Insects Watch Skies to Navigate

How do insects such as butterflies, locusts and fruit flies navigate thousands of miles so precisely with only the unchanging sky in the foreground? Researchers now have an answer.

"If you go out in a field, lie on your back and look up at the sky, that's pretty much what an insect sees," said study co-author Michael Dickinson, a University of Washington biology professor. Peter Weir, doctoral student at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and Dickinson examined the behavior of the fruit fly, in outdoor lighting conditions, to find answers, the journal Current Biology reports. They demonstrated that fruit flies, equipped with complex compound eyes, keep their bearings by using the polarisation pattern of natural skylight, some of them for thousands of miles, according to Caltech-Washington statement.

Demonstrating that fruit flies can navigate using cues from natural skylight makes it easier to use genetics to better understand the complex capability and exactly how it is implemented in the brain. For millennia, seafarers have depended on the sun to know their position in the world, but often the sun is not visible. Polarisation vision solves that problem, Dickinson said, because if there's even a small patch of clear sky in a fruit fly's very broad range of view, then the natural light patterns can provide location information.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Cockroaches, Bed Bugs, Mold Spark $10M Lawsuit

A civil lawsuit alleging long-term substandard living conditions against the owner of the Cordova Estates apartments in Rancho Cordova is seeking $10 million in damages for 97 tenants.

"It's horrific. It's disgusting. I can't describe it. I was without heat for three years," said tenant Jessica Munoz, the named plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed this month, alleges that the property owner, Juvenal Campos, did not fulfill his duty to maintain habitable apartments for tenants paying $525 to $725 per month in rent.

A prepared statement sent by "the owners" of the property stated that they are trying to address issues in those apartments.

"We are disappointed by the filing of this lawsuit," read the statement which was signed "the owners".

Meanwhile, Rancho Cordova code inspectors stress Campos is facing a string of code violations based on a recent walk-through of the apartment complex.

"He is facing roughly 150 violations ... He could face fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if we continue to come out and things not be done," said Kerri Simpson, Rancho Cordova Code Enforcement officer.

City officials said they are working the property owner to fix the owner. However, Simpson said previous agreements to fix problems in the past failed.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Research Examines Why Insects Give Us an Itchy Feeling

Why is it that seeing, discussing, or even just thinking about creepy crawlers makes us feel itchy all over? It turns out the experts aren’t sure, according to a story on MSNBC.com titled "Spiders! Ants! Did that make you itchy? Here's why”

University of Pennsylvania neuroscientist Dr. Wenqin Luo places the blame for phantom itch on memories of an itchy past. Thinking about bugs, she explains, might prompt memories of previous experiences – “itchy associations.”

Why, then, doesn’t thinking about injuries prompt our bodies to feel phantom pains?

Dr. Luo offers the following theory: “Compared with itch, pain is a serious protective mechanism that triggers avoidance behavior. Thus, the threshold to trigger a pain sensation may be much higher than that of itch.”

Basically: If our brains registered pain (a danger) as easily as they do itch (an annoyance), our bodies would be sent into constant states of false alarm.

Dr. Glenn J. Giesler, Jr., a neuroscientist from the University of Minnesota offers a slightly different guess as to the phantom itch culprit: Maybe our skin always experiences the tiny sensations capable of causing light itch – but we only notice them when we’ve already got itch (or its creepy crawly causes) on the brain.

“It is amazing to me how easy it is to induce itch in others,” says Giesler. “Whenever I give a talk on the topic, I am amused at the percentage of people in the audience who start scratching.”

“Perhaps,” he guesses, “the threshold for sensation of itch is lowered by thinking about it.”

Dr. Gil Yosipovitch is a professor of dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina. He’s also the founder of the International Forum for the Study of Itch.

Source: MSNBC.com

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Early Arrival of Winter Weather Drives Rodents Indoors

Across the country, chilly temperatures and early snowstorms are forcing more than just people indoors. Rodents including mice, rats and squirrels are seeking food, water and shelter in homes. Unfortunately, more bad weather could be on the way as the Farmers' Almanac is forecasting a season of unusually cold and stormy weather. The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) encourages homeowners to take the necessary steps to protect themselves and their families from rodent infestations during colder months.

"Rodents invade an estimated 21 million homes in the United States every winter," said Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for NPMA. "But with many places already experiencing cold weather conditions, it is important to be proactive and vigilant in preventing these pests from becoming unwelcome houseguests."

The accumulation of feces from mice and rats can spread bacteria and contaminate food sources. These rodent droppings are known to trigger allergies and cause diseases including Hantavirus and Salmonella. In addition to health risks, rodents can chew through wallboards, cardboard, wood and even electrical wiring, increasing the risk of a house fire.

NPMA offers the following tips to avoid a rodent infestation:

• Store items in boxes and plastic sealed containers, rather than cardboard boxes.
• Keep food in airtight containers and dispose of garbage regularly.
• Install screens over chimney vents and openings.
• Seal cracks and holes on the outside of the home, including areas where utilities and pipes enter the home.
• Replace loose mortar and weather stripping around basement foundation and windows.
• Install gutters or diverts to channel water away from your home.
• Store firewood at least 20 feet from the home and five feet off the ground.
• Inspect wires, insulation and walls for any signs of gnaw marks.
• If you find rodent feces, hear sounds of scurrying in the walls or observe other signs of an infestation, contact a licensed pest professional.

For more information about household pests and to find a local pest professional, visit www.pestworld.org.

The NPMA, a non-profit organization with more than 7,000 members, was established in 1933 to support the pest management industry's commitment to the protection of public health, food and property.

SOURCE: National Pest Management Association (NPMA)

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

AirTran Sued Over Cockroaches on Flight

You've heard of snakes on a plane, now here come bugs on a plane.

A North Carolina couple is suing AirTran Airways, alleging that cockroaches crawled out of air vents and overhead carry-on bins during a flight from Charlotte to Houston in September.

Attorney Harry Marsh and his fiancé Kaitlin Rush say the insects appeared soon after takeoff, and when Marsh pointed them out to flight attendants, they did nothing to help.

"These roaches and other pests caused great distress to a number of passengers throughout the flight," the complaint states.

All paying guests of the airline are entitled to "clean, pest-free" accommodations, it goes to to say.

The couple accuses AirTran of negligence and recklessness, infliction of emotional distress, nuisance, false imprisonment and unfair and deceptive trade practices, and is suing for more than $100,000 plus the price of their tickets.

In a response to the complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, AirTran denies most of the allegations.

CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin predicted the case would never go to trial.

"This is a case that's going to settle. Bottom line, I foresee a lot of free flights for this couple if they want to get back on AirTran," Hostin said.

"It's certainly not a pretty picture. The roaches were out long enough for them to take video and photographs, so that's exhibit A."

Source: CNN.com

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Loudest Animal on Earth is a Tiny Insect
Lion's roar? Whale's song? Ounce for ounce, this bug has them beat

It's a wee bug, but it makes a monster noise.

Commonly known in the U.S. as the "water boatman," the 2-millimeter-long insect produces a sound equivalent to sitting in the first row of a loud orchestra. For their size, they are the loudest living animal, say a team of researchers from Scotland and France.

"I met someone who does underwater recordings and they heard these sounds … and wondered what the sounds were and what was making them," said Dr. James Windmill at the Center for Ultrasonic Engineering at Glasgow's University of Strathclyde. "We figured it must be a larger bug."

Windmill and a colleague teamed up with Jerome Sueur, a biologist at the Natural History Museum in Paris, to study the bug. They presented their work this month at a conference in Glasgow.

The male water boatman produces the sound by rubbing body parts together, called stridulation, like a cricket chirping. The males do it to attract a female, of course, and have evolved over millions of years to be a loud "bunch of males trying to outdo each other," said Windmill.

The herbivorous bugs live in shallow water, less than a foot deep, but Windmill doesn't suggest people walk along the river banks expecting to hear a very loud sound. Ninety-nine percent of the sound is reflected back into the water, though the remaining 1 percent can be heard out of the water.

Scientists do not understand how such a loud sound can be made with body parts the width of a human hair. However, the insects have a bubble of air under their bodies they use to breathe underwater, and Windmill suspects they may use it to amplify the sound.

"I love the biology but I take the practical view that there is something we can take from it and learn from it," said Windmill. He is interested in studying how animals hear and produce sounds, to develop better technologies such as sonar and biomedical ultrasound.

"As an engineer, I get to learn something. The loudest thing on Earth is a creature people wouldn't expect, like a lion roaring or a whale singing. The loudest thing on this planet is this tiny insect."

Source = Chicago Tribune

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

click image to enlarge

In today’s tough economic and housing climate there are residential houses that are vacant for extended periods of time. Months long is not uncommon and in some cases it may be a year or more. It is worse when it is a foreclosure when the occupants leave with no notice and leave many possessions behind. In some cases they leave behind food items, grass seed, bird food, pet food, etc. A total buffet for pests!

The problem with houses like this is that pests often find the house and can get out of hand in a short period of time. Mice are a perfect pest for these situations. They are prolific breeders so in 3 months the number of mice in a home can quadruple! The environment is perfect for them, the house is vacant, quiet, dark, and there is always food and nesting material left behind.

The attached picture shows you exactly this scenario. Mice got so out of control in this vacant house that they created heavy runways (travel routes) into voids. The picture shows a gnaw hole created into a floor void from the basement level. You can see the “greasy” rub marks that are created when mice frequent the same paths. These rub marks are from the lanolin (oil) on their fur. In this case the buyers home inspector pointed out that there was a high level of mouse activity and they should contact a professional. EHS performed an initial treatment and excluded the mice out at the foundation level. We then did a 30 day follow up and have a 6 month follow up on the books. The treatment program with 1 year warranty was enough to satisfy the bank plus buyer and the home was sold. See, professional pest control is good for the economy!

Alex Johnson
Service Specialist
Environmental Health Services, Inc.

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

It is scary what some commercial businesses, property managers, and homeowners do! The attached image show’s someone that tried to do their own pest control to solve a mice issue. As you can tell there is a tremendous risk to safety!

There is a reason why professional pest control makes sense, we are licensed and highly trained professionals. When it comes to protecting public health & safety you should never look for the quick and easy fix…..call a professional like EHS. You are risking WAY TOO MUCH if you cut corners!

Mark Tremblay
Service Specialist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Click on image to Enlarge

So what are you looking at??? This is the unofficial-official “Mice Trap Gauntlet”

So the story goes...... a homeowner in Rhode Island has been battling mice for over a year. They tried several methods of “do it yourself” pest control and failed miserably. The mice were getting worse. They called EHS to solve the long-standing mice issue. When I get there I see this VERY elaborate contraption in the kitchen. The homeowner explained to me the mouse trap that was made up of 13 mouse traps.

The goal of the trap is to kill the mice as they investigate the food (peanut butter) but if they survive the 1st wave of traps then they go up the “ramp of death”.

They then try to get to the peanut butter smeared on the soda bottle, it then spins causing them to fall into the pit where additional traps wait for them. According to the homeowner it took two hours to create. They realized they could spend their time on better things plus all their efforts & they still had mice! There was a happy ending, EHS eliminated the mouse issue.

Tim Lynch
Service Specialist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA