RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

How’s this for a surprise? You are outside doing yard work and trimming bushes when you aggravate a hidden Bald Faced Hornet nest! In fact an elderly woman died exactly this way when she was doing the exact same thing. Once these very aggressive hornets are disturbed they set of an alarm pheromone that tells nest mates to attack. Once stung there is another pheromone released with the sting that puts a bulls-eye right on you!

These nests start small and quasi-slowly in the spring but by August they can exceed the size of a basketball and by September they can be as big as a medicine ball! Wasps and hornets can cause anaphylactic shock in people and pets so do not get a can of “wasp & hornet jet freeze” and try and solve this problem on your own because you could be taking your life into your hands! Trust EHS to protect your health & property.

Jon Hinthorne
Service Specialist
Environmental Health Services, Inc.

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Tiff over bed bugs leads to stabbing.

A tiff over bed bugs ended with a man suffering a serious stab wound, police say.

Thurmell Maley, 42, was being held Sunday in the Hamilton County Justice Center on a felonious assault charge after an incident that was reported Saturday at Maley's home in the 2600 block of Burnet Avenue here.

Maley used a kitchen knife to stab Anthony Rice in the left side of his stomach and back area, "following a verbal altercation over (Maley) having bed bugs," police and court records say.

Rice suffered serious physical harm, a court document says, but no further information on his condition was immediately available.

Maley is to appear in Hamilton County Municipal Court at 9 a.m. Monday.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Photographer catches two squirrels fighting. So cool!

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Rats Nibble at Paralyzed Patient in Government Hospital

An elderly paralyzed man, who was on ventilator support, has been seriously injured after allegedly being nibbled at by rats at a government hospital.

The 70-year-old man was found seriously injured yesterday morning by his family members at the Mathura Das Mathur hospital with his ears, lips, nose bitten allegedly by rats. However, hospital authorities have not confirmed that the man was injured in rat attack. It was brought to our notice by a patient's attendant.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Rats Given 20 Beers in Two Hours, But Recovered Their Balance in 15 Minutes

A chemical from an ancient herbal remedy makes rats almost immune to the effects of alcohol. Rats who've consumed the drug can consume vast quantities of alcohol without passing out, show few signs of a hangover - and don't become alcoholics, even after weeks of solid drinking, say researchers. The chemical is extracted from an ancient Asian remedy - a seed first used as a hangover cure in the year 659. Rats respond to alcohol in a very similar way to humans. The UCLA researchers now aim to find out if the compound will work in humans.

The Asian seeds - from the tree Hovenia Dulcis - was first used as a hangover cure in the year 659, according to Science Daily. The researchers began their study by looking at herbal compounds that supposedly had 'anti alcohol' effects. They rapidly homed in on the Asian seed. They tested one ingredient - called DHM or dihydromyricetin in the rats.

The rats were given the equivalent of 15 to 20 bottled beers in two hours. Most animals passed out, and remained motionless when flipped over. When given DHM, the rats could 'handle' their drink better. They took longer to get drunk, and seemed to sober up in about 15 minutes. The compound seemed to help rats dealing with hangover anxiety, too. Rats recovering from a binge seemed to perk up when given the compound. Perhaps most importantly for medical professionals, the chemical seems to stop rats wanting to drink. Although rats on DHM can drink more, they don't. 'When you drink alcohol with DHM, you never become addicted,' says the lead researcher, Jing Liang in research published in Journal of Neuroscience. The drug appears to work by blocking a brain receptor. Other promising anti-alcohol drugs have targeted the same receptor - but also caused seizures.

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 

Squirrel Pox Outbreak Action Plan in Place

Traps are being offered to the public in order to catch and kill grey squirrels in the area.

The virus has no apparent effect on the greys but is invariably fatal to their red counterparts.

Scotland is one of the UK's last red squirrel strongholds, with the south of the country seen as being on the frontline of conservation efforts.

The organization Red Squirrels in South Scotland said post mortem examinations had confirmed the outbreak around the River Tweed.

The public has been advised not to put out garden feeders as a measure to help stop the disease spreading.

Estates on both sides of the river have already removed a number of the animals.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Late night fire in a vacant home on Weller Road, off Bell Ave, in Elyria is believed to have started after a squirrel ate through wiring in the attic of the home.

When Firefighters arrived they found a moderate amount of smoke coming from the house and flames could be seen inside through the front windows. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control within a half hour.

No injuries were reported.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Scary Food Facts: Insects & Rodent Hairs In your food? The FDA Says It's OK

Scary Food Fact No. 1: FDA Allows Rodent Hairs And Bugs into Peanut Butter, and Beetle Eggs in Canned Asparagus

When dealing with produce that has been harvested from the field, it’s pretty difficult to ensure that every teeny tiny critter that may have hopped onto a leaf or a stem, or nibbled their way inside of a tasty fruit is removed before the produce is processed and sold to the consumer. And after all, if you eat a little maggot, insect larvae or even a smidgen of mammalian excreta, you’ll probably be just fine.

In fact, the FDA is so certain you won’t suffer any adverse effects from ingesting minuscule amounts of insects, or “excreta” or rodent hairs (well those rodents, they do get everywhere) that it has published a little booklet called the Defect Level Handbook that advises food manufacturers as to what amounts of contamination from (harmless) foreign material are acceptable. When it comes to frozen or canned asparagus, the maximum level of contamination is “10% by count of spears or pieces {that} are infested with 6 or more attached asparagus beetle eggs and/or sacs.”

With frozen broccoli, come in under an “average of 60 or more aphids and/or thrips and/or mites per 100 grams” and it’s all good. As for cinnamon bark, more than an “average of 1 mg or more {of} mammalian excreta per pound” will get you in trouble. And when it comes to peanut butter, manufacturers can turn a blind eye to an “average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 100 grams,” but no more.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

OK, this is really gross BUT very real! No matter if you are a store selling food or you have food in your home if you have mice they will find it!

They will defecate all over food and food handling surfaces! They can easily transmit diseases to you by contaminating the food we eat. If you think having a few mice is not a big deal then think again!

It is a very big deal and you need a professional company like EHS to solve the problem.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA