RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Nearly 7 Million Bats May Have Died From White-Nose Fungus, Officials Say

More than five years since the deadly white-nose fungus was first detected in a New York cave where bats hibernate, up to 6.7 million of the animals are estimated to have died in 16 states and Canada, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday.

The estimate, drawn from surveys by wildlife officials mostly in Northeastern states where the disease thrives, confirmed the worst fears of biologists who have been counting dead bats covered in the powdery fungus in mines and caves every winter and worrying whether the little brown bat, the northern long-eared bat and the tricolored bat will survive.

“We’re watching a potential extinction event on the order of what we experienced with bison and passenger pigeons for this group of mammals,” said Mylea Bayless, conservation programs manager for Bat Conservation International in Austin, Tex.

“The difference is we may be seeing the regional extinction of multiple species,” Bayless said. “Unlike some of the extinction events or population depletion events we’ve seen in the past, we’re looking at a whole group of animals here, not just one species. We don’t know what that means, but it could be catastrophic.”

Bats are a top nocturnal predator, picking off night-flying insects that feed on agricultural crops and forests. A reproductive female consumes her weight in bugs each night. In a single summer, a colony of 150 brown bats can eat enough adult cucumber beetles to prevent the laying of eggs that result in 33 million rootworm larvae, according to a study cited by Bat Conservation International.

White-nose syndrome is caused by an aggressive fungus called Geomyces destructans that eats through the skin and membranes of bats. It was first detected at Howes Cave near Albany, N.Y., in 2006.

Since then, biologists in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont, Indiana and other states have returned to caves and mines during the annual winter hibernation of bats and reported alarming numbers of fresh dead to wildlife and gaming agencies.

Tuesday’s estimate of 5.7 million to 6.7 million dead bats dwarfed the previous count of slightly more than a million in 2009. The estimate was derived from winter trips to mines and caves through December 2011.

Clustered as high as 30 feet above the floor, the bats are difficult to see, so digital images are captured and studied, said Jeremy Coleman, national white-nose syndrome coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“They . . . basically count the noses,” Coleman said. Otherwise “you look at a big brown smudge of bats. Indiana bats can have 300 in a square foot. You can get a much more accurate count with digital imagery,” he said.

The declining population found in the winter counts was supported by summer counts, where bats are tracked to areas where they feed and roost.

The bats being wiped out by white-nose syndrome are usually long-lived, up to 20 years. Mates produce a pup per year. They usually hibernate in the same places year to year, and they return to the same place to feed.

Biologists said the bats’ decline could begin to affect the general public if their disappearance results in swarms of the insects they feed on, and higher food prices if food crops are invaded, biologists said.

A paper published last year in the journal Science, relying on the lower mortality rate projected in 2009, estimated that 1,320 metric tons of insect pests were not eaten because of the decline in bats.

The paper products industry could also be hard hit if pests such as the emerald ash borer proliferate in the absence of bats. Loggers in states such as Vermont “ought to be concerned, but I don’t think the word has really gotten out to these folks,” said Mollie Matteson, a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity in Richmond, Vt.

“It certainly behooves people concerned about the health of forests — loggers or ecologists — to pay attention,” Matteson said. “But it’s hard to make a direct connection between 7 million bats dead and what happens to forest pests.”

A recent report said bat colonies found in Vermont and Pennsylvania were an indication that some are managing to survive the fungus. But those data are inconclusive, and hopes based on the report might be misplaced, Coleman said.

In Pennsylvania, where the mortality rate of the most common bats is nearly 100 percent, farmers and homeowners are showing concern, said Greg Turner, an endangered-mammals specialist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

With 95 percent mortality, there’s little hope that the little brown bats will survive in the state, but Turner isn’t giving up on saving them. “I’m going to plug forward all the way to the bitter end, if there is a bitter end. Hopefully, there won’t be,” he said.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bat Problem Closes School

An Upstate elementary school remained closed on Friday as district officials try to make sure that a bat problem has been solved.

Fountain Inn Elementary dismissed early on Thursday after a bat got into one of the classrooms, one day after a bat removal expert got more than 300 bats out of the building.

On Friday, school district officials met with a bat expert from Clemson University to find out how to treat and control the Mexican free-tailed bats.

Bat removal specialists also did a walk-through of the school on Friday to make sure all entrance points have been secured to keep bats from getting back into the building.

Two bats that were found inside the building both tested negative for rabies.

School officials said all of the bat droppings were found outside of the building. The droppings were removed with a high-strength cleanser that school officials said is nontoxic for children.

South Carolina Department of Environmental Control spokesman Adam Myrick said the bat problem started at Fountain Inn Elementary about three weeks ago.

District officials say they didn't close the school initially because they felt they had the bat problem under control. They said the public hasn't been privy to what was going on behind the scenes.

District officials said they didn't feel the need to dismiss or close school until a bat disrupted a music class Thursday.

Officials will continue to monitor the building this weekend to see if any other bats are still inside.

Director of Communications Oby Lyles said specialists don’t think there are bats still inside the building, but they aren't 100 percent sure.

Lyles said, “We feel like we've done everything we can to address the problem. It's no different than at your own home. It's very difficult to get rid of bats, but we feel like we're making every effort we can to do that.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Did you know that termites cause up to $2 billion in damage per year! Here's more interesting termite facts!

• Termites are actually present in about 70% parts of the world, and its population outnumbers human beings on a ratio of ten to one.
• Termite colonies can reach up several millions of termites and most properties have multiple colonies on them.
• Contrary to popular belief, wood which has been pressure treated is not immune to termite attack; termites will enter pressure-treated wood through cut ends and cracks, and will also build tunnels over the surface.
• Termites build the largest nests of any insect.
• Termites can feed off wood as well as off paper and paper products such as books, insulation and parts of swimming pools, including a pool's liner and filtration system.
• Every termite colony has a social system. The queen and king termites are at the top of the colony, and their roles are to help the colony reproduce.
• Termite royalty is unique in the insect world because they can live for several decades. Queens can live 50 years under the right conditions.
• Termites have lived on Earth for approximately 250 million years.
• In addition to having a queen and king, termite colonies also have soldiers with bulbous heads and big jaws to protect the colony. Worker termites perform other functions such as taking care of the queen and gathering food.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Cockroaches: A Plague for Restaurants

You know them when you see them.

The ribbed, icky brown shell encasing the inch-long body. The six sticky legs. The small black head sporting two long antennae.

They are cockroaches — and chances are, they will find their way into a restaurant sooner or later.

“The situation with roaches in restaurants is that it’s not so much a constant battle as fighting every now and then,” said Joseph Davidson, district manager of Topeka-based Schendel Pest Service. “But it’s not a matter of if. It’s always a matter of when. Nobody is immune to having pests.”

Not everyone considers that to be the case, and only about 3 percent of restaurants in Shawnee County have had a roach problem in the past year, according to inspections by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. But it is a battle restaurants fight on a daily basis, because once cockroaches are present, they can be difficult to eradicate.

“It’s horrible,” Rick Garner, co-owner of Sweet Pea’s, said of the restaurant’s 17-month fight to remove cockroaches from the 85-year-old building at 1306 S. Kansas Ave. “Once they’ve gotten established, it’s something you’ve got to do constantly. You’ll never get completely rid of them. It’s almost impossible.”

THE ISSUE

At least 24 restaurants have had roach problems in the past 13 months, according to KDA inspections from Jan. 31, 2011, through Feb. 3 of this year. Eight of the restaurants — including Bobo’s Drive In, 2300 S.W. 10th Ave., Sweet Pea’s and Sakura Restaurant of Japan, 5632 S.W. 29th St. — have had roaches on more than one inspection in that time.

Bobo's had about 20 live roaches and 22 dead roaches on site during its latest inspection on Jan. 3. Owner Richard Marsh said battling the critters is a "continuous process."

"It's something we never rest at," he said, adding that Schendel comes once, sometimes twice, a month to treat and inspect the diner. "It's not an unsafe place to eat. We follow the rules and definitely take the proper steps."

Having roaches on site, dead or alive, is considered a critical violation by the KDA because the insects are vectors for disease. Roaches have been linked to the spread of such diseases as dysentery, gastroenteritis, cholera and hepatitis B. They also can carry salmonella, E coli, and other bacteria and pathogens that cause human illness.

Although each critical violation — infractions more likely to cause food-borne illness — is serious, repeat offenses are fined differently. Live roaches on site carry the heaviest fine — of $500 — on the third consecutive offense. The fourth offense results in a two-day suspension.

Pest control services have an arsenal of treatments for the vermin, ranging from growth inhibitors, which block roaches from reaching maturity, to sticky traps and bug bombs. Most restaurants have pest services out once a month, Davidson said, but without the restaurants’ help, those inspections can only go so far.

“If pests are gone, but the manager or owner doesn’t fix any conditions, it’s easier for pests to return and re-establish,” he said.

Depending on the level of cooperation from the restaurant and size of infestation, he said, roaches can take anywhere from one to three months to eradicate.

Restaurants can do their part, he said, by keeping a clean environment and maintaining a sound building. That means fixing chips in tiles and holes in walls because they can serve as points of entry, as well as hiding spots for food.

Davidson said finding cockroaches in restaurants is fairly common for Schendel employees, who service more than 800 restaurants in six states. One reason for that, he said, is because pests enter facilities through several sources, whether it is on foot, on a customer or in a produce shipment.

But the main culprit behind cockroaches encroaching on restaurants, he said, is us.

"Pests want three things: food, water and shelter," Davidson said. "We provide them all three with our own existence."

Although Davidson insists cockroaches are an inevitability for restaurants, not everyone buys into the theory.

“I have been an inspector in field, and I guarantee you that is not true,” Nicole Hamm, KDA inspection manager, said of claims that every restaurant has cockroaches.

THE FIGHT

Sweet Pea’s has been battling roaches since it moved into 1306 S. Kansas Ave. in June 2010, Garner said. It and Sakura each have had four inspections in the past 13 months with roaches — the most of any in Shawnee County.

Calls to Sakura weren’t returned.

Garner, co-owner of Sweet Pea's, blamed the aging building, inherited conditions from the previous owner and a lousy pest company — which the restaurant replaced in the fall — for the restaurant's continued roach problems.

On its most recent inspection — Jan. 31 — the restaurant had about 40 dead cockroaches. Most were found in the basement and downstairs dining room, which seats people once every other month, Garner said. As of Friday, it hadn’t had a follow-up inspection.

The restaurant hasn’t seen a live cockroach in almost three weeks, he said, and has the roach problem “under control.” Its new pest control company comes out once a month, he said.

Although having pests in restaurants is inevitable, Davidson said, that fact shouldn’t scare people from dining out.

“It’s there,” he said of the cockroach problem, “and we’re still here. We’re still alive. Almost all restaurants around will be very diligent in trying to keep something like that out of their restaurant to keep their food safe."

His advice: Judge a restaurant by what you can see.

“If it’s dirty out where you sit and eat, the kitchen probably isn’t better,” he said.

And that is exactly what the proprietors of Sweet Pea’s want patrons to do.

“We keep this place as clean as any restaurant in town,” Garner said.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bat in Box Prompts Rabies Concern, Health Department Says Man Showed Bat to People Last Week

An unusual sight in downtown Providence last week as an unidentified man was in Kennedy Plaza, showing off a bat he had in a box.

It happened around 8:45 in the morning on January 23rd.

"This bat, we don't know if it had rabies or not", says Peter Hanney, Department of Health spokesperson. "So out of an abundance of caution we're asking people to please give us a call at the Department of Health."

Health officials were first alerted to the incident by a health care provider who treated two people who came in contact with the bat.

"Two individuals were treated, one for a bat bite and the other for suspected rabies exposure. They informed the health care provider that they received this from a bat in a box from an individual in Kennedy Plaza," adds Hanney.

Health officials say they're concerned about the incident because five percent of all bats have rabies and bat rabies is extremely contagious.

"There's different types of rabies, and the bat strain is really contagious. It doesn't need to be from a bite. It can be just from the saliva if it gets into any mucous membranes or small cuts that you may have on you, you can contract rabies that way too. left untreated it is deadly," says Hanney.

The unidentified man who originally had the bat in a box is in his 50's, about six feet tall with a beard and he was wearing glasses at the time.

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 

What happens when you combine the actions of two hungry rodent species?

Gray Squirrels were feasting by day and Norway Rats after dark!

This client did not have the room in the rear alley for a metal dumpster, so our first recommendation was to have the on site superintendent purchase new, sturdy plastic containers with wheels and place them outside on trash day morning. Whallah! It stopped the excessive exterior rodent activity! The tenants were pleased, the pests were not. Most of the time, the simple suggestion is the best suggestion. Contact us for more no-nonsense approaches to pest management.

Flying Squirrel Invades Hospital Emergency Room

Firefighters were needed stat after a flying squirrel went nuts in a New Jersey hospital's emergency room.

The squirrel kept launching itself from an 8-foot-high wall-mounted lamp into a glass wall after becoming trapped in a trauma room at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway Tuesday night.

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Ted Padavano told The Star-Ledger of Newark it would climb up on a light and would jump off and glide.

A pair of firefighters threw a blanket over the squirrel and released it into a wooded area outside the hospital.

Padavano believes there may be a nest in the building because it's the second time in two weeks that a flying squirrel got in the ER.

Source = Associated Press

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Roaches With a Side of Mice? Health Dept. Says 17% More Eateries Failed Inspection in 2011

These numbers could make you sick.

The tally of restaurants shuttered by city health inspectors jumped more than 17% last year to 1,504 - up from 1,282 in 2010, the Daily News has learned.

The closures are fueled by a new letter grading system, which has also led to skyrocketing restaurant fines.

The Health Department banked $42.3 million in fines last year, nearly $10 million more than in 2010.

Restaurant owners fume that the violations are often trumped up and are eating away at profits.

"I haven't heard of an equivalent reduction in the number of food-borne illnesses as a result of the new system," said Andrew Rigie, executive vice president of the New York State Restaurant Association.

The Bloomberg administration argues that the beefed-up inspections are compelling restaurants to clean up their act.

"The Department of Health will be looking at food-borne illnesses over time, but it is too early to know," agency spokesman John Kelly said.

Kelly noted that many of the shuttered restaurants reopened several days after fixing the cited problems.

Dirty floors and food that's been left out in the open, unprotected from mice and other rodents, topped the list of violations linked to a specific reason, records show.

There was a 35% increase in fines issued for mice discovered around food. The number of fines blamed on mice reached 18,384 during the fiscal year ending June 30, up from 13,657 in 2010.

Under the new system, eateries that don't ace their first tests get reinspected within about a month.

Restaurants can appeal their final score. If the owner appeals, a "Grade Pending" sign must be posted outside until an administrative judge reviews the case, generally in about four weeks.

The increased fines were expected, officials said.

"The agency actually anticipated an increase, because poorer-performing restaurants are now being inspected more quickly," Kelly said. "However, since the inception of the restaurant grading program, restaurants are improving, cycle to cycle."

That's in part due to help from high-priced consultants hired by many big-name restaurants.

"The Health Department has created an entire industry of consultants to help them pass their inspections," said Rigie.

"No one wants to see their customers get sick."

One Brooklyn restaurant owner said she has lost thousands of dollars appealing fines at administrative hearings. Fines range from $200 to $2,000.

"They are putting me out of business," said the owner, who did not want her name used. "How can I afford to pay $2,000 fines in this economy?"

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

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