RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

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.

Rat Bites Subway Rider at Station

New York transit workers said a rat bit a subway rider on the foot while she was waiting for a train at a downtown station.

Transit sources told the New York Daily News the woman, who was described as in her 20s, was sitting on a bench at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station at about 9:30 a.m. Monday when the rodent ran up and bit into the flesh of her foot.

"She was pretty frantic and upset," one transit worker said. "You could actually see the bite."

Authorities said the woman was treated at New York Downtown Hospital and released.

Officials with Transport Workers Union Local 100 said rats are becoming more common at stations because of infrequent garbage collection and poor seals on trash storage rooms.

City transport officials declined to comment, the Daily News said.

Source: DailyNews.com

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 

Mouse Scurries Around Bag of McDonald’s Hamburger Rolls: Employee Catches Rodent on Cell Phone Video

A former fast food employee says mice ran rampant in the Philadelphia McDonald’s where he worked, and he caught it all on tape, Fox News reported.

Video shows a mouse scurrying around inside a plastic bag filled with hamburger buns at the McDonald’s on Stenton Avenue in the West Oak Lake section of Philadelphia, where Karrium Demaio, 29, worked.

Demaio says he frequently saw mouse droppings, and was told to brush them off the bread and serve them to customers.

“There hasn’t been a time when we couldn’t go in the back and see mouse droppings on the bread,” he said.

He told Fox News he revealed the video, which was shot in November, because he wanted to warn customers.

“That wasn’t the first time. That was about the sixth or seventh time,” he said. “That’s what made me like, I got to get video of this.

“I was going back there to get something else and I heard some rustling, so I turned around, and I look, I seen a mouse inside the bread. Not on top of the package, but inside of the package.”

Demaio worked at the store from October 2010 to January of this year, when he was fired for skipping a shift.

He told Fox News that he’s worked at two other McDonald’s, but had never seen something like this.

The McDonald’s is “not in satisfactory compliance,” according to the Philadelphia Health Department, but inspectors did not cite evidence of rodents.

The store says it will address concerns the video surfaced.

“After viewing the video, we are going to continue to investigate this claim to make certain we have all the facts,” McDonalds owner and operator Ken Youngblood said in a statment.

“I want my customers to know that I am taking this matter seriously and will immediately address any issues that may exist. Therefore, if necessary, we will work with the appropriate authorities to get the facts.”

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

African Rat Protects Itself with Poison

Researchers, including U.S. conservationists, say they've discovered the first known mammal to use plant poison to defend itself.

A predator trying to make a meal of the African crested rat is in for a surprise, the researchers said, because the rats apply a poisonous plant toxin to sponge-like hairs on its flanks.

"The African crested rat is a fascinating example of how a species can evolve a unique set of defenses in response to pressure from predators," said study co-author Tim O'Brien of the Wildlife Conservation Society in a WCS release Tuesday.

"The animal and its acquired toxicity is unique among placental mammals."

The researchers discovered the rat gets its poison from the bark of the Acokanthera tree, the same source used by East African hunters for poison arrows, by chewing the bark and applying its saliva to its flanks.

Scientists have long suspected the African crested rat is poisonous, with many accounts of dogs becoming ill or dying after encounters with the rodents.

But instead of producing poison itself, as the duck-billed platypus does, the African crested rat takes its toxin, called ouabain, from the external source, the tree.

A remaining mystery, researchers say, is how the animal uses the poison without succumbing to it.

Source = upi.com

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

I am the rat killer of Boston!!! Frank the tank! This picture shows just some of my vic’s!

Seriously, we get a call about a large number of rats in a parking garage. The previous pest control company had not been able to solve the problem after months of trying. I see rub marks from the rats and follow their trail to a locked room. At the door it has a seriously strong rat odor. Those in the industry know what I mean! I tell the maintenance guy that this is the mother ship and we need to get inside. He does not have a key and said the other guy never went inside there. I told him that is why you still have rats.

Once we get inside there are rat droppings EVERYWHERE in the room. There is no doubt that this is where they are coming from but why? I find a lead out tunnel that heads into the MBTA subway system and that is the source. I set up snap traps and schedule us to come back every 3-5 days. The seven rats you see are just three days after I placed them down! In 10 days I have caught a whopping 35 rats!!! Based on rat breeding I have literally removed over 300 potential rats from the city of Boston…WHOAH!!! I should get a key to the city!

The battle is still going on as of this blog post but once we go 2 weeks with no catches I will seal off the tunnel with stainless steel mesh screening and this will eliminate the issue.

Frank Diaz
Service Specialist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Mouse Virus Kills Montauk Man

A task as simple as vacuuming out the basement after a flood may have cost a Montauk man his life.

Chiropractor David Hartstein, 35, died last week from a rare lung infection blamed on contamination from infected mice and rodents.

According to public health professionals, humans can become infected by inhaling microscopic particles of diseased rodent droppings, urine or saliva.

Hartstein's death from Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome has shocked neighbors who saw him alive and seeing patients as recently as last Thursday.

"I was supposed to see him again Saturday," said Charles Flynn, who told NBC New York he still couldn't believe it.

Hantavirus is rare and sporadic. This case marks only the second confirmed and deadly incidence in New York state in the last 15 years.

Health officials have said they believe this case is isolated, but have also urged Suffolk County residents to take precautions against mice and rodent infestations in their homes.

Among the recommendations: store food in closed containers and seal tiny holes and spaces in floors, walls and under doors.

Symptoms of contamination may not manifest for up to five weeks. Physical signs include high fever, muscle pain, coughing and headaches. Respiratory problems may worsen after a few days and can prove fatal.

"It is devastating," said Geeta Jirham, one of Hartstein's neighbors.

Health officials have advised against contact with rodent droppings or urine. Any cleanup should be done with rubber gloves and a solution of detergent and bleach, and the debris deposited in a double-sealed plastic bag for disposal.

Source: Online NewsPress

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Small Colony of Bats Triggers Preschool Evacuation

Colin Ross couldn’t tell if the animal was real. It looked like a toy he had seen before. So he touched it, and it squeaked.

Then the 5-year-old boy walked to the front of the classroom to get his teacher’s attention. “I think I have a problem,” Colin said. “The rat bit me.”

Next came a phone call to the front office of the Children’s Garden Preschool in Shiremanstown, where at 10:30 that same morning a bat was found in the hallway. It wasn’t moving, but it was very much alive.

Two bats found in less than one hour on June 22. That triggered the preschool employees and more than 100 students to evacuate the building and call wildlife experts to remove a small colony of bats nesting in the attic.

“I just chalked the first bat up to being a freak thing,” said Crissy Switzer, the day care’s assistant director. “But then a teacher found another one.”

It was just after 11:15 a.m. when Colin’s teacher notified Switzer that she had found a bat in her classroom and that it might have bit Colin on the pinky finger. Switzer immediately had the children in the classroom moved to the Bible Baptist Church, one block away.

She didn’t waste any time and called Colin’s parents.

“Your son was bit by a bat,” she said.

There weren’t any doubts about that.

It took Heather Ross a few seconds to register what had happened: that her son had been bitten by a wild animal, that it triggered the evacuation of the classroom.

Calls from school usually mean sudden sickness, a fight or fall on the playground.

“When people hear the word ‘bat,’ they’re thinking baseball bat,” Heather said, “Not the animal bat.”

Heather raced to the school, where she found Colin eating lunch, his pinky finger already cleaned and bandaged by school staff. “There he was, happy as clam, none the wiser,” Heather said.

For Colin and his friends, it was an event, that rare and exciting moment that every so often transcends naptime, arts and crafts.

To his peers, the facts were clear: Colin had been bitten by a bat; therefore, he might turn into a vampire.

But while the children joked, Switzer made phone calls and gathered facts of her own. First to the Department of Health, who advised her to send Colin to the emergency room. “If you’re uninformed and you hear the word ‘bat,’ you’re automatically thinking that you’re going to need rabies shots,” said John Ross, Colin’s father.

But since the school had possession of the bat that bit Colin, the ER doctor said the bat should be tested for rabies before any shots were administered.

Switzer had called the Department of Agriculture, who advised her to take the bat to their labs for testing.

Doctors released Colin from the Harrisburg Hospital emergency room that afternoon with discharge papers citing “a possible bite.”

It would take time before the results came in.

MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM

It took a whole 15 minutes for Switzer to evacuate the almost 107 kids from the Children’s Garden to the Bible Baptist Church down the road. She didn’t have to do this, but it was her call.

“I continually asked if I needed to evacuate the premises, and everybody said no, no, no,” Switzer said. “But I decided to evacuate anyway.”

The school provided a blanket statement Thursday night to the parents, explaining about Colin’s bite and giving the option of keeping their kids home Friday.

Wildlife Conservation Officer Timothy Wenrich visited the Children’s Garden the next day and found two dead bats in the attic.

Based on the amount of feces covering the floors, Wenrich determined a small colony of big brown bats had taken the attic as its home.

Wenrich estimated there were 50 to 70 bats, about half as many as the average number of children attending the Children’s Garden daily. “This colony is pretty small,” Wenrich said. “The average for big brown bats is a couple hundred.”

The name “big brown bats” is deceiving because they only grow to the size of a mouse. It was no wonder why Colin mistook it for a rat.

When Switzer called the exterminator to have the bats removed, she met resistance. Since bats are in their mating season, the Pennsylvania Game Commission had to confirm that the species is not the endangered.

Exterminators are restricted by law from removing bats without a special permit. Wenrich was able to obtain one, allowing Switzer to hire an exterminator.

RELIEF

It was about the time Switzer hired an exterminator that Heather Ross could breathe again.

The Department of Agriculture had the results of rabies test on Colin’s bat. It was negative.

John and Heather Ross of Camp Hill said they couldn’t be happier. “Looking back, I don’t think there was anything that could’ve been done better,” John said of how the staff of the Children’s Garden handled the situation.

Caffeine Boosts Sex Drive in Rats

A Concordia University rat study suggests that you may want to grab a cup of java Vs drink alcohol to get in the mood! Caffeinated rats of both genders demonstrated more interest in sex than their non-caffeinated cohorts. Interestingly enough, the rats did not experience performance limitations normally brought on by alcohol.

Caffeine, by the way, takes 15 minutes to get into your system, and while it's out in 40 minutes, its arousal effects (along with its waking effects) can last for hours.

Source = McClatchy-Tribune News Service

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

A fifth case of Hantavirus has been confirmed in New Mexico.

The New Mexico Department of Health says a 59-year-old woman from McKinley County is hospitalized at University Hospital in critical condition with the infection.

Three people have died from Hantavirus in the state this year while a 39-year-old man from McKinley County has recovered from the infection, which is transmitted through rodents feces, urine and saliva. People usually catch the infection by breathing in dust from areas of rodent infestations.

Early symptoms of Hantavirus infection include fever and muscle aches, possibly with chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and cough, which progresses to respiratory distress.

Symptoms develop within one to six weeks after rodent exposure. Chances for recovery are better if medical attention is sought early.

Source = Associated Press

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA