RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Giant Rat Found Inside Of A Foot Locker Store

Yesterday someone Tweeted this photo of a giant monster rat, supposedly discovered at a Foot Locker in the Bronx. You might recognize this guy, as he bears a striking resemblance to the 3-foot-long beast that was stabbed with a pitchfork in Brooklyn last year. That one was believed to be a Gambian pouched rat, and may have been someone's escaped pet. However, it wasn't the first one spotted in that area, and locals believed they were multiplying faster than Gremlins taking a bath.

With this spotting in the Bronx, we think it's safe to say this superbreed of mutant rat is priming for a takeover of the five boroughs (everyone grab some Mountain Dew). Was there anything in that Mayan prophecy about rodents?

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 

Termites Cause $120M Damage to GTA Homes Yearly

They may be tiny, but they cause huge problems for homeowners.

Termites cause an estimated $120 million in property damage annually in the Toronto area alone, inflicting serious structural damage to homes and dropping neighborhood property values by up to 25%, according to the Canadian Concrete Masonry Producers Association.

"The reality is that termites are aggressive and difficult to prevent," says Paul Hargest, president of the CCMPA. "And while masonry alone won't eliminate them, it can help act as a barrier by minimizing the home's wood-soil contact — a key point of entry for termites. It also makes the house overall a less attractive food source and helps keep it structurally sound."

Termites are indigenous only to British Columbia, but their resilience has enabled them to thrive in areas like Toronto. They were introduced to the city in 1938 via cargo from the U.S.; today, infestation estimates for the GTA are as high as 10%, estimates the association.

The CCMPA is concerned by Canada’s building codes, which are currently under review to allow for six story structures made of wood. In addition to being a food source for termites, such structures also bring with them greater risks related to hazards such as fire, Hargest said.

George Williams
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA