All posts in “animals”

What’s in your attic?

What’s in your attic?

 

Have you ever been in your attic or crawlspace? I’ll bet like most you probably haven’t and I don’t recommend doing it from April to September here in Arizona. The temperatures could be in the high 150’s and you wouldn’t want to pass out up there and die from heat exhaustion. But anyway back to the real story: it is important from time to time to at least walk around your home and look up to the roof-line to make sure you don’t have openings in the soffett which would allow animals or birds to enter. The same can be said of insects like honeybees, which can also cause extreme conditions after they are eliminated. A quick glance will let you know what critters might be in the attic, rodent feces and rub marks could certainly be an indication of present problems and warrants a further look. Remember that secondary pests might become a nuisance after you solve the main problem of the original pest ie: bird mites, ticks or fleas – bat bugs etc. So if you can prevent the initial encounter – you may prevent the entire mess.

    

Stay away from snakes, incidents on the rise in Arizona.

Stay away from snakes, incidents on the rise in Arizona.

 

Reports on the rattlesnake bites in Arizona on the rise” By Associated Press Originally published: Aug 21, 2012 – 3:39 pm reported by the The Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center 1-800-222-1222 Prevention Tips

Tips for staying safe from snakes…

 

  1. All snakes are not bad! Many snakes eat rodents and help to keep down populations.
  2. Wear gloves while out gardening.
  3. If your hiking pay attention to your surroundings. Wear long pants and boots, if your in an area known for being infested knee length boots are probably the good call. Also you can carry a hiking stick. If you hear a rattle stop and listen, determine the location and back away if possible. You can encounter all kinds of wildlife while hiking as well as Africanized Bees.
  4. If the snake is on your property call a Pest Management Professional to remove it, it is not necessary to kill it.
  5. If bitten call 911 immediately – remain calm, don’t panic. Get to a hospital or get treatment ASAP.

Here is a great site for sounds and pictures California Herps and Southwest

Happy Birthday to the National Park Service!

 

 Happy Birthday to the National Park Service!

 

On August 25, the National Park Service will be celebrating its 96th birthday.This is a day for all Americans to show their love for these majestic places and admiration for the individuals who preserve and protect them every day. Congress established the National Park Service in 1916 and it belongs to you, all 84 millions acres.

Wednesday Madness – picture guess????

Wednesday Madness – picture guess????

 

     I have this love and hate relationship to spiders. I hate when they are in crawlspaces or any where within my house but they can look fascinating in pictures. They can have artistic and creative webs and now their webs are being used in research.  So comment below to tell me what kind of spider this is, please! Here are a few of those artistic close-up and macro pictures of some spiders…

         

Check out Artur Celes photography – he is a gifted and unique photographer

Even Entomologist have to have fun………

Even Entomologist have to have fun………

 

The naming of scientific names of critters goes way back to the founder “Carl Linnaeus” he is credited as being the first to give a name based on taxonomy. But sometimes I think some of these folks are playing games, there is one guy who named things after Star Wars characters – wasp names Polemistus chewbacca, Polemistus vaderi, and Polemistus yoda. So please check out “14 Great Names for Bugs” for an interesting take on naming bugs.

Typically the person who discovers the animals or critter gets to give the critter it’s scientific name , usually they associate it with their name but not always. So its fun to see how the intellectuals name the bug.

How about the Olympians of the Bug World?

How about the Olympians of the Bug World?

Olympic Games 27 July – 12 August Official London 2012 website http://www.london2012.com/

The Olympic Games are soon to begin in London and I thought this was the perfect time to discuss some of the bug world super stars.

  1. Fleas are well known as the insect world best jumpers, they can jump up to  1200 to 2200 times their own body length, making the flea one of the best jumpers of all known animals (relative to body size), second only to the froghopper. According to an article in Science News, “researchers with the University of Cambridge in England have shown that fleas take off from their tibiae and tarsi—the insect equivalent of feet—and not their trochantera, or knees.
  2. Dung Beetle -After months of grueling tests, a species of horned dung beetle takes the title for world’s strongest insect.The beetle, called Onthophagus taurus, was found to be able to pull a whopping 1,141 times its own body weight, which is the equivalent of a 150-pound (70 kilogram) person lifting six full double-decker buses. While the study researcher knows of a mite that can take on a hair more, that organism is an arachnid, not an insect. On the other hand, rhinoceros beetle can carry 850 times its own weight. To put that into perspective that would be like one of us lifting a 65 ton armored tank.
  3. If you want to know the record holder for the fastest insect in the world, then you’re in the right place. The fastest insect in the world are divided into ground speed and flying speed. The fastest insect on the ground is the cockroach. In an experiment carried out at the University of California, Berkeley in 1991, an American cockroach registered a record speed of 5.4 kilometres per hour (3.4 mph), about 50 body lengths per second, which would be comparable to a human running at 330 kilometres per hour (210 mph).
  4. The fastest flying insect is the dragon fly. It was claimed that the Southern Giant Darner flying at nearly 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) in a rough field measurement, but a more reliable record shows a 35 mph speed.

 

So stand back and watch the insects for their size they may be fast and furious…

Ahhhhhh the surprises ahead, at least for Momma Duck?

Ahhhhhh the surprises ahead, at least for Momma Duck?

 

Thanks to Sharon for providing this picture, someone is in for a huge surprise. This is going to be one long sit for Momma Duck. How long do you think it will be before she realizes that are all going to hatch?

Update on our little ducklings – Hi Keith, I’m happy to report foster Mallard mom and babies are doing well! The babies all huddle under her wings…..I’m sure we’ll have pictures in the home seal this week….I’ll forward it to you.  Sharon  http://www.LibertyWildlife.org

No matter the locale, wildlife continue to work their way into our homes…

(answer to yesterday’s what is it – false chinch bugs – straight from the AZ IPM Site)

No matter the locale, wildlife continue to work their way into our homes…

Howling Coyote Wildlife Services of Ft Worth, Texas

Nuisance Wildlife Removal and Animal Damage Control Specialist. Howling Coyote Wildlife Services of Dallas/Fort Worth has been your leading specialist in Humane Wildlife Control Methods. We are known and respected In the Greater DFW/Arlington and surrounding areas such as Mineral Wells, Trophy Club, Waco for our thoroughness and Customer Satisfaction. We eagerly strive to make our customers MORE than happy with our services. Whether it be a Odor Removal Treatment, Wildlife Proofing, Consultation or a simple Humane Animal Extraction. Respecting our Texas clients homes and property is our #1 priority. We know how hard the times have gotten and we expect our customers to demand top notch service. http://www.AnimalRemovalFortWorth.com Give Cory Sandy a call at 817-330-9453 if you need a critter removed and taken away, or if you need some wildlife repairs done. We also want to thank Cory for taking all the pictures and sharing them with us. I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with some great wildlife and pest professionals through FaceBook and just want to give a shout out to those men and women that fight the good fight with bugs and wildlife each day. Hopefully we will have some pictures, because this week another raccoon family got stuck in a pipe and its wonderful to see the action that takes place.
          
So if you live in Cory’s service area, give him a call 817-330-9453

Ducklings in the pool, oh nooooooo…

Ducklings in the pool, oh nooooooo…

First off, did you know ducklings can swim – I mean underwater and they are good at it? Mom must have set up a nest in the enclosed backyard (block wall) and then the ducklings became trapped. My plan was full-proof, catch the mother and then the ducklings – that didn’t work as I had planned it. Mom was way faster that me, period. Then to plan B, set large animal trap with ducklings inside within a box and hope mother duck comes to the rescue. No go on this one either, we finally had to move the ducklings to Liberty Wildlife where a surrogate mother duck took over.

Can ducklings live in a pool? All the data I see  is no. First, there are no fish, plants…and second, chlorine is toxic, even for us, so more so for birds.

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