All posts in “creatures”

University of AZ – grant for $250,000 – Part 2

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whatisipm

 How to do IPM?

  • Identify pests: not all creatures are pests. Proper identification helps you decide what to do about them.
  • Keep records: records give information about past pest problems, so you know when and where to look for them and what to do.
  • Keep pest away: maintain cleanness and deny food, water and shelter.
  • Non-chemical methods: managed pests by setting barriers, trapping, physical removal (by hand, vacuuming) or changing physical conditions (e.g. moisture, aeration) to make an area unfavorable for pests.
  • Use pesticides as the last resort: use least hazardous pesticides or application methods (self-contained baits, gels used as crack-and-crevice treatments, and exempt from U.S. EPA registration-25B). Use only if pests continue to be present and other methods are insufficient to manage the infestation. Regularly scheduled pesticide sprays are usually not necessary.

Tips for preventing pests at Christmas time.

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I’m not talking about uninvited people showing up at Christmas time and/or those over staying their welcome. Let’s talk about bringing in Christmas trees and the creatures we may be bringing in as well.

  1. Always check your Christmas tree for things like squirrels, remember the “Christmas Vacation” movie (I really love that movie) hilarious.
  2. Use caution when bringing things down from the attic, go through and make sure there are no rodents, bats or wildlife living in the boxes.
  3. While you are in the attic, do a little inspection – check for termites (mud or dirt and damaged wood), do you see feces from rodents or bird nests.
  4. Use caution when putting up Christmas decorations outside, you might disturb wildlife and you may accidentally fall.
  5. Use caution putting decorations into trees or bushes, critters may live there.

pinetree

What is wildlife control?

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Most of us enjoy the occasional wildlife that we encounter but without some form or measure of keeping them at bay, we might have a bad encounter. You see the shows on TV where someone decides to take a picture of some creature and the creature feels threatened and attacks. It is never by the way that lone little bird, it is the Grizzly Bear that people want the picture of. Bears can run fast so unless you have a friend with you, that bear will catch your but and eat you. That therein lies the problem – they are animals and wild creatures.

I had a friend whose family raised a raccoon and this raccoon was still wild and got into trouble frequently. I’m reminded of this as we encounter wildlife in our day to day work. It is impossible to know for sure but these animals don’t know the difference between your home and a tree. It also becomes a problem when we feed them, then they become accustomed to handouts. One of my favorite little spots to visit is Monetzuma’s Castle and they used to have squirrels until one day when a squirrel bit the hand that was feeding it.The squirrel just sees the food and if isn’t given the food in a manner that it is used to it lashes out and bites.

skunktrap

This also applies to letting a wild animal live in your home or shed, birds and other wildlife carry parasites and once the animal is gone where are the bugs going to go? Wild animals also carry fleas and ticks and the same applies, they will seek out a new food source and that could be you. So don’t allow animals to live in your attic, if you hear something it is time to investigate.

 

Mischievous creatures and rodents.

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Mischievous creatures and Rodents..

 

I’m often reminded of the Christmas Vacation movie and the “Chevy Chase” aka  Clark Griswold’s Aunt’s  cat chewed the Christmas light strand one and the squirrel in the Christmas Tree stills gets me laughing.  But in reality it’s no laughing matter, each year hundreds if not thousands of homes catch fire because of critters chewing or gnawing on the wires.  Two fires cause minimal damage over the weekend – these were in Florida.

Attics and crawlspaces can house birds, animals, and rodents. Their feces/urine can build up over time and create a whole boatload of trouble for you. Diseases and parasites are secondary issues after the issues has been fixed. Once a month check you home for holes, entry ways into your house and just anything that may be different than the last time checked.

mischievous creatures

Photo from PPMA

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