All posts in “rodents”

Plague and you, what to do?

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Plague and you

So we interact with animals occasionally and we need to know how and when to react?  If your doing any work at a cabin up north and/or around your home, I always suggest gloves. With Valley Fever I also suggest a dust mask because you never know what you might kick up in the air.

“Second New Mexico plague case reported”  “4 cases of Plague in Colorado” Maybe you are doing some work in your attic or crawlspace and you find something, how and what do you do?

As I mentioned wear gloves and a mask as a precaution, if you are cleaning and you notice feces – stop and follow guidelines for that type of cleanup. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) http://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/plague/factsheet.asp

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Always better to be safe than sorry, take precautions and follow the guidelines on cleaning or if you see rodents on your property. Also Poison Control  1-800-222-1222 may have additional information on these topics.

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A new species of rodent discovered

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“New rodent species discovered in Indonesia” and the scary part is that it is carnivorous water rat. I’m often astounded that we are still finding new species across the world and this just goes to show how small our world is.

On the bottoms of its toes are small, fleshy pads that may help it hold onto the streambed when hunting underwater.

So as your hiking or rock climbing and your run across something different, it might be unique and technically something yet to be discovered. Maybe, maybe not?

 

Will people ever learn?

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I have to tell you, sometimes I worry about people. Why you ask? Because of stories like this “Feeding Alligators: dangerous unlawful.”  I guess it doesn’t really surprise me, that is why those shows on TV are so riveting. You know someone is going to walk up to that Buffalo like he knows what he is doing and then POW…. I guess that is why all those warning labels are on things, to stop that one person who was thinking – should I really do that or not. Selection of the fitness!

So what kind of tips can I give if you own a house and want to keep those critters out:

  1. Don’t encourage them to live with you, don’t stack stuff around the outside of your home.
  2. Check weep holes and secure them – no open holes.
  3. Don’t create harborages, don’t set your shed on the ground. This is a possible site for all types of animals.
  4. Don’t leave doors or windows opened, things can crawl in. That is how I captured the snake below, someone left a door opened. She was about a foot long and is currently over 6 foot.

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Gag reflex on eating bugs, can we as humans get by this?

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“Are insect farms the urban farms we need to feed the cities?”  Just imagine the possibilities of giant urban farms capable of raising protein without all the issues of methane gas or excrement in abundance.

I’m sure that this is something we just need to get past, the creepy yuck factor of eating bugs. I for one would probably eat bugs faster than I could eat rodents.

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Photo by PPMA (cicadas)

What do you want to know by ProBest Pest Management!

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DrBugKVBdidyouknow1

Skunks

 

  1. Skunks generally forage at night and are considered omnivores (they will eat anything) eat plants, berries, grass, bugs, worms, eggs, reptiles & rodents.
  2. Skunks don’t have the best eyesight but have excellent hearing.
  3. Ther prefer to live in burrows.
  4. Skunks actually sneeze to clear out their noses so they can better smell plant food or animal prey.
  5. If you get sprayed, only time will help to fade the smell, tomato juice and/or vingear will help to mask the smell – by the way scientists believe its the oil that makes it last.
  6. Stay back if you spot a skunk, it can shoot up to 10 feet and less accurate to 16 feet.

Why am I lazy, I’m blaming it on my genes?

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I’m really not lazy but since everyone blames everything else on something else, I might as well think it to be hereditary. I do hate the gym but work is another matter, I love what I do. This study was of course done on rats “Study suggests laziness could be hereditary.”

By studying a population of rats over ten generations, researchers came to the conclusion that there is such a thing as a genetic predisposition to laziness, at least among rodents.

 

Since this video somewhat shows a rodent doing pushups I decided I had to share it. No rodents were harmed during the making of this video and this is my favorite video.

Nolans Cheddard Cheese – Seriously Strong

 

 

pocket gophers

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Pocket gophers can cause serious damage to plants and vegetation.

Pocket Gophers can really do some serious damage to our lawns and properties. Along with their damage they can create holes which people can fall into and often times could lead to broken bones or physical damage to young or older people. I have heard some people say “well they really don’t harm things so lets just leave them alone”? They will damage landscapes including bushes, trees and create unsightly holes and that alone should be enough to stop them from further damaging your lawn. Bushes and trees cost money and if someone falls because of a hole, how much is that doctor or urgent care call?

One of the biggest concerns is damage to playgrounds, soccer fields and areas where children run and play. They actually perform a good service aerating the soil, but the damage often seen is the dying vegetation. They rarely leave their underground complex and most damage is done to the roots of bushes, since they only feed on vegetation. They get all their water from the vegetation they consume. They breed during the Spring to early summer and often have up to 7 babies per year. So has you can see that family can grow quickly causing more damage. It is possible to have 2 -20 gophers per acre of course depending on food availability. Gophers may live up to two years and the majority will be young adults. Gophers are not known to be a significant source of any diseases transmittable to humans or animals. People can trap these critters which is time consuming or use bait injected into the ground and hidden away from prying eyes. Many additional critters may use their tunnels for their benefit including lizards and toads.

Call ProBest for more information or to schedule a visit 602-249-7378

pocket gophers

pocket gophers

pocket gophers

pocket gophers

Why do they allow import of old used tires?

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How often do you think a new bug makes it to our shores? Have you ever thought how did that bug make it into the USA? Sometimes we make it easy for the bug to travel, like when you move from one state on the east coast to the west and you bring boxes which were in storage. We brought Mongoose to Hawaii for the rats and that didn’t work, nobody thought about the rat being nocturnal and the Mongoose is out during the day. Asian Tiger Mosquitoes (carries viruses like Dengue & West Nile) were accidentally introduced in tires brought in from China in 1985, the Black rat probably hitched a ride on early European ships, Asian Longhorned Beetle native to Asia and the Cotton Whitefly came from India.

Photo provided by PPMA

Photo provided by PPMA

Thanks to all our Border Agents tasked with checking and rechecking all those shipments.

Nothing is for sure, new research…

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Well they say nothing is for certain except death and taxes and I’m beginning to understand that this might be true. Researchers are now saying that the “Black Death was not spread by rat fleas” but may have been more of an airborne issue.

They are doing research on bodies, primarily the teeth of about 25 human remains from the London area.

According to scientists working at Public Health England in Porton Down, for any plague to spread at such a pace it must have got into the lungs of victims who were malnourished and then been spread by coughs and sneezes. It was therefore a pneumonic plague rather than a bubonic plague.

The theory is that it would be almost impossible to spread that quickly unless it was airborne. So further testing continues on this dreaded killer of man.

 

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