Monthly Archive January 31, 2020

The rat lungworm, is a parasite of rodents that can infect humans after ingestion of larvae within uncooked slugs, snails or other invertebrates. Infected rodents can pass larvae of the worm in their feces. The infection travels to the brain, causing meningitis: inflammation of the membranes surrounding your brain and spinal cord. Treatment is uncertain, as anti-parasitic drugs may worsen brain inflammation. Originally from Southeast Asia and the South Pacific, it is now in the Americas and Australia. The most common reactions included headache, joint pain, fever, stiff neck and vomiting.  When traveling to Hawaii, never eat uncooked slugs or snails and carefully wash uncooked fruit and vegetables.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rat-lungworm-disease-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Ever leave behind the tiniest crumb a counter top or floor, only to come back to find a group of tiny ants feasting on it? Sugar ants have exceptional odor sensing abilities and sugar, in just about any form, are highly attractive to these guys. To prevent sugar ants from entering your house, clean up after prepping, cooking or baking, take out the trash, recycle frequently and regularly mop floors. Getting rid of sugar ants can be daunting task (messy and time consuming) as all internet home remedies and retail products that promise to kill sugar ants never successfully work, other than putting money in the retailers pocket. One of the best solutions for handling a sugar ant problem is to call a pest management professional.

https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/sugar-ants-and-h…-get-rid-of-them/

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C. Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sugar-ants-how-do-i-get-rid-them-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Rats have up to 70 whiskers – that vary in size, length and shape. Rat whiskers are called whisker specialists, as they have super-sensitive, movable hairs that are used to explore and sense their surroundings. Rat whiskers can be described by a unassuming mathematical equation known as the Euler spiral – spiral patterns are found throughout the natural world. The size and natural shape of each whisker can have a powerfully effect the way it distorts and the palpable signals that reach the follicle. This means that being able to describe the whisker’s shape with a mathematical equation helps to understand the signals that the follicle receives.  

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rat-whiskers-use-euler-spiral-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Rats have a variability of qualities that make them challenging enemies. To start with, they are exceptionally destructive, any buildings, infrastructure or electronics are just a challenge for rats’ potent incisors. Next rats are agile -they can jump, climb, swim and scurry to get where they want or escape danger. Rats are also very sensitive as there are equipped with devoted whiskers that help them perceive and evade dangerous surfaces, such as sticky glue traps. Like pigs, rats are omnivorous. They can and will eat anything they come across to sustain themselves, from animal feces to garden fertilizer, plastic to full on cannibalism. When it comes to reproduction, rats are rather prolific. They breed at four weeks old and one female can have up to 6 litters of a 12 pups a year -that’s 72 pups. And finally, they are ingenious and adaptability -they spend their whole live looking for ways to get into your house.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rats-formidable-opponent-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Squirrels that favour one side of their body are slower learners compared with those who use both paws. A study found that squirrels that favour one side of their body performed worse at tasks that required learning. Many animals have a preferred side of the body for carrying out certain actions, though the strength of this preference can vary. This could help animals survive, as being strongly lateralized is linked to better cognitive performance. In humans research suggests that ambidextrous people may be more creative.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ambidextrous-squirrels-smarter-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Like spiders and ladybugs, the opossum is your friend. They are a kind of natural pest control animal, with their jaw of 50 sharp teeth they are omnivores eating everything from overripe fruits and vegetables to snails, slugs, insects, snakes, worms, rats, mice and other small animals, as well as nuts, seeds, grasses and weeds. Opossums snout and tail give them a rat appearance but they are related to kangaroos and koalas rather than to rodents. During winter, the solitary nocturnal opossum spends most of the time in its nest but come February a female (jills) will be looking for a mate (jack) and will give birth to her litter of joeys in March. The female opossum is a marsupial (pouched mammal like the kangaroo) carry joeys in her pouch because their body temperature is too low. They are not aggressive but when approached they usually bare their teeth or play dead as a defense mechanism.   

https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/the-opossum-top-…-in-pest-control/

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/opossum-top-notch-pest-control-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Rats play quid pro quo with each other, a form of tit-for-tat when looking for help from others and rats are happy to help each other out but only if another rat helps them out first, according to a new study. The study determined that rats figuratively play quid pro quo (a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something when doing favours for one another). The rats will co-operated based on the last meeting with a partner and that rats can remember what happened in the distant past, but only use the most recent encounters with a partner.  

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rats-play-tit-for-tat-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Active all year round, mice are one of the most common pest species. They spread nasty diseases such as Salmonella and Listeria to humans through their urine, droppings and bedding. As they scamper around, they carry dirt and bacteria with them, moving it to your counter tops, cabinets and pantry. House mice are known as commensal rodents, they like to live in close proximity to humans. Mice are naturally inquisitive and can squeeze through cracks as small as 5mm, to search for food and shelter. Mice are actually colour blind, but have serious sense of hearing, frequently using ultrasound to communicate. Their presence is usually detected by feces (80 per day), the strong smell of ammonia from their urine, smear marks, nests, damage to stored food and gnaw marks.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/house-mouse-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Nutrias have been in North America for over 70 years and are now considered one of the most ecologically destructive invasive species on the planet. Nutria are about the same size as a raccoon weighting up to 10 kilograms and they look like a cross between a small beaver and a Norway rat. They also carry several diseases and parasites including tuberculosis, tapeworm, liver flukes and nematodes. They are aquatic animals that prefer freshwater and they live in burrows connected by tunnels that they dig in wetlands. Eighty percent of nutria don’t survive their first year, and those that do survive, only live for three years. Nutria eat about a quarter of their body weight daily in plants and their roots, wreaking havoc on the native ecosystem by removing the root systems destabilizes the soil around the water, which causes it to quickly erode and become open water.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nutria-the-invasive-swamp-rat-randy-bilesky/?published=t

What is a psocid you ask, well they are also called book lice or barklice and although they are not truly lice, they live in warm, moist places. They feed on mold or fungi and grains, insects, and starches like book binding glue. They are found in humid and poorly ventilated areas in homes and are attracted to damp cardboard boxes, books, papers, molded wood and leaking sinks. They don’t harm us or our pets and do not bite, they are just a nuisance and large populations usually indicate a moisture problem in the house. If they are spotted in the pantries it is means there is spoiled food around. Psocids don’t retain water in their bodies well so the first step in controlling psocids is reducing the humidity in the area they live.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca insectandrodentexterminators.com Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/book-lice-aka-psocids-randy-bilesky/?published=t