Monthly Archive August 28, 2020

The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) works to educate consumers about the dangers and health threats of rodents a.k.a. rats and mice during Rodent Awareness Week: Oct. 18-24, 2020, they encourage public vigilance against mice and rats. Because we have been altering our regular life styles in response to Covid, rodents are not able to source their usual food sources (restaurant dumpsters) forcing them to move to residential homes to find their food. There were more than 20 million online searches on the topic of rats and mice in July 2020, and a 25% increase in rodent sightings in the kitchen in homes during that same time frame.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rodent-awareness-week-randy-bilesky/?published=t

The top creepy crawlies that are often spotted loitering in homes in Delta throughout the year are now revealed. As summer starts to turn into fall and we begin to start spending more time indoors, a number of insects often come with us. Many of the pests search for shelter in our warm homes. While many insects prefer carpets to rooms with wooden floors, other places such as basements, attic, craw space can also be striking to small creatures due to their probable moisture and variety of hiding places. So here is a list of the top spine-chilling insects you’re most likely to see in your home: ants, cockroaches, earwigs, sowbugs, fleas, silverfish, moths and the big one – SPIDERS.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/deltas-creepy-crawlies-randy-bilesky/?published=t

The bamboo rats are four species of rodents of the subfamily Rhizomyinae usually found in South, Southeast and East Asia. Bamboo rats vary in size, from the greater bamboo rat, which is typically 25 cm long and weighs from 1 ½ lbs to over 9 lbs. They are all large slow-moving rodents that live and forage in wide-ranging burrow systems and infrequently spend much time above ground. They feed on the roots and bulbs in the soil. The lesser bamboo rat, feed principally on bamboo and live in dense bamboo thickets. All the bamboo rats are regarded as agricultural pests.  

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

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

If you see a squirrel sprawled spread-eagle on the ground, either it is dead or its splooting a.k.a. pancaking. Splooting happens when an animal is overheated, it will lay flat on its belly and spreads its paws out to cool down. Splooting allows the animal to cool themselves by pressing their belly into the cool ground and is a great stretch for their hips. Because squirrels can’t sweat or pant, this is its best option to stay cool. There are three types of splooting, the classic-one leg remains under the body, the side- one leg is out to the side and the full – spread eagle.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/oh-just-another-squirrel-splooting-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Ants play a vital role in our environment and eco-system, in fact the total mass of ants on earth is equivalent to the mass of humans (over one million ants for every human) and in some places ants can account for ¼ of the animal bio-mass in the area. There are over 22,000 species of ants and depending on the species they can live in colonies of 50 to 1,000,000 individuals. Ant colonies mostly consist of one (or several queens), a few fertile males called drones, and workers or soldiers that are wingless infertile females. Depending on the species, when conditions are just right, winged male drones and winged queens are born, they fly off in a nuptial dance and start new colonies. Most species of ants feed on both plant and animal origin, but other are exclusively herbivorous or cadaverous.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ants-some-interesting-facts-randy-bilesky/?published=t

When a mouse or rat is trap-shy, it means that it are going to shy away from getting close to a trap and take the bait. This can happen for several reasons, including the fear new objects in their environment. They suspect anything new that enters into their environment because they have pheromone markers in their urine and feces in all the familiar places. Trap shyness is a learned behavior, when rodents interact with traps and don’t get caught, they develop a fear of them and understand to stay away in the future. Several steps to avoid creating trap-shy rodents include pre-baiting traps, selecting baits carefully, using unscented sticky pads, place traps tactically, use suitable traps, and using dirty (pre-used) traps.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/trap-shy-rats-mice-randy-bilesky/?published=t

There are two main types of cucumber beetles, the spotted and striped. In both cases, the adults grow to about 6-7 mm in length. They feed on cucumber plants, but will also eat squash, gourds and pumpkins. As the adults feed, they leave ragged holes in the leaves and they can transmit diseases such as bacterial wilt. If cucumber beetles are an annual pest in your garden, grow wilt-resistant cultivars near by. It helps to use a lightweight insect barrier placed over top of cucumber beds when first seeded or planted and leave it in place until the plants begin to flower. Cucumber beetles can be hand picked, but mulching the soil around the plants with straw can reduce egg laying.

https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/cucumber-beetles…ect-pests-series/

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cucumber-beetles-garden-insect-pests-series-randy-bilesky/?published=t

Rabbits – Garden Pests – Series

They may look charming and furry, but rabbits will eat all of your lettuces, beans and other plants. The best way to stop rabbit damage is with a fence, such as chicken wire. To prevent tunneling or burrowing, the wire should be one meter tall and buried 40+ cm below the soil surface. If you have only a couple plants to protect, build chicken wire cages by looping the wire into a tube shape and locking it with plastic ties, place these cages over vulnerable plants and secure them to the soil with garden stakes. Although you can never eradicate all destructive pests from your garden, with a bit of planning you can reduce the damage they cause.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rabbits-garden-pests-series