Yearly Archive March 27, 2020

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

The BC Provincial Government just updated their list of essential services and Pest Control is included as an essential service.

The BC Provincial Government just updated their list of essential services and Pest Control is included as an essential service.

Province takes unprecedented steps to support COVID-19 response. Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, is using extraordinary powers under a state of provincial emergency to keep British Columbians safe, maintain essential goods and services, and support the Province’s ongoing response to novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Businesses that support environmental management/monitoring and spill cleanup and response, including environmental consulting firms, professional engineers and geoscientists, septic haulers, well drillers, pesticides applicators and exterminators, management of industrial sewage/effluent (e.g., for mining operations) and environmental laboratories; and

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Asian Long Horned Bush Ticks

These tick adults look like most other ticks found in our wooded habitats. Unlike most other tick species, the Long Horn adult females can produce viable eggs without mating with a male tick and can produce 1,000 to 2,000 eggs at a time. So if you do the science, a host (a person or animal) could have thousands of ticks on them. They can transmit many pathogens that cause diseases to animals and people. Asian long horned ticks are found in shaded locations, as well as, in open sunny locations like lawns around homes. To avoid Asian long horned tick problems; carefully inspect pets, yourself and wear long pants, high top socks, boots, and long-sleeved shirts as well as using tick repellent.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/asian-long-horned-bush-ticks-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Hantavirus is back – Just avoid Rodents

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is spread by contact with rodents and their urine, feces or saliva, and rarely from person-to-person. Lately the news started panic that another viral pandemic is ready to make the rounds. Hantavirus has actually been around for centuries and is most prevalent in China with as many as 100,000 cases a year. Each hantavirus has a specific rodent host species and are named “New World” (North America) and “Old World” (Europe and Asia), both diseases are considered rare, but can be fatal. The rodents shed the virus in their saliva, urine and feces. People can contract the hantavirus if they touch something that has been contaminated by rodents and then touch their nose, eyes, ears or mouth.  Sanitation is key, wear gloves and use disinfection spray to clean all areas rodents have been. 

https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/hantavirus-is-ba…st-avoid-rodents/

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hantavirus-back-just-avoid-rodents-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

New Orleans is sinking – with Rats

New Orleans rodent control teams are putting poisoned rat bait into sewers and bait boxes on streets throughout the French Quarter because rat food has become scarce due to the coronavirus response. With so many restaurants closed, rats accustomed to getting food out of Smithrite garbage’s are having to forage more widely, and empty streets lined with residential garbage cans are the next source. There are pathogens in the crazy hungry rats that can cause many diseases. The poison used by the rodent control teams is bromadiolone 0.005%, a blood anticoagulant that causes organ failure in rats that have eaten it, it usually takes 5-7 days of feeding to kill off the rats. In New Orleans they have the same crepuscular rats as us here in Delta – the slim tree dwelling roof rats and larger burrowing Norway rats.     

 

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-orleans-sinking-rats-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Cotton Rats

Cotton rats are farming pests that are not usually structural pests, but they can invade buildings, especially if they find food. The cotton rat is a host for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), the plague and murine typhus. These disease can become airborne when rat droppings are disturbed and people who inhale the airborne virus can become infected.  Cotton rat infestations grow quickly due to the pests’ inexhaustible rate of reproduction and begin breeding two or three months after being born.  Females can produce as many as six young per litter and nine litters per year. The young mature in about a month. To discourage cotton rats, keep grass and weeds near all buildings mowed as short as possible.  

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

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

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Spring Gardens and Rodents

In Delta, none of our more problematic rodents hibernate. Some are less active through the colder parts of winter, but most never really stop digging up what they want from your garden. Now is the time all rodents become more active with warming weather. Cleanliness and vegetation organisation discourages some rodents by depriving them of sustenance and nesting sites. Squirrels are now digging out recently bedding plants, or eat flowers and freshly emerging foliage but most are still using up their seed and nut supplies from the previous year. As a general rule, rats are smarter than squirrels and are nearly impossible to exclude completely and safely from gardens. Rats will eat everything and anything that you plant or grow in your garden. Each type of rodent exhibits distinct characteristics and which controls one type is ineffective for another.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/spring-gardens-rodents-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Your Pet and COVID-19

  

So did this coronavirus spread from animals to humans? Well maybe, coronaviruses can be transmitted from animals to humans but it’s the bats that are the reservoir hosts for viruses which can cross species barriers to infect humans and other pets. Currently there is no indication to suggest that our pets can become ill with this virus or will become a source of infection. A quarantined dog in Hong Kong last month tested “weak positive” for the virus but did not show signs of illness, its believed it is a case of human to animal transmission. This viruses can sometimes infect a species but not cause illness and it is currently believed that pets such as cats or dogs can’t pass COVID-19 to humans. Masks made for pets may not be effective in preventing diseases transmitted by bodily fluid droplets.

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-pet-covid-19-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

Uptick in rats and mice invading Delta homes

Colder winters usually mean fewer rodents, but milder weather is allowing more mice and rats to live, and long hot summers are making textbook conditions for young mice and rats to leave the nest and breed rapidly. The summer of 2019 was the hottest on record for the North America, and the surge in mice and rat are a result of these conditions, as more rodents survived and breed quickly. Rain and a drop in temperature cause rodents to seek shelter indoors. Also, if it rains too much water floods rodent burrows. Call outs for rodents has increased by 45% this winter over last year. Prevention include: sealing gaps around the exterior of building, clean up after eating and putting food away for the night (including pet food and water), ensure kitchen waste is stored away well, reduce clutter, don’t rely on pets to catch rodents, and finally call in an expert before things get out of hand.

https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/uptick-in-rats-a…ding-delta-homes/

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/uptick-rats-mice-invading-delta-homes-randy-bilesky/?published=t

ByRandy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF

This virus making you feel more antsy?

Ants usually come indoors in search of food or nesting. Even small amounts of food, like a crumb or two on the floor, can attract masses of hardworking ants. They are nature’s clean up crew as they proficiently find and remove food left around your kitchen and pantry. Spring and summer are the months that ants are most active as the weather is warmer and as small insects they require heat to be active. In the warmer months the lack of water can drive ants indoors but heavy rains can also cause ant nests to relocate in your house, as well. They have tiny brains – smaller than a grain of salt but they use the art of cooperation to get into your home and find food. When any worker ant finds a source of food, they respond by dropping pheromones on the ground and hundreds of others then follow the trail to the food source. The first step to dealing with ants in your house is ensuring they don’t have access to food by sealing all food in airtight containers, clean behind the fridge, under the oven, do not leave pet food out longer than necessary. If your ant problem has got out of hand, contact a pest control professional.  

https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/this-virus-makin…-feel-more-antsy/

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

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/virus-making-you-feel-more-antsy-randy-bilesky/?published=t