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.  

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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.

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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.

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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/

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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/

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The first rodenticides were short-acting anticoagulants like warfarin , which caused death from internal bleeding but rodents became resistance, so companies developed longer-acting, more toxic anticoagulants such as brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum and difethialone. These products are still available yet their use is restricted. Now even more effective rodenticides have been developed such as bromethalin, cholecalciferol and zinc phosphide. Bromethalin targets the central nervous system, causing tremors, loss of coordination, seizures, paralysis and death. Cholecalciferol is actually vitamin D3, which increases calcium levels in the blood and high levels cause heart problems, kidney failure and death. Zinc phosphide is converted in the body to highly toxic phosphine gas, which smells like rotten garlic or dead fish.  

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The group of the newly recognized group of viruses, the coronaviruses, include avian virus, the mouse hepatitis virus, and a number of virus strains of man. A naturally occurring virus, it is isolated to the lungs of rats and is rampant in colony of wild rats, resulting in fatal pneumonia in baby rats. Infection of rat coronavirus is serious and self-limiting, but there is no eradication or control of the virus, and rats are immune to reinfection. The rat coronavirus (RCV), shows signs of the coronavirus group: respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

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We have two skunks in BC the most common is the striped skunk and then western spotted skunk. Skunks can be beneficial to our ecosystems, but whether you love them or hate them we’ve all run into them at one point or another be it their smell. Skunks have two glands, one on each side of the rear. These glands produce the skunk’s spray, which is a mixture of sulfur-containing chemicals such as  mercaptans, which have an offensive odor. A skunk’s spray is powerful enough to ward off bears and other potential attackers. Finally, a new molecule dubbed “pericosine” bonds with the odorous compounds sprayed by skunks and neutralizes the smell, it is produced inside a fungus. Skunks have become habituated to humans and adapt to living among humans, digging up and destroying gardens and lawns, scatter garbage, and feed on pet food left outside or bird seed. The key to getting rid of skunks is eliminating those things attracting them to your yard in the first place, food and dens.

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Researchers have found that humans and rats are now susceptible to comparable health threats relating to contamination and sugary foods. Rats and humans have changed in their genetic make-up in response to city life. Rats genes have had key changes in DNA over hundreds of years as the species moved across Asia and eventually to Canada. The change in genes are a result of the need for the rats to adapt in order to live together with humans. One of the genes changes is a result of the rats need to move through sewers and pipes more easily. As a result of hundreds of years of changes in the rats diet has also changed their DNA.   

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It is estimated that 25% of all houses in the lower mainland have silverfish and these nocturnal devils are hard to spot. Female silverfish lay their eggs in hidden places and they hatch in about 40 days, mature in three months and become fully development into adults within two years. Baby silverfish are about 2 mm long, white in color without scales, which develop after several months. Silverfish molt many times feeding on starchy and high-protein substances. The insects mature quicker and live longer in warm humid temperatures. Humidity control will help keep these insects out of homes.  

• Published on March 9, 2020
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Status is onlineRandy BileskyPresident at Go Green961 articles

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