Warmer winters allow rats to breed into the previously too-cold months. Climate change is what is making rats tougher, meatier, bigger and more present. Its a losing battle, experts now say climate change might be giving rats the competitive edge they need to thrive. Most rats breed all year, they usually slow down during around Christmas time, but climate change is turning winters warmer, stimulating rats to get frisky. Normally it doesn’t make any sense to keep turning out babies in the winter — food is infrequent, temperatures are colder, and that threatens babies -rats pretty much shut down production when winter is coming. But warmer winters allows rats another litter or two in the off-season. Temperature is just one factor in rat reproduction as there are no technical studies ultimately connecting upsurges in rat populations with climate change but with the last four warmest years on record this is our new normal.
The most familiar wasps we encounter live in large cooperative nests, like bald-faced hornets, yellowjackets and other wasps yet the majority of wasp species are solitary and focused only on their own offspring. But the majority of wasps we encounter, the spring process begins with a fertilized wasp queen arising from hibernation and begins a nest by producing worker wasps – of which are all females. The wasp workforce continue to grow the size of the nest by breaking down the walls and rebuilding larger new walls while the queen continues to lays more eggs. In late summer the queen will lay male and queen eggs. By the fall, thousands of wasps begin to die of except for the newly fertilised queens that find a place to shelter for hibernation until the following spring where the process begins again. Interestingly, bee venom is acidic and wasp venom is alkaline, so people will respond differently to their stings; people that have anaphylactic reactions to one and not to the other. Wasps and bees produce an attack pheromone that causes an attack frenzy, what ever the pheromone is on may get repeated stung. Solitary wasps only sting when manually provoked and their venom typically causes only short-lived pain.
House flies are major carriers of disease transferring ailments, including food poisoning, typhoid, tuberculosis, cholera and dysentery that can be harmful to both humans and pets. They breed and feed in filth, including garbage, feces, human food, animal food and carcasses, garbage, excrement and rotting food. House flies pick up bacteria, fungi, and viruses and then spread these pathogens by contaminating food and water. The average life span for a house fly is less than one month. House fly eggs are laid in warm, moist material that will supply suitable food for the larvae. The female lays six batches 100 eggs. In warm weather, eggs hatch in about one day.
The colonial aphid fixes its house in a stunningly fatal fashion – they will fix a hole in its nest by exploding and the result is coating its bodily fluids over the openings. These aphids live in hollow spheres called galls in Japanese trees. They divide their labor into adult reproducers, workers and soldiers. If a moth caterpillars attacks their home the soldiers will defend by stabbing the intruders to death, using the piercing mouthparts, but after the attack there maybe several gaping holes that need to be repaired. Hundreds of soldiers will gather around the a holes and violently eruption and within a hour will harden and seal the gaps. It has been discovered that as their bodily fluids rupture, hemocytes or fats quickly form a plug or clotting the house. This kind of suicidal unselfishness is called autothysis.
Factors include everything from open compost piles and bird feeders to displacement by development Sandor Gyarmati / Delta Optimist APRIL 12, 2019 08:05 AM rats Residents can undertake a number of measures to prevent rats from seeking shelter inside their homes.
The sight or sound of them scurrying about, especially inside homes, is enough to send a shiver down most people’s spines.
Wherever you have people, there are always going to be rats, sometimes lots of them, and here in Delta there seems to be more lately.
That’s what South Delta-based Go Green Pest Control owner Randy Bilesky has observed over the past few years, saying factors such as climate change and rodents being displaced due to development are resulting in a sharp increase in his call volumes.
“From my perspective, it’s getting worse every year. Hotter, drier summers are good for the rodents, for the rats, and the biggest thing I’ve found is a lot of land has been cleared and all the raptors have taken off. You see a lot of them at the dump area now, while rats are heading into Ladner and Tsawwassen, into the city,” said Bilesky.
He said he did about 250 rat jobs in the area last year.
“Rats are nocturnal, so they are typically going into the house or underneath at nighttime and that’s when people hear that scurrying, that scratching noise. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Norway rat or roof rat, they all like being in the roof because it’s got insulation, it’s warm and it’s secure.”
“If your car sits in the same place for days, it’s a perfect place for them to go and be undisturbed,” he said. “A truck that we had in recently even had a live rat in it.”
The problem has reportedly been so pronounced in the City of Vancouver that the Vancouver Rat Project was initiated.
Bilesky has a lengthy checklist of what homeowners can do to discourage rats, which can not only climb but have an uncanny ability of squeezing into small spaces, from making their way inside. He suggests pruning trees or shrubs near the side of homes as branches can act as an escalator for rats that love attics and crawlspaces.
bilesky
Go Green Pest Control owner Randy Bilesky said he did about 250 rat jobs in the area last year. – photo by Sandor Gyarmati
Also, the disease-carrying rodents can scale brick chimneys, while gaps between soffits and rooflines can be an open invitation as well.
On the ground level, galvanized mesh, as long as it’s the proper size, can be effective around the foundation. Leaving piles of wood, especially right next to a house, and having bird feeders can also attract the unwanted pests.
A few of the other recommendations when it comes to rats include storing compost kitchen waste only in sturdy, closed bins and not putting meat scraps or bones in the bins, storing outdoor garbage in tightly-closed containers, making sure that bird feeders are away from buildings and seeds don’t spill on the ground, and repairing any leaky plumbing.
The rats that reside in Delta for the most part are Norway rats, thanks Norway. These rats hitched a ride to the Americas on ships in the 18th century. So why do me loathe them, well it all goes back to the great plague, that killed some 25 million people in the 14th century. But, even before that when we were living in caves with the Flintstones, these beasts would scurvy into our caves with their tails dragging behind them (probably had spikes on their tails back then) and bite us to see if we were alive or dead pickings -we learned very early on to be fearful. These rodents still carry dreaded diseases like Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome, Lassa Fever, Leptospirosis, Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis (LCM), Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever, Rat-Bite Fever, Salmonellosis and finally Tularemia . So is there anything about a rat to like? Domestic pet rats are smart as they learn and remember quickly and we do use these animals to test our pharmaceuticals. So do we try to get rid of rats completely, well no, with our luck something even worst will replace the rats – like raccoons.
Now that we are weeks into spring and the rain has forgotten to leave, perhaps we should address Delta’s rat issues – or lack of. A US based pest control, ha-ha, has deemed Delta to be the 11th worst rat infested cities in B.C. Now their statistics, presumable based on the number of calls they receive about rats (or lack of in Delta), and an advertising ploy to get their name into more homes, are merely a fiction of some marketing employee who makes up list and publishes them on their website. The media eats this up and the marketing employee gets to work another year. The truth is, Delta does have a rat epidemic which should put Delta right up there with Vancouver as one of the worst rat infested cities and it only continues to get worst yearly. Year over year, Go green Pest Control has received 4 times the number of call outs for rats in Delta. So here are a few rat prevention tips to keep the rats away. Seal all cracks, crevices and holes in your houses siding and foundation. Trim all shrubs and trees at least 6 feet back from your house or garage. Remove all clutter and debris from the base of your house.
As the season for spring cleaning, gardening, lawn cutting and general maintenance is in full swing there is always a chance that you may find baby wild animals in a shed or garage. Because these places usually are not to active over the winter, females might decide that your shed, garage or attic may be the perfect place to have her little ones. So if you find a nest of animals living in your shed or garage, it’s best to leave them there until they leave on their own. Don’t assume the baby animals have been abandoned if they are discover on their own. Mothers will often leave babies while they go foraging for hours at a time, depending on the species. If leaving them be for a few weeks isn’t an option, then you may need to set up a similar spot nearby for the mother to rebuild her nest and move her young.
No they are not super hero’s or villains but they are both parasitic creatures that live on hosts much larger than themselves. Ticks and fleas feed on the blood of their preferred hosts and spread a variety of diseases. Although neither choose us as their prime hosts, both parasites will bite and feed on humans if given the opportunity. Ticks are arachnids that have four pairs of legs although they only gain their fourth pair after molting. Ticks tend to live within the environment of their preferred hosts – be it a forest, grasslands or your home. Fleas have six legs and although some people believe that they can fly – they do not have wings. Because fleas have slim bodies and freakishly long legs they do posses striking jumping skills and uncanny abilities to move through dense fur or hair rather rapidly. Some species of fleas are found mainly in households.
Bottle flies or blow flies, are the large flies we see in Delta that are a metallic blue or green in color. The adult fly’s are usually seen flying around their food or odorous areas and are typically found outdoors. If you see quite a few indoors there is a good chance that they have established a breeding site. To eradicate bottle flies, it is vital to device strict hygiene procedures, which may include cleaning garbage bins and making sure garbage bin lids are sealed tight. Bottle flies like to congregate around decaying flesh, feces, garbage. A single female fly can lay over 2,500 eggs in it life. The larvae usually hatch within a week and in about two weeks develop into adult flies. Bottle flies breed in damp organic matter.
