Bug Blog

Often I encounter rat infestations where the rats have gotten into a house and totally run amuck. People are usually worried about the feces they leave behind but rat urine can be equally as dangerous as the diseases in feces. When people come into contact with rat urine there is always the chance that they may pick up Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can become a life-and-death issue. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease spread in rat urine, not mice. Although some people who become infected with leptospirosis suffer no symptoms, others experience all kinds of symptoms, including: fever, headache, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, yellow skin and eyes, abdominal pain and rashes. The illness usually lasts from a couple days to 3 weeks or longer. Without treatment, recovery may take several months or in some cases become life-threatening through acute kidney and liver failure. It is advised people avoid contact with rats or places where rats might have urinated. If someone comes in contact with areas where rats might live, wash your hands with soap and water afterward. Call a pro – go green pest control Delta.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky

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

http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-rat-urine-yikes-1.23205856

Yes every year we wait for the arrival of the odorous ants to appear. Late winter they magically appear almost every year in the beginning of March. The most distinguishable feature of this ant is their smell, once crushed they give off a distinctive unpleasant lemony or awful coconut smell. Similar to Pharaoh’s ants, these ants build nests in wall crevices, near heaters, water pipes, under carpets, under floors and panels. Kitchens, pantries and cupboards are their favorite nesting locations as long as there is a source of moisture close, usually near a leaky pipe (under sinks). They will consume all sugar and protein based foods, dairy, vegetables and fruits. These are one of the few ants that we have that actually bite (again similar to Pharaoh’s ants). As usual, most people will try to eliminate these guys with all the retail store ammunition that they can get their hands on, but applying liquid and aerosol pesticides often create more problems. Once the queen(s) detect danger they scatter up and down walls creating more nesting sites, this is called budding. Once summer has set in, winged male and female reproductives are produced. These flying ants swarm out of the nest, mate and the fertilized female begins the new colony. Before you attempt to get rid of an Odorous ant infestation, fire over an email to me at gogreenpestcontrol.ca @gmail.com and I can walk you through the steps.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. randy Bilesky

Ants attack and defend themselves by biting, stinging and injecting or spraying chemicals, such as acid, alkaloids and piperidines.  When some species of ant go to war, the oldest soldiers fight on the front lines, these frontline soldiers (females first) are really just cannon fodder as they are closer to death (just too old) anyway. The older soldiers (all sterile) ants actually blocked the nest opening with their huge jaws against approaching invading ants and get picked away one by one. As the ants age their tasks as soldiers switch to more dangerous ones as the younger soldiers take less defensive positions within the nest becoming the royal guards, protecting the queen. The younger soldiers are inclined to choose inner nest defence, a much less risky positioning than defending the nest entrance. It was found that the older soldiers were not actually more or less effective at nest defence, so their age rather than their military experience promoted to the front. In nature, the young survive allowing them to promote their lifetime involvement to the nests success.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ant-wars-royal-guards-become-frontline-fodder-randy-bilesky/?published=t

http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-ant-wars-royal-guards-become-front-line-fodder-1.23197370

The housefly is the most common insect we encounter. Other than being a nuisance to us, they can be a huge concern due to the impact they can have on consumer health. Their breeding, feeding and how they get around are quite different from most insects we encounter. Houseflies benefit ecologically from their association with us and our domesticated animals. As humans exploring new lands by boats, ships and finally aircraft, house flies have always traveled with us. Strangely, house flies are rarely found in places where humans are absent. Here are a few facts on flies you may want to be aware of.

1. Houseflies poop a lot, in fact almost every time they land. So next time one lands on your food you could swat away the food with the fly, think Salmonella and E.coli.
2. They are relatively young insects in the world only 70 million years vs other insects that have been around for 250 million years.
3. Houseflies multiply quickly, one pair of flies could (if conditions where just right) produce 200 quintillion (200,000,000,000,000,000,000) offspring in 5 months’ time.
4. Houseflies don’t travel very far, and aren’t very fast (about 7 km per hour).
5. Houseflies taste with all 6 feet (just think of what they like to land on).
6. They can see behind themselves because of their large compound eyes, made up of thousands of individual visual receptors.
7. Houseflies slurp up their food, first they regurgitate digestive juices onto solid foods and once the food solitaries they drink it up.
8. A male house flies has a ‘love spot’ on its eyes. It used to detect and chase down female flies.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/common-housefly-did-you-know-randy-bilesky/?published=t

The second leading cause of death of raccoons is distemper (the #1 is human intervention). Raccoons are susceptible to infection by both canine and feline distemper which causes the illness and death by two completely different viruses. Canine distemper is common when raccoon populations are large. The virus is widespread and mortality in juveniles is higher than in adults. Feline distemper (cat fever) is an acute, highly infectious viral disease. Canine distemper in raccoons starts slowly, with respiratory infections then they develop pneumonia. In the final stage of the disease, the raccoon may begin to wander aimlessly in a circle with bizarre behaviour as a result of brain damage. Many of these symptoms are similar to rabies – which can only be determined by laboratory testing. There is no treatment for distemper and vaccination is the only prevention. Raccoon rabies is a strain of rabies carried mainly by raccoons which can spread to pets and people. An infected raccoon will show signs of aggression, lethargy (slow, disoriented or confused), unaware of noises, loss of leg function due to paralysis, and have trouble drinking, swallowing, or chewing. There is no treatment for animals infected with rabies – only death.

gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/raccoons-distemper-rabies-randy-bilesky/?published=t

http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-raccoons-distemper-and-rabies-1.23186357