Bug Blog
Can Cayenne pepper get rid of rodents?
Keeping your home clean by getting rid of things that attract rats and mice is the best way to deter them. Rodents are always looking for food, so make sure nothing has been spilled or made available for a hungry critter, especially under cabinets and places that are easy to hide in. Always clean up leftover food as soon as possible and sweep up crumbs on the floor. So now your house is clean and the rodents are still around, will the chemical capsicum in hot peppers deter mice and rats? First of all, capsaicin is the chemical in chili peppers that makes them spicy. Specifically, capsaicin occurs in the fruits of plants in the Capsicum family, including bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, cayenne peppers and other chili peppers. The hottest of all peppers is the Reaper chilli that is more than 850 times hotter than a jalapeno pepper. The Carolina Reaper pepper has a heat rating of 2.2 million Scoville heat units. Researcher recently added the Carolina reaper (which can bring a grown man to tears) to a mixture of bird seeds. To their surprise, the rats and mice gobbled it all up, peppers and all. So no, hot peppers do not deter rodents.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca & Exterminators Tsawwassen Ladner Delta B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/can-cayenne-pepp…t-rid-of-rodents/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-cayenne-pepper-get-rid-rodents-randy-bilesky/?published=t
https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-can-cayenne-pepper-get-rid-of-rodents-1.23500643
The Rat Patrol
For Delta residents, rats can be a threat to your property, health, sense of security and sanity. They can chew through electrical wires potentially causing be a fire, chew through plastic water pipes, drywall and destroy insulation. Rats leave behind urine and feces everywhere they go – THEY JUST CAN’T HELP IT – which can carry pathogens that may cause disease. Female rats typically having 10 litters per year, with 10 babies per litter, you can easily see that a full blown infestation isn’t hard to behind. So how can you protect your castle from these unwelcome intruders, easy – repairing, sanitizing and reporting. By repairing cracks and holes on the outside of your house, be it the foundation, the walls or roof. Also trim back any trees that are encroaching on the roof line, by 3 meters. To keep rats out of sewer pipes, keep drains covered with screens or grates. Another way to keep rats away is to remove their food sources. Pet food should not be left outdoors overnight and fruiting plants should not have ripe fruit on the ground. Garbage day is once a week so keep garbage in heavy duty bins that are well sealed. By recognizing the signs of a rat invasion and then reporting them you can help yourself from dealing with greater damage down the road. Here is what to look for to see if you have a rat problem: rat droppings in or outside of your house, evidence of gnawing on packaging or other materials, rat tracks, rat nests, scratching or scurrying sounds in the walls or ceiling, and burrows. In Delta, 85% of rats are Norway rats and these guys like to burrow.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rat-patrol-randy-bilesky/?published=t
Venomics – nature’s pesticide
Nature can play a major role in future technologies in agriculture, powerful poisons from a variety of animals and insects are a practical substitute to damaging pesticides used in agriculture. Animal venom could be nature’s own problem-solver for food security. Scientists are looking to harness venomous properties in the field of farming, using venomics. Venomics combines venom research with genomics (the branch of molecular biology concerned with the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genomes) to change the way venom is used. Researchers are looking to develop bio-insecticides using venom to kill insects naturally. Pesticides are used to protect crops from damage by insects, but these chemicals also damage the environment and human health.
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/venomics-natures-pesticide/
gogreenpestcontrol.ca & Exterminators Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/venomics-natures-pesticide-randy-bilesky/?published=t
https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-venomics-nature-s-pesticide-1.23498361
Introduction to Silverfish
November is the month of the silverfish, as we get the most call-outs for these creatures than any other month of the year. They are one of the most common household insects in homes throughout B.C. The name silverfish is somewhat misleading, as they can’t live or swim in water but they do skitter across the floor like a fish and are attracted to moisture. They feed on mold and mildew, which grows in high moisture situations, and organic matter (starches). Houses with cedar shake and shingle roofs are more prone to silverfish infestations because mold can easily form on the under sides of the shingles. These pests are frequently seen in bathrooms and will often crawl into the bathtub or sink and once there, they can’t escape because they can’t climb up the smooth porcelain sides. Silverfish are more of a nuisance than a threat yet the exoskeletons they shed can sometimes cause allergic reactions. They can damage household items including paper, books, wallpaper and bookbindings. If you spot silverfish in your home, contact the pest control professionals at gogreenpestcontrol.ca for help handling these insects.
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/introduction-to-silverfish/
gogreenpestcontrol.ca & Exterminators Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/introduction-silverfish-randy-bilesky/?published=t
https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-introduction-to-silverfish-1.23498350
Why Honey Bee Colonies are dying off
Bee populations around the world have been in decline for years now. One of the perpetrators behind this drop is neonicotinoid compounds, one of the most widely used types of insecticide. First used in the mid-1990s, they are now the most commonly-used class of insecticide. The insecticides are used in seed treatment, where high concentrations are dosed on seeds and they are then absorbed by the plants. The neonicotinoids have been shown to destroy honey bee populations by reducing colony sizes. Now, researchers have found that exposure to this pesticide causes changes in the bee’s behavior. The affected bees within the nest are less active, spend less time socializing with other bees, are less likely to feed and take care for larvae, and are found near the outside of the colony. Also it was discovered that this behaviour was more prevalent in the night time hours. They also discovered that exposure prevented the bees from building protective wax caps around their colony or warming the nest.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca & Exterminators Delta Ladner Tsawwassen B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/why-honey-bee-co…es-are-dying-off/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-honey-bee-colonies-dying-off-randy-bilesky/?published=t
https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-why-honey-bee-colonies-are-dying-off-1.23498356
Not 1, not 2 but 3 kinds of bed bugs
So if you thought that there was only one kind of bed bug out there, you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that there are actually three types of bed bugs that like people. Being able to identifying which species of bed bug actually helps to eradicate them. The three different types of bed bugs that like feeding on us humans are the Lectularius, Hemipterus, and Boueti. The first two types of bed bugs like to feed on people although the Boueti is more interested in bats but won’t so no to a human. They like to hide in and around mattresses, bed frames, headboards, cracks and crevices, sofas, carpets, and even behind walls, pictures and outlets. Not all people react to bed bug bites, but they can be identified by the red bite marks that are usually in a straight or twist and turn pattern, dark fecal spots on bed sheets, mattresses, box springs, headboards and furniture. Bat and Swallow bugs are almost indistinguishable from bed bugs leaving the same kind of bites. Again I must add that it is tempting to “do it yourself” when dealing with bed bugs but rarely can you eliminate a bed bug infestation with retail products.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/not-1-not-2-but-…inds-of-bed-bugs/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/1-2-3-kinds-bedbugs-randy-bilesky/?published=t
https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-not-1-not-2-but-3-kinds-of-bed-bugs-1.23493456
Horseplay for Rats
Similar to human teenagers, young rats like to play fight. Researchers have found that immune cells in the rat’s brains help transition the adolescent horseplay to solemn adult behavior. Young rats like to race around, jump, climb and roughhouse with their siblings. Of course this activity is actually practicing attacking and defending themselves for when they become adults. This kind of play activates dopamine which is a feel good chemical. As they get older, their brains changes and this dopamine spike disappears. The immune system works to keep the body from harm by destroying foreign bacterial and viral infections. This works by removing dead neuron nerve cells in the brain and attacking germs. Part of the process is trimming the ends of healthy neurons. Neurons are specialized cells that pass messages back and forth. As the rats age, old connections aren’t needed anymore, so they are pruned off for new ones to emerge. As the rats age to adulthood, this process stops the surge in dopamine when the rats play fight and fighting becomes a fight or flight response.
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/horseplay-for-rats
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/horseplay-rats-randy-bilesky/?published=t
https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-horseplay-for-rats-1.23490335
Rat urine – yikes
gogreenpestcontrol.ca & Exterminators Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C., Randy L. Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/rat-urine-yikes-2/
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rat-urine-yikes-randy-bilesky-1c/?published=t
Global Warning – Larger Rats in Greater Numbers
Researchers caution that global warming will certainly lead to the population of rats absolutely exploding in major cities. Scientists have shown that the likely 2 degrees of global warming to come this century will be extremely dangerous as the climate heats up, rats will breed faster. Cities spend millions of dollars to stop the breeding of rodents. If global temperatures do increase by the projected 2 ° C, then we will expect warmer winters and hotter summer months, all of which is even better for rats. Rats have a gestation period of 14 days and the babies can start reproducing after a month. This all means that in one year, one pregnant rat can result in 15,000 to 18,000 new rats. Warmer winters will continue to increase up rat fertility. In New Zealand, 2018 has been one of the hottest years in history and there has been a tenfold increase in rat populations. So is there any hope for us, well researchers propose to combat rats through genetic modification.
https://gogreenpestcontrol.ca/global-warning-l…-greater-numbers/
gogreenpestcontrol.ca Ladner Tsawwassen Delta B.C. Randy Bilesky BsF CPA RPF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/global-warning-larger-rats-greater-numbers-randy-bilesky/?published=t
https://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-global-warning-larger-rats-in-greater-numbers-1.23487651
