Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "sacramento pest services"

Summer Fun Can Come With A Sting

2010-08-07T00:41:11Z

Yellowjackets already were making headlines a month ago, even as we head into peak season for stinging insects in our Sacramento pest control region.

The San Francisco Chronicle and other NorCal newspapers reported a July 3 yellowjacket attack on more than 70 attendees of the Alameda County Fair. Apparently, the ground-dwelling yellowjackets were disturbed by a fireworks display in the fairgrounds arena. None of the victims, who ranged in age from a 6-month-old infant to a person over age 60, exhibited allergic reactions or required hospitalization, although some received multiple stings.

In the Seattle area, also over the July 4th weekend, at least five people were treated for anaphylactic shock from stings believed to be from yellowjackets in separate incidents, according to a Pierce County public health official.

A small paper in Northeastern Ohio recently published a follow-up story on a man who nearly died from stings last summer after he ran over a ground nest of yellowjackets with his lawn mower. He’s been receiving weekly doses of bee venom over the past year in attempt to build up his immunity, the Hudson Hub Times reports.

And last month in Atlanta, several police officers chasing a DUI suspect who had abandoned his vehicle following a high-speed car chase were stung and one seriously injured when they ran through a clump of kudzu, disrupting a swarm of yellowjackets.

There are two types of “social wasps” in our Sacramento pest control region: yellowjackets and paper wasps. Of the two, yellowjackets are more aggressive and dangerous to humans. Yellowjackets will attack if their nest is threatened or, less frequently, if someone tries to swat them away from a food source. Paper wasps are less defensive, less apt to sting, and shy of humans unless their nest is located near a traffic-way such as a door or gate.

Both yellowjackets and paper wasps start building their nests in early spring, when a single queen emerges from winter hibernation as the weather warms. From spring to late summer, they forage primarily for protein, usually in the form of other insects, to feed their growing colonies. Later in the summer and early fall, the colony may have grown to as many as 15,000 individuals. Large amounts of sugar are needed to feed the queens and workers, and this is when they become more troublesome to humans. It’s not uncommon for swarms of yellowjackets or wasps to aggressively forage around trash cans, dumpsters or human picnics and barbeques, where they may crawl into soda cans and sting when the unsuspecting victim takes a drink.

The most common type of yellowjacket found in our Sacramento pest control area is the ground-nesting western yellowjacket, (Vespula pensylvanica), sometimes called the “meat bee.” Other types of yellowjackets common to Northern California include Vespula vulgaris, often found in dead trees in foothill or mountain terrain, and the German yellowjacket (V. germanica), which often nests in houses in urban areas. Most types of yellowjackets have distinctive black and yellow stripes on the abdomen and have a very short narrow “waist.” Paper wasps are larger, about an inch long, usually black or brown in color with red or yellow patches, and have a long slender “waist” and long legs.

Yellowjackets may build their nests in abandoned rodent burrows or even inside the walls of houses, where a hole in the wall may result from the insects’ work to expand the next space. The nest contains rows of cells and is enclosed in a paper envelope the insect manufactures from wood fiber and saliva. Other types of yellowjackets build hanging nests beneath eaves or tree branches. Paper wasp nests, usually built under eaves or branches, also contain rows of cells but are open, with no paper covering. A nest normally contains no more than 200 individuals.

Mud daubers, which may be mistaken for yellowjackets or paper wasps, build nests out of hardened mud. Mud daubers are usually not aggressive and rarely sting.

In most cases, a single yellowjacket or wasp sting does not cause serious injury. However, in some cases people have allergic reactions that can be life-threatening—even when previous stings caused no reaction. The risk of a severe reaction increases with multiple stings.

Initial symptoms of a sting usually will be pain, redness and swelling. In more severe cases, the victim may have hives, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps or headache. Symptoms of severe allergic reaction typically occur within 30 minutes and may include shock, dizziness, unconsciousness, difficulty breathing, and swelling of the throat. Anyone exhibiting this type of allergic reaction must receive immediate emergency medical attention—call 911.

Unlike honeybees, whose barbed stingers are usually left in the victim’s skin, yellowjackets and wasps can sting repeatedly. The best thing to do if you are attacked is to leave the area.

Here are some tips to avoid stings, courtesy of University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management System:

Avoid areas where a yellowjacket or wasp nest is visible. If you do go into an area with bee or wasp activity, wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. A mosquito/gnat veil can be used to protect your head.
Avoid wearing perfume, cologne, or scented soaps in areas where there is bee and/or wasp activity.
Wear shoes when walking through vegetation, especially clover or other blooming plants.
Avoid brightly colored clothing.
If a bee or wasp lands on your arm, try to remain calm until the insect leaves, or brush it away gently and slowly with a piece of paper.
Insect repellent applied to your skin or clothing will not protect you from stinging insects.

For more information about yellowjackets, wasps and other stinging insects, feel free to call our experienced Sacramento pest control professionals at 916-457-7605 or visit our Website at http://earthguardpest.com.

Spider Bite Symptoms Can Be a Pain

2010-07-19T22:29:30Z

Spiders, long a favored subject of sci-fi movies and horror novels, seem to provoke an especially strong yuck factor in humans. Although we know on an intellectual level that they have many beneficial purposes in the eco-system, including eating other insect pests, most of us don’t want them in our kids’ bedrooms.

Now that warm weather has arrived, spiders are proliferating outdoors and often making their way into our homes.

Of the more than 50,000 species of spiders, only a relatively few of them are able to bite humans, for the simple reason that most have mouth parts too small to break human skin. Only one type of California spider, the Black Widow, is considered to be a serious medical danger, particularly to small children, elderly or frail adults. (See our Sacramento Press article, “Why Spiders Don’t Make Good House Guests,” for more information about Black Widow spiders.) Even at that, it has been more than 10 years since anyone died from a Black Widow bite, largely because effective treatments have been developed.

A few years back, we heard a lot in the news about brown recluse spider bites, whose bite can be fatal or create serious, debilitating injuries. Brown recluse spiders are found in the Southern United States and do not live in California, although there are occasional reports of one having hitched a ride on a moving van and showing up here. A cousin of the brown recluse, the South American native Loxosceles laeta, has been spotted in Los Angeles County. Another cousin, the Lososceles deserta, or desert recluse, is found as far north as Merced and Fresno counties, but not in our Sacramento pest control region.

One source of confusion is that it can be hard to distinguish one type of spider from another. Even the distinctive shiny black of the Black Widow can vary, and immature females may have lighter brownish and variegated markings.

A number of spiders that are sometimes found in or around our homes may be mistaken for a brown recluse. And while their bites are not nearly as serious as that of the brown recluse, they can leave a painful wound that resembles a brown recluse bite as well as other symptoms. These include the running spider, jumping spider, wolf spider (shown above), tarantula, sac spider, orbweaver spider and hobo spider, also known as the northwestern brown spider.

The household spiders most commonly encountered by our Sacramento pest control technicians are the yellow sac spider and the hobo spider. In fact, although its bite is not fatal, the yellow sac spider is believed to be responsible for more human bites than any other species.

Symptoms of a spider bite may include pain and burning at the site of the bite, a circle of pale skin surrounding the red center of the bite, which may form a blister or ulcer and burst. Care should be taken to keep the bite clean and disinfected; seek medical attention immediately if infection sets in. In some cases, the victim may develop a red, itchy rash within the first three days, muscle and joint pain, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headache, nausea and vomiting. Hobo spider bites, in particular, may cause a painful, open wound that is slow to heal and is frequently misidentified as a brown recluse bite. See your doctor if the bite becomes infected or healing is delayed. Wolf spider bites can result in blackening of the skin in the bite area, and pain and swelling may persist for 10 days or longer. In most cases, symptoms of a spider bite will go away without treatment within a week to 10 days.

The best way to determine the type of bite is to trap the critter who did it, if you can do so safely, or collect it in a plastic bag if it has been killed, and take it to a pest control professional or University extension facility for identification. But many times, the victim doesn’t even know he or she has been bitten until a sting is felt or other symptoms develop. Stings or bites from other insects, poison oak or staph infections are often mistaken for spider bites. In cases where the bite is believed to be from a Black Widow or brown recluse spider, seek medical help immediately.

Here is some additional advice for treatment of spider bites from the California Poison Control System:

Wash the site of the spider bite well with soap and water.
Apply a cool compress or ice pack over the spider bite location.
Over-the-counter pain relievers may be used to relieve symptoms. (Remember, do not give aspirin to children; use acetaminophen or ibuprofen instead).
Call the doctor or seek emergency treatment if the victim is a young child, if you think the bite may have been from a black widow or brown recluse spider, if any signs of an allergic reaction occur, if the bite area becomes infected, or if the victim develops a rash or severe illness.
If possible, retrieve the spider and bring it with you to the health care practitioner so that it can be definitively identified.
A tetanus booster shot may be necessary, depending upon the date of the patient's last immunization.

Remember, it is difficult to control spiders with over-the-counter pesticides. Reducing clutter, de-webbing, cleaning in corners and sealing cracks and crevices where spiders can get in may help. If you need help identifying or controlling spiders in your home or place of business, call our trained Sacramento pest control professionals at 916-457-7605 or visit our Website at http://earthguardpest.com.

Tiny mice create big problems when winter weather drives them indoors

2009-11-29T02:29:46Z

They may be smaller and, some say, cuter, but in terms of pest control, mice are a more prevalent, more damaging and tougher problem than their two rodent cousins, rattus rattus (roof rats) and Rattus norvegicus (Norway rats). And as our Northern California winter grows colder and wetter, mice are more likely to set up housekeeping in our cozy homes and businesses.

The mice we see most often in our Sacramento pest control business are the house mouse (Mus musculus). Two other types of mouse, the deer mouse and the white-footed mouse, also may invade human dwellings but are most often found in cabins and homes in remote or rural areas.

The house mouse can be easily distinguished from deer and white-footed mice by its uniform gray or light brown coloration and a nearly hairless tail. In comparison, the other two species are darker on top with light-colored bellies and tails that likewise are covered with dark fur on top, lighter fur on bottom. House mice weigh about half an ounce and are 5 to 7 inches in length, including their 3- to 4-inch tails.

One reason mice present such a tough pest control problem is their small size. They need only a quarter-inch gap to gain entry into a building and require only minute amounts of food and water to survive. As a result mouse infestations are much more common and difficult to control than rat infestations—and every bit as hazardous to health and property.
Mice eat and contaminate human and pet foods, preferring grains but apparently willing to nibble on almost anything. One of our Sacramento pest control customers discovered a nest of mice in a trunk where she stored historic family documents, vintage clothing and other mementoes. Not only did she find the remains of precious keepsakes shredded in a pile, she found dry dog food nuggets the mice apparently had confiscated from her pet’s dish and tucked away for safe-keeping.

Mice transmit diseases such as salmonellosis (food poisoning) and can cause significant property damage, chewing through electrical wires, shredding insulation and gnawing woodwork.

Often people discover a mouse problem when they find tiny black droppings or notice the corner of a cracker box or bag of chips has been gnawed away. Mice also have a distinctive musky smell that may be noticeable. They are most active at night, can run straight up vertical walls and jump a foot off the ground. They reproduce rapidly, bearing as many as 10 litters of 5 or 6 pups per year; their life span is approximately one year.

The most effective ways to prevent mice are to keep all foodstuffs tightly sealed in glass or metal containers, to avoid leaving pet food out, keep all trash containers tightly sealed and to seal all gaps and crevices where mice can come in from outside, such as along pipes and wiring conduit. Self-installed metal barriers, such as tin can lids and steel wool, are effective barriers to gnawing but usually don’t provide long-term protection.

Apartment buildings are especially notorious for mouse infestations, in part because mice are able to move easily from apartment to apartment along pipes and conduits and because it is difficult to ensure adherence to pest control measures by all tenants.

Once there is an established infestation in a home or business, it is almost always necessary to use mouse traps or poison bait to eliminate the mice. Baits are dangerous and must be kept inaccessible to children and pets. Electronic devices that emit a high-frequency sound, though widely advertised, are generally ineffective in preventing mice. A good feline or canine “mouser” may help control the mouse population or discourage mice from moving in, but will generally not be able to completely eliminate mice once a site is infested.

To read more about house mice and other rodents and household pests, visit http://www.earthguardpest.com/blog.