Earth Guard's Blog

Yellowjackets are already making the headlines this year, even though it’s early in the season. 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.

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 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, 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 with uninvited spiders in your home or place of business, call our trained Sacramento pest control professionals at 916-457-7605 for a same-day inspection, free estimate and information about our integrated pest management services.

Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are once again a problem in the United States, around the world—and even in Sacramento—a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.

Bed bugs were seemingly eradicated in the United States and much of the rest of the world back in the 1940s, largely due to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT.  Use of DDT was banned in the United States in 1971, and later in the rest of the world, due to environmental and health concerns. The resurgence of bedbugs has been attributed in part to the ban on DDT, to increased global travel, and to the possibility that the insects have developed resistance to pesticides. Increased use of baits to control insect infestations, which results in less pesticide residue, and the use of very targeted insecticides—both mainstays of modern integrated pest management methods—may also be contributing to the bed bug problem.

Whatever the reason, there has been a 71% increase in reports of bed bugs since 2001, according to the National Pest Management Association (NPMA). The problem has become so serious that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has included research into prevention and treatment of bed bug infestations in its Healthy Homes Strategic Plan (www.hud.gov/healthyhomes).

Bed bugs have been known at least since the 1700s in Jamaica and are believed to have been transported to the United States by European colonists. Although they thrive in crowded and cluttered conditions, which give them lots of hiding places close to the humans they feed upon, bed bugs don’t discriminate between clean and dirty environments. “The cleanest living area can have a very large infestation, and improving sanitation alone will not eliminate an established bed bug population…,” said Dr. Harold Harlan, a former career bug expert for the military in a recent MSNBC interview. “Almost anyone is at risk of having an infestation if bed bugs are brought into their home.”

Bed bugs can be brought into your home from hotels, theaters, even public transportation. They are nocturnal, typically active after midnight into the early morning hours. Flat and brown and about the size and shape of an apple seed, they hide in the tiniest of cracks and crevices, usually near where their human hosts sleep. Check for brownish stains or black specks in the seams of mattresses and behind bed headboards.

Although bed bugs do harbor germs that can make humans sick, there is no evidence anyone has ever become ill as a result of bed bug bites. However, their bites often cause a red rash or welts, and some people who are especially sensitive may have serious allergic reactions.

As the bed bug population continues to explode, scientists and pest control experts are focusing on the biology and habits of these distasteful pests. A recent article by leading pest control industry publication PCT Magazine reported on a fascinating three-year scientific study of bed bugs in a high-rise apartment building in Indiana. Using interceptors, or traps, the scientists learned, among other things, that the bugs spread from one apartment to another by simply walking out the front door and down the hall to the next apartment.

For more information about bed bugs, see our December article, or call our office, 916-457-7605, to speak with one of our trained pest control professionals.

We’re still getting calls about ants with every shower. This great article about a 2001 Stanford study of 69 California households explains that bug spray and ant baits simply won’t stop them. The culprit is weather: The study concludes that ant “abundance is highest in winter when the weather is cold and wet, and there is a second, smaller peak in the hotter, drier part of summer.”

 The article goes on to discuss the ecological impact of the Argentine ant that has successfully invaded California. Among other impacts, the Argentine ant has decimated native ants that are a food source for the native horned lizard found in the San Diego area. The Argentine ants are so successful in part because they do not fight among their own species but rather treat other Argentine colonies as part of their extended family. Hmm, maybe a lesson there for our human species…

Rat and mice infestations continue to be a huge problem here in Northern California and throughout our Sacramento pest control region, due in large part to our recent mild winters and all the rainy, cold weather we’ve been having. In fact, there was an article in today’s Sacramento Bee about mice infestations plaguing our region. But rodent problems are not limited to our neighborhood. Here’s an article about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s seizure of 1,500 cases of food stored in a Wisconsin warehouse due to rodent infestation—include gnawing of human and animal food packages. http://www.pctonline.com/FDA-seize-warehouse.aspx

Calls have been pouring into our Sacramento pest control office, with homeowners and business owners reporting that, suddenly, rats have moved into their attics and garages.

 Now rat problems always grow worse during our chilly, rainy Sacramento winters, because, like us, the rats are looking for a cozy, dry place indoors where they can build nests and have babies… lots and lots of babies—three to five litters per year, and as many as eight rat pups per litter!

 But this year we’re seeing something a little different: The rats our expert pest control technicians are pulling out of the traps they place are huge… some of them nearly a foot-and-a-half long, measuring both body and tail.

What could be creating this bumper crop of plus-size rats? People pouring multi-vitamins down the kitchen sink? Radiation from so many people constantly using their cell phones?

 No, far from being a plot line from an upcoming sci-fi movie, the fat and happy rats we’re seeing are simply the products of a series of fairly mild winters in the Sacramento region. Whereas in a normal winter, a large proportion of rats naturally succumb to cold, exposure and scarcity of food, in a mild winter, more rats live to see the spring. A rat whose normal life span might be two years may live to be three, growing correspondingly larger with age. Foods that rats like, such as seeds and grains, are more abundant during mild years, so the surviving rats get plenty to eat.

There are numerous examples of mild winters leading to a boom in rat populations. In 2002, the city of Boston was overrun with rats; thanks to a series of mild New England winters, instead of some 30 percent of rats dying off in frigid cold, only about 5 percent succumbed, according to the Boston Phoenix newspaper (http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/top/features/documents/02194425.htm).

A 2009 article in the UK Guardian newspaper reports the worst rat infestation in 30 years, due to a run of mild winters, and warns consumers that the overpopulation of rats, combined with a bumper wheat crop could increase the danger of rodent droppings in whole-grain breads. Foods made with whole grain flour were more susceptible to rat droppings, the article stated, because they are less processed than goods made with white flour.

 Perhaps the most amusing—if alarming—example of rats gone wild was the 2002 Los Angeles Times article reporting that rats seemed drawn to the lifestyles of the rich and famous. One well-to-do Beverly Hills doctor and his party guests were horrified to discover three rats helping themselves to his outdoor buffet. Just a few days later, on a warm Saturday afternoon, the physician found five rats swimming in his marble pool. The culprit: several mild Southern California winters in a row, coupled with near-drought conditions (similar to recent climate conditions in our Sacramento region) that drove the rats from fields and vacant lots into the lush, well-watered gardens and patios of upscale L.A. (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/us/up-down-in-and-out-in-beverly-hills-rats.html?pagewanted=1)

While such tales may make us laugh, the fact is that rats pose a danger to our homes, families and businesses and to the public health. In addition to carrying diseases and contaminating foodstuffs, rats pose a fire hazard due to their constant gnawing.

Because their four long incisor teeth grow very rapidly and continually throughout the rats’ lifespan, they must constantly gnaw to keep the teeth worn down (http://www.ratbehavior.org/Teeth.htm). If they were to stop, their long, sharp front teeth would grow in spirals and impale them. Among rats’ favorite teething toys appear to be electrical wires, telephone wires, satellite and cable TV wiring and alarm-system wires—at best a nuisance or a repair bill, at worst a fire that destroys a home or place of business.

Rat infestations are a stubborn pest control problem best left to licensed and trained pest control professionals. To learn more about rats and other rodents and how to prevent infestations, read our earlier blog post at http://earthguardpest.com/blog/?p=21 or give us a call at 916-457-7605!

“Nighty-night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” When I was a child, I’d hear that affectionate bedtime tease from an older person once in a while. But never did I see a bed bug in the flesh, and for a long time I thought bed bugs were just make-believe, like the boogie man or the monster under the bed.

But as a grownup and owner of a Sacramento pest control company, I now know bed bugs do indeed exist. Practically unheard of when I was a kid, bed bug infestations have become increasingly common in the United States since the 1980s, likely as a result of increased global travel and trade, changes in available pesticides and possibly pesticide resistance. Once associated with crowded, deteriorated housing conditions, bed bugs infestations in the finest hotels have made recent headlines.

Whatever the reason for their resurgence, bed bug infestations are difficult to treat and exceptionally easy to transmit to other locations.

Bed bugs are widespread in temperate climates, most commonly in North America, Europe and Central Asia. The most common bed bug species in California is Cimex lectularius, an oval-shaped, reddish-brown insect, about one-fifth inch long, with a pyramid-shaped head. Female bed bugs lay 200 to 500 white eggs in small clusters of 10 to 50, affixed to rough surfaces like paper or wood by a white sticky coating and not generally visible to the naked eye. Often the egg shells remain in place after the bugs have hatched. During daylight hours, bed bugs hide in cracks and crevices behind headboards, under loose wallpaper and in seams of mattresses, usually not more than a few feet away from a bed and their night-time food source—you!

Bed bugs go through five nymph stages before they reach adulthood, and must take a blood meal at each stage before molting to the next stage. The life cycle may take up to four months, depending on room temperature and access to food. Bed bugs typically live six months to a year, and adults can live for a year or more without feeding.

Although bed bugs can feed on rodents or birds, their optimal food source is humans. At night, they are attracted to the warm bodies of their sleeping food sources, puncturing the skin, and feeding for five to 10 minutes until engorged. Usually the victim sleeps through the pinprick bite, not realizing he or she has been bitten until the next morning. Saliva secreted by the bed bug may cause itchy red welts and in some cases more severe allergic reactions. The only way to know the bite is from a bed bug rather than a mosquito or spider is to find evidence of a bed bug infestation.

Although there is not hard scientific evidence that bed bugs transmit diseases to humans, older scientific literature associated bed bugs with such diseases as tuberculosis, smallpox and plague. Recent studies indicate that while the bugs do indeed ingest disease germs from humans, they do not replicate or transmit the germs back to humans.

Adult bed bugs and clusters of the lighter-colored nymphs are visible to the naked eye, but because they hide so well, it usually takes a thorough inspection to spot them. Since bed bugs are almost always found near a bed, start by checking mattress seams, box springs, head boards and bed frames. They also leave tiny, dark-red fecal stains and shed skins that are sometimes easier to spot than the insects themselves. They have stink glands, and you may notice a strong, rotten meat smell where there is a heavy infestation.

Bed bugs are great travelers, and you may inadvertently bring them home in luggage or packages, from hotels, movie theaters, and bus or train seats. If your holiday plans include travel, whether you’re staying at a 5-star hotel or a roadside inn, a good rule of thumb is to leave your bags at the door of your room, pull up the bedding and check the mattress seams and surrounding nooks and crannies for any sign of these unwelcome occupants—before you start unpacking.

Eliminating bed bugs is time- and labor-intensive. Pesticide treatment must be coupled with thorough steam cleaning, vacuuming, washing of bedding in hot water, sealing up hiding places, and ongoing monitoring of the affected areas. Over-the-counter chemicals are less effective in field tests, and the most effective pesticides for use on bed bugs must be applied by licensed pest control professionals.

To read more about bed bugs and other pest control and environmental issues, visit my blog at http://earthguard.com/blog.

For more detailed info about bed bugs, try these excellent sources of information:

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7454.html

http://www.pctonline.com/Article.aspx?article_id=37351

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 and how our Sacramento pest control professsionals can help, visit http://www.earthguardpest.com.

Sometimes visitors to our Sacramento pest control company Website are surprised to find pigeons on our list of household pests. The fact is, if your home or commercial building ever becomes a popular roosting spot for these ubiquitous city- and suburban-dwellers, you have a pest problem that can encompass health hazards, safety hazards and property damage, to say nothing of an unsightly mess.

What we Americans call pigeons are rock doves that were domesticated and imported to North America from England and Europe in the 1800s. Over time, many of them escaped to produce large feral populations, and today their range covers much of the continent, including the U.S., southern Canada and Mexico, as well as Hawaii. In Los Angeles County, there is a population of native Band-Tail Pigeons; however, they live mostly in the foothills and do not usually inhabit urban areas. The pigeons that live in our cities and roost on our roofs are a non-native, invasive species.

Pigeons are comfortable with humans and are not easily scared away or deterred. Our houses and public buildings often have architectural features such as eaves, cupolas and drain spouts that make ideal nesting sites for a bird that in its native habitat would nest in the cavities and hollows of steep rock cliffs.

Pigeons have thrived so well in the wild in part because they are prolific breeders, hatching several broods a year and sometimes laying a new clutch of eggs before the previous batch of fledglings has left the nest.

Pigeons are creatures of habit and highly social. Once they home in on easy food sources and comfortable nesting and roosting sites, they will return again and again, along with a few hundred of their closest friends and relatives. Unfortunately, they make unsanitary, unhealthful and destructive neighbors.

Pigeon droppings not only look and smell terrible, they damage buildings, statues, equipment and other outdoor structures, kill landscape plants and attract flies. Pigeon droppings, especially when dry and airborne, can expose humans to several diseases, including aspergillosis, candidiasis, encephalitis, histoplasmosis, Newcastle disease, ornithosis, salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis, and cryptococcosis and coccidiodomycosis, which cause meningitis.

Pigeons carry parasites, including mites, fleas, ticks that are dangerous to humans and domestic animals. Pigeons may also encourage other pests, such as rats, which feed on dead pigeons and the food sometimes scattered for pigeons by well intentioned bird-lovers. Wheeling in large flocks, pigeons pose a hazard to planes in airport settings, and often outcompete our native birds for food and habitat.

Pigeons are not protected under federal law, but many local governments do have laws regulating pigeon deterrence or removal. Domesticated homing or hobby pigeons should be identifiable by a band on one leg, and in many areas it is a misdemeanor offense to harm or kill them. 

Once a flock of pigeons has made itself at home on your house or commercial building, it can be stubbornly resistant to removal, often requiring the services of pest control or animal control professionals. As is true of many household pests, a first step to controlling feral pigeons is to remove their food source. Keep areas around trash bins and outdoor dining areas clean; encourage children to pick up spilled treats—and teach them NOT to feed the pigeons. Eliminating water sources such as overwatered lawns, bird baths, or kiddy pools, and screening drains and gutters can also make your property less attractive to pigeons. 

Other methods of eliminating pigeons are more difficult. Using plastic owls or other props to scare pigeons away usually is NOT effective for more than a day or two, simply because a stationery object quickly becomes familiar to pigeons who return day after day to the same roost. Have you ever spotted a pigeon or seagull perched happily on the head of a plastic owl?

 Excluding pigeons by covering or screening roof openings, alcoves, chimneys and pipes can work, but every opening must be covered; otherwise the stubborn pigeons will simply move to another, more accessible spot. Other methods to discourage nesting and roosting are repeated and ongoing nest removal, installation of spikes or spring-loaded wire devices, application of sticky repellant material along roosting surfaces and nesting areas, netting, live trapping, and baits and poisons. As with exclusion methods, every accessible part of your property must be treated, or pigeons simply will migrate to untreated areas. With any method of pigeon control, local ordinances, public perception and environmental health and safety must be prime considerations.

 To read about out pigeon abatement and other pest control services, visit our home page at http://www.earthguardpest.com.