Josie Cruz, deputy commissioner of the Streets & Sanitation's Bureau of Rodent Control, which operates Daley's Dumpster Task Force, said the rodent infestation and poor housekeeping led to the store being shut down.

"This location will not be allowed to reopen until they have revamped their pest control and housekeeping programs, cleaned and pest proofed their business and then request and pass a tough follow-up reinspection," Cruz said.

We set a trap and trapped the little critter on the same day.  As it turns out it is a Bushy Tailed Wood Rat.  The only native rat species to Canada.

IDENTIFICATION:
Though commonly known as the pack rat, the bushy-tailed woodrat is actually more closely related to the deer mouse than to what many people think of as a rat—those scaly-tailed residents of big city sewers. This dapper-looking rodent has large round ears, long whiskers, soft buff-gray fur, big onyx eyes, white feet, and a bushy, squirrel-like tail. From nose to tail tip it measures roughly 15 inches.

On the heels of a Toronto report warning the city is losing its battle with bedbugs, new research suggests that plastic bowls and talcum powder can be powerful weapons in the war. "Bedbug interceptors" — $2 Ikea bowls dusted with baby powder and placed under furniture legs— "are very useful tools to monitor and inspect bedbug infestation," said Dr. Changlu Wang, an entomologist at Rutgers University, in an interview Tuesday.

Both Wang and a study released this week for the city of Toronto concur that bedbug infestation is growing rapidly, fighting it is expensive and nothing short of a concerted and unified plan will stop it. DDT was highly effective in all but eradicating bedbugs in Western countries in the 1940s and 1950s but at the cost of its extreme toxicity, Wang said. Frequent misdiagnoses by doctors, increased travel, slow public response and poor understanding of effective control methods have brought bedbugs back and are allowing them to multiply.

"Before 2003, they have been characterized by Toronto Public Health as sporadic and mild," the report by WoodGreen Community Services and Habitat Services for the city and the province said. "In 2003, a Toronto study showed that there were only 46 reports of bed bugs to Toronto Public Health but by 2008, (there were) almost 1,500 bed bug infestations between March and October." Tiny, resilient and devious, bedbugs hide in electrical outlets, laptop vents, shoe seams and book spines during the day, can walk down an apartment hallway, live up to 18 months without feeding and, in egg form, can resist the suck of a vacuum cleaner. In Wang's study, only half of the 16 apartments came through bedbug-free, mostly because of the human factor: people who wouldn't or couldn't afford to dump grossly infested furniture or wouldn't follow the tedious, painstaking methods to eradicate them, including ditching or cleaning up clutter.

The researchers used a combination of wrapping mattresses, hot steam cleaning, furniture legs stuck in the bowls and then either two pesticide treatments: diatomaceous earth dust or chlorfenapyr spray. Most striking, said Wang, were the clumps of dead bedbugs in the bowls days after they thought the insects had been eliminated. Since furniture and bedding can't be directly doused with pesticide, he said, the bowls are a strong alternative. The system involved placing a small bowl with a bottom coating of talcum powder and diatomaceous earth, a kind of talc, inside a larger bowl and putting furniture legs in the bowls. Initially, Wang said, they used ethylene glycol in the larger bowls but developed concerns about its toxicity to pets. Talcum powder is slippery and harmless to humans but punctures the bugs' shells, dehydrating them.

Wang, who has advised Toronto hotels, travel agencies and pest-control consultants, warns that bedbugs deterred from one apartment often just jump to the next. "Apartment manages and contractors have to inspect the neighbours. They'll find at least 60 per cent of the neighbours also have bugs. There has to be a program or they can never be controlled." Hotels, facing quickly damaged reputations, will usually take the expensive and quick eradication route of enveloping a building in a four-hour barrage of steam at 44 C or above, said Wang.

Apartment dwellers are at the mercy of fellow tenants and managers. "Toronto Community Housing has had to increase its pest control budget from $1 million in total to $2.5 million for bed bugs alone," the WoodGreen report said. "There is a stigma attached to having bed bugs and it causes hardship for those with infestations," Steve Floros of TCH is quoted as saying in the report. "There is a false perception that individuals with a bed bug infestation must not be clean. There have been occasions when Echoing Wang, Cathy Loik of Toronto Public Health said, "We need to develop strategies for entire buildings, mass education campaigns for the public at large, increase social assistance for vulnerable populations, have more public awareness to reduce stigma, get landlords on board teaching people integrated pest management, stop self-treating with over-the-counter products (as this builds resistance in bed bugs)." The report calls on the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to lead the education and eradication campaign.

History And Life Cycle The bed bug is an old pest that was common in homes prior to World War II. For the last 50 years, bed bugs have rarely been seen outside of cramped living quarters and less than sanitary conditions in jails and homeless shelters. Not anymore. In the last five years there has been a resurgence. Bed bugs have become a particular problem in hotels, motels, and hostels where there is a high rate of occupant turnover. Even five star hotels are having problems with bed bugs. Bed bugs are blood-feeding insects. They are a light tan color, but turn dark-reddish brown once they have fed on blood. Before feeding, the adult bed bug is about ¼ inch long and flattened. Once engorged with blood, it swells in size. Bed bugs can be easily seen with the naked eye, but it’s not easy to find bed bugs in a room.  The bed bug is an old pest that was common in homes prior to World War II. For the last 40 years, bed bugs have rarely been seen outside of cramped living quarters and less than sanitary conditions in jails and homeless shelters. Not anymore. In the last five years there has been a resurgence. Bed bugs have become a particular problem in hotels, motels, and hostels where there is a high rate of occupant turnover. Even five star hotels are having problems with bed bugs. Bed bugs can’t fly, so they either crawl or are carried from place to place. Bed bugs or their eggs can hitchhike in a traveler’s suitcase or clothing. Business people now routinely travel to and from countries where bed bugs are common, even in good hotels. The offspring of one pregnant female bed bug that crawls out of a suitcase can infest a room, and eventually other rooms nearby. Bed bugs usually feed at night and spend the day hidden. Their flattened shape lets them squeeze into narrow places in bed  frames, headboards, in bedside furniture, behind pictures and switch plates, behind baseboards, under buttons on mattresses, in boxsprings, and in other cracks and crevices. Speckles of dried blood excrement can be found on bedding or places where bed bugs hide. A bed bug feeds about once a week, usually for several minutes. It most often feeds on a sleeper’s exposed skin. The bite is nearly painless and is not felt by most people. Some people have no reaction afterwards, but most people develop a hard bump with a whitish center which can itch for days. Although bed bugs suck blood like other human parasites, there has been no evidence that they spread diseases. Bed bugs can survive for several months between blood meals if there is no person or animal for them to feed on.

Indeed, earwigs are often beneficial in habit, acting as scavengers of decaying matter and predators of insect larvae, slug eggs, aphids, and other garden pests.The length of the adult earwig is approximately 1.5 to 2.0 cm long. It is elongated and flattened, with a tough, shiny, reddish-brown exoskeleton and antennae about half as long as the body. This insect is distinguished by prominent pincers, or forceps, at the end of its body.Earwigs live only one year.

They spend the winter hiding just below the soil surface, usually close to house foundations. Warm weather brings them out of hibernation. In the spring, each female lays as many as 60 round, pearly white eggs in a nest in the top 5 cm of the soil.During the day, earwigs like to hide in cool, dark, moist places.Earwigs come out of hiding at dusk to begin foraging. While decaying organic matter forms the largest part of their diet.In search of food and shelter, they crawl over the ground, climb houses, fences and trees, and usually begin to infiltrate homes in June or July. What is particularly objectionable is to find these insects among foodstuffs, clothes and occasionally between bed covers.

Sow Bugs and Pill Bugs

Sowbugs are land crustaceans which look very similar to pillbugs, at least at first glance. Sowbugs are small crustaceans with oval bodies when viewed from above. Their back consists of a number of overlapping, articulating plates. They have 7 pairs of legs, and antennae which reach about half the body length. Most are slate gray in color, and may reach about 15 mm long and 8 mm wide.The Pillbug When disturbed, frequently rolls into a tight ball, with its legs tucked inside.

Sowbugs have gills which need constant moisture, so they tend to live in moister northwest climates. They are primarily nocturnal, and eat decaying leaf litter and vegetable matter. They may also feed on the tips of young plants, so can be considered pests, but they also help the environment by breaking up decaying plant matter and help speed up the recycling of the nutrients they contain.

Millipedes and Centipedes

Warm, wet weather always encourages the activity of several moisture-loving animals, including millipedes, or “thousand-legged worms,” and their near relatives, the centipedes.

Centipedes are related to millipedes and are also worm-like in form, but they differ in having flattened bodies and only one pair of legs on each body segment. They also possess a pair of poison claws or legs just behind the head which are used to paralyze their prey – usually insects or other small animals.Millipede eggs are deposited in masses in the soil. Young millipedes mature the second year after hatching. Some species may live for several years.

Millipedes feed on organic matter, including decayed plant material such as leaves and wood.If millipedes are abundant in mulches and litter in landscape plantings around homes and other buildings, they often enter through cracks and crevices. Once inside, they usually die unless basements are very moist. Entry into structures is most common after heavy spring rains saturate the soil and drive millipedes to higher ground and in the fall, when they seek hibernation sites.

Vine weevil is one plant insect pest that most gardeners live in fear of. And it is a pest to worry about. Suddenly, otherwise healthy-looking plants collapse and die thanks to the root-eating, soil-borne grubs.
You should suspect a vine weevil attack if watering does not revive the plant. In severe cases, plants may be completely severed from their roots at ground level.
In the fall when the weather gets colder the adults look for a warmer place to overwinter and if your house is in their path you will see them invade your home in big numbers.
Inside your vacuum cleaner is probably your best bet to deal with them. Outside a chemical barrier could be applied to keep them from invading your home.

INTRODUCTION
This weevil is one of a number of weevil species that regularly invade people’s homes in the fall. These weevils hibernate as adults and are simply looking for a protected place to spend the winter.

IDENTIFICATION
Weevils tend to be robust beetles with a thick exoskeleton. The head is prolonged into a snout of varying lengths depending on the species, and the antennae are long and elbowed, the first segment fitting into a groove on the snout. The Black Vine Weevil averages about 9 mm long and has a rather short snout. It is black, often with numerous orange or yellow spots on the back, although some individuals have reduced or no spotting.

DISTRIBUTION
This is a European species that was introduced into North America about 150 years ago. It is now widely distributed in North America, being found across southern Canada and northern United States at least as far south as northern California.

TIME OF YEAR
Adults can be found all summer long, becoming active with the first warm weather and often staying active well into the fall.

HABITAT AND HABITS
Larvae are found underground and feed on the roots of a wide variety of plants. Over 100 species of plants have been identified as food sources for the larvae, including many species of berries, rhododendrons and conifers. As a result, the weevil is at times a serious greenhouse and nursery pest. The adults can live up to 3 years and lay hundreds of eggs every spring. This is a parthenogenic beetle; that is, there are no males in the populations and the females lay viable eggs without ever mating. Because the adults live for so long, in the fall they look for a place to spend the winter, and at that time they often make their way into homes.

SIMILAR SPECIES
There are over 2600 species of weevils in the family Curculionidae in North America alone, many of which look rather similar to the Black Vine Weevil. One species that is worth mentioning is the Strawberry Root Weevil, Otiorhynchus ovatus. It is smaller, about 6 mm long, and all shiny black. Like the Black Vine Weevil, it is also a serious pest.

COMMENTS
This article is not designed to provide information on how to control this species, or any other weevil when it is a pest. For information on how to control weevils as pests, we suggest searching for websites that focus on pest control. There are many species of weevils that can find their way into people’s houses in the fall, and none of these is likely to become an indoor pest. The best advice we can give is to pick the weevil up and take it back outside. If you are finding large numbers inside, then you need to look for cracks that they are using to get in and consider having the cracks filled in.

Note: We cannot provide advice on controlling insect pests. If you need more information beyond what has been provided here, we suggest you either search further on the web, or talk to a local exterminator.

The best way to control kitchen insects is to prevent them from entering the kitchen or becoming a problem once in the kitchen. More on this later. First, which insects are commonly found in the kitchen? The ones that turn up most are saw-toothed grain beetles, flour beetles and the Indian-meal moth. They are other insects such as the cockroach, larder beetle and carpet beetle, which turn up in the kitchen but they also inhabit other areas of the house.

Saw-Toothed Grain Beetles
They get their common name from the saw-toothed looking edges on the top body area between their head and their abdomen (thorax). There are two separate species of this insect: the merchant grain beetle and saw-toothed grain beetle. These insects will infest virtually any product in the kitchen, whether it is packaged or left as food debris on shelves or counters. The adult is a reddish-brown beetle that is slender and somewhat flattened. It is about 2-3 mm in length and about 1/2 mm in width. These beetles can penetrate packaged foods readily except for tinfoil-packaged foods. Eggs are laid in or near food, hatch in 3-17 days in heated areas, and the larvae will pupate to an adult in 3-6 weeks. The adult reportedly can live up to three years.

Confused Flour Beetle
The adult is a brown beetle, about 4 mm long, and closely resembles the red flour beetle. Adult females have a life span of 2 years, while the males live a year longer. The female lays 200 to 700 eggs loosely in the food. From these small, white eggs are hatched wormlike larvae which are marked with yellow bands. Before pupating, the larvae may reach a length of 8 mm. Development from egg to adult may be completed in 24 to 26 days under optimum conditions – a temperature of 32°C and relative humidity of 70%. The temperature range for complete development is 20° to 37°C. These insects do not fly and they depend on local flour and grain residues for survival.

Flour Beetles
There are also two species of flour beetle: the red flour beetle and the confused flour beetle. The red flour beetle is more commonly found in rural areas associated with grain storage or around country elevators, whereas the confused flour beetle is found mainly in flour but it does infest most other products in the kitchen. They are a shiny, reddish-brown, flattened insect about 3 mm in length and about 3/4 to 1 mm in width. Slight differences in antennae and thorax shape differentiate the two insects. The adult may live as long as 1-3 years. Their life cycle from egg through larvae, pupa and adult takes from 7 weeks to several months, depending on temperature and the food source. Like the grain beetle, their flattened body and small size allows them to enter most products that are not well sealed or in a strong package.

Indian-Meal Moth
This moth is often mistaken for a clothes moth. It can be distinguished by wing markings. The wings of an Indian-meal moth are metallic reddish-brown on the outer two-thirds and creamy-grey on the inner third. The larvae is about 13 mm long, usually dirty-white but sometimes tinted green or pink. Larvae leave a trail of silk wherever they crawl. They will completely infest the food product they are in with a mat of silk. When you see the larvae crawling in the cupboard or on the ceiling, they are usually looking for a place to pupate. They infest most foods in a kitchen but are characteristically known to infest dried fruits. Of the other foods, coarse grain are usually infested instead of finely milled grains. Their life cycle varies with food and temperature from five weeks to nearly a year.

Control
Prevention is the best control.. Vacuum up crumbs and clean shelves of spilled food frequently. If some eggs do hatch and there is no food, the larvae dies.

You may inadvertently bring food pests into your home in the foot products you buy. Don’t give them a chance to move to any other part of the kitchen. Seal them inside a container which they can not escape from. Use air-tight containers such as mason jars with rubber rings and metal ring caps. A “Tupperware” type container is the next best container to use, as long as it is airtight. Find containers for all grain-based products in the kitchen, including four. Store larger bags of flour in a garage or some outside, cool location. The insects will develop slowly in the cool temperatures; this will give you time to control the problem. Put products you suspect may be infested in the freezer at the lowest setting for 3-5 days if they are freezable.

Habitat

Skunks can be found in their natural habitats of forest borders, brushy areas, and grassy fields. Skunks are burrowing animals. In urban areas, they are often found under buildings, porches and in culvert

Diet

Skunks, like raccoons, are omnivores. Their diet consists mainly of insects, but also includes mice and other small mammals, eggs, fruits, nuts, vegetation, carrion, and garbage. This varied diet is one of the reasons that skunks have adapted so well to living in close proximity to humans.

Reproduction

Skunks breed in late winter to early spring and usually give birth in May or June. They have between three-to-10 young per litter and the young remain in the den for six-to-eight weeks before venturing out with their mothe.

The following videos have been given to us from a client of ours.  She took the footage before and during the trapping process.  Thank you Lynsey G. of Calgary SW. [See post to watch Flash video] [See post to watch Flash video] ]]> http://apcpestfree.com/?feed=rss2&p=470 0 http://apcpestfree.com/?p=189 http://apcpestfree.com/?p=189#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:03:11 +0000 fuentes36 http://apcpestfree.com/?p=189 Pocket gophers commonly called moles, are a problem in pastures and hayland throughout much of Alberta. They also eat garden crops and kill woody plants and shrubs by feeding on the roots.

Pocket gophers commonly called moles, are a problem in pastures and hayland throughout much of Alberta. They also eat garden crops and kill woody plants and shrubs by feeding on the roots.
Pocket gophers tend to feed above ground in late spring and early summer, when stems and leaves are most nutritious. As the nutritional quality of stems and leaves declines, pocket gophers turn to feeding below ground on roots and other plant parts. These gophers create extensive burrow systems in search of food.
Soil from the burrows is deposited in mounds above ground. Increased mounding by gophers coincides with the haying season. One animal may make up to 50 mounds per year through its burrowing activity

Biology
Unlike ground squirrels that hibernate, pocket gophers are active throughout the winter, feeding and burrowing beneath the snow.
Females have one litter of four to six young during late May or June. The young mature quickly and move out into surrounding areas during late summer and fall. They tend to be solitary with one occupant per burrow system, except during the breeding season and when females are raising young. However, gophers seem to know when their neighbors disappear. Empty burrows may be re-occupied within two to three days.

Pocket gophers, often called gophers, Thomomys species, are burrowing rodents that get their name from the fur-lined, external cheek pouches, or pockets, they use for carrying food and nesting materials. Pocket gophers are well equipped for a digging, tunneling lifestyle with their powerfully built forequarters; large-clawed front paws; fine, short fur that doesn’t cake in wet soils; small eyes and ears; and highly sensitive facial whiskers that assist with moving about in the dark. A gopher’s lips also are unusually adapted for their lifestyle; they can close them behind their four large incisor teeth to keep dirt out of their mouths when using their teeth for digging.

Biology and behavior
Pocket gophers live in a burrow system that can cover an area that is 200 to 2,000 square feet. The burrows are about 2–1/2 to 3–1/2 inches in diameter. Feeding burrows usually are 6 to 12 inches below ground, and the nest and food storage chamber can be as deep as 6 feet. Gophers seal the openings to the burrow system with earthen plugs. Short, sloping lateral tunnels connect the main burrow system to the surface; gophers create these while pushing dirt to the surface to construct the main tunnel.

Gophers don’t hibernate and are active year-round, although you might not see any fresh mounding. They also can be active at all hours of the day.
Gophers usually live alone within their burrow system, except when females are caring for their young or during breeding season. Gopher densities can be as high as 60 or more per acre in irrigated alfalfa fields or in vineyards. Gophers reach sexual maturity about 1 year of age and can live up to 3 years. In nonirrigated areas, breeding usually occurs in late winter and early spring, resulting in 1 litter per year; in irrigated sites, gophers can produce up to 3 litters per year. Litters usually average 5 to 6 young.

Pocket gophers are herbivorous and feed on a wide variety of vegetation but generally prefer herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees. Gophers use their sense of smell to locate food. Most commonly they feed on roots and fleshy portions of plants they encounter while digging. However, they sometimes feed aboveground, venturing only a body length or so from their tunnel opening. Burrow openings used in this manner are called “feed holes.” You can identify them by the absence of a dirt mound and by a circular band of clipped vegetation around the hole. Gophers also will pull entire plants into their tunnel from below. In snow-covered regions, gophers can feed on bark several feet up a tree by burrowing through the snow.

Damage
Pocket gophers often invade yards and gardens, feeding on many garden crops, ornamental plants, vines, shrubs, and trees. A single gopher moving down a garden row can inflict considerable damage in a very short time. Gophers also gnaw and damage plastic water lines and lawn sprinkler systems. Their tunnels can divert and carry off irrigation water, which leads to soil erosion. Mounds on lawns interfere with mowing equipment and ruin the aesthetics of well-kept turfgrass.
 

Trapping
Trapping is a safe and effective method for controlling pocket gophers. Several types and brands of gopher traps are available.
 
 

Squirrels can cause a lot of damage in the Garden. This is especially true in years when untimely spring frosts cause poor Crops of crab apples and other fruits. In the summer, a squirrel normally eats fruits, berries and succulent plants, and, when available, fungi, insects, animal matter and corn. During the winter, when stored food runs short, squirrels may eat bark. In the spring, squirrels prefer swelling tree buds.

In addition to damaging trees, squirrels also will often eat tulip bulbs and crocus corms. Daffodil bulbs are poisonous to squirrels and generally remain untouched. Lawns also are damaged from squirrels storing and digging for food.

Squirrel populations periodically rise and fall. A squirrel's predators include hawks and owls, but disease, food availability and environmental extremes are bigger factors in population swings.

Controlling squirrels is difficult. A fine wire mesh wrap may be used to protect tulip bulbs, but, in most cases, learning to Garden with squirrels is a necessity. They are protected by law and may only be trapped live and relocated. Repellents are short-term solutions and must be constantly renewed. Tree habitats are difficult to modify to exclude squirrels.

Property Damage from Squirrels
Squirrels will chew through anything. Structural wood, aluminium, electrical wires, insulation, shingles and vents are favourite targets.

Squirrels must constantly chew in order to keep their incisors from growing too long. Multiply the problem times five babies (pups), and you have a major building damage problem and fire hazard.
 
Squirrels will build nests in attics, chimneys, vents, roofs and walls. They will use a wide variety of nesting material including insulation, vapour barrier, wood, drywall and paper.

FACT: Squirrel nests tend to be large in relation to their body size and very messy, often extending several feet along a vent pipe or in an attic. Their large dry nests and electrical wire chewing make them a major fire hazard.
 
Health Risks from Squirrels
Squirrels attract ticks and fleas, especially in warmer weather.

If the squirrels leave the nest for an extended period, these ticks and fleas will look for new hosts (i.e. people and pets).

Although usually frightened of people, a mother squirrel can be quite aggressive if she perceives danger or is separated from her babies.

FACT: Squirrels are very swift and can move or attack quickly if threatened.

How to Find Squirrels
Squirrels are very active and are often detected because home and business owners hear them scurrying in the attic or walls.

There can be 30 or more squirrels per square kilometre in urban areas with mature trees.
 
Look for chewed or damaged soffit, vents and flashings as well as holes along the roof line for potential entry points.

FACT: Squirrels are more adaptable than you might think. They can fit through a hole the size of a baseball (black/grey squirrels) or a golf ball (red squirrels), but a smaller hole can easily be chewed open.
 
How to Get Rid of Squirrels
Simply patching the entry hole doesn’t work. They will chew through it to regain entry or find their young.
The most effective method is to remove all the squirrels and completely seal the entire building from further entry.
Killing or capturing the adult likely won’t solve the problem, since the babies may still be living in the attic, chimney, walls, roof or vents.
Squirrels produce an average litter of 4-6 babies twice per year, usually in the spring and late summer. Squirrels usually have 5-6 den sites in residential areas.