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.

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.
 
 

Status and Importance
Ground squirrels play an important role in the ecology of Alberta's wildlife. Ground squirrels are a major source of food for many predatory birds, mammals and reptiles. One species of raptor, the ferruginous hawk, depends almost entirely on ground squirrels to fledge their chicks. Similarly, many other species rely on ground squirrels as a major food source.
The population status of Richardson's ground squirrels varies from year to year but is generally rated as "not at risk." Richardson's ground squirrels are also unregulated, which means they can be lawfully shot, trapped or otherwise removed where permitted.

Life History
The Richardson's ground squirrel is a burrowing rodent found throughout most of the prairie and parkland regions of Alberta (Figure 1). It is the most common ground squirrel of the five species found in Alberta. The other species are Franklin's (bush gopher), Columbian, thirteen-lined and golden-mantled. The Richardson's ground squirrels are the most prevalent colony dwellers of the five species.

Richardson's ground squirrels spend the majority of their life underground. In their underground burrow system, they usually mate, raise their litters for the first 28 days, avoid predators (except weasels and badgers) and inclement weather (heat, cold and rain). They sleep underground from just before sunset until shortly after sunrise and hibernate for up to eight months in their burrows.

Each adult female owns at least one burrow system that has five to seven exits and two to five sleeping chambers, one of which is used for rearing young. Vacated burrow systems are soon taken over by dispersing Richardson's ground squirrels. Occasionally badgers, burrowing owls, foxes or coyotes may use ground squirrel burrows.

Reproduction
Both males and females are reproductively mature the year following their birth. Mating occurs only in spring, shortly after females emerge from hibernation. A female that fails to become pregnant or loses her embryos or infants is incapable of breeding again until the following year.
Females are fertile for only two to three hours on one afternoon on one day each year and will mate with several males during that time. Males also copulate with several females. Only one litter per female is produced each spring.
A litter of 6 to 8, with an equal number of males and females, is born underground after a 23-day gestation. At birth, the infants are naked, blind, helpless and totally dependent on their mother. At first emergence aboveground, when four weeks old, juveniles immediately begin eating solid food and rapidly become nutritionally independent of their mother.

Litter size often varies with the quality of vegetation available, averaging between five to six young on native pasture and expanding up to nine or ten on tame forage crops.
During June and July, most of the young ground squirrels seek new areas to establish colonies as far as 3 km away. Ground squirrels vigorously defend their burrows and foraging area from other ground squirrels.

Life Span
Natural mortality among Richardson's ground squirrels is quite high, particularly in males. As a result, the sex ratio among adults is about four females for each male. Females live about four years (maximum six), on average, while males usually live only one year (maximum two to three).
The major cause of death is predation and starvation; only half the females and less than one fifth of the males born each year will reach adulthood.

Hibernation
Richardson's ground squirrels have evolved to escape the prolonged winter period by hibernating, a torpor-like state in which the body temperature drops while heart and respiration rates slow down dramatically.
To survive without food or water for periods exceeding 210 days, ground squirrels need to consume vast amounts of food high in energy to develop a reservoir of body fat. Adult males enter hibernation sometime in late July, females several weeks later followed by juveniles until freeze-up.
Each animal hibernates alone in a special chamber (called the hibernaculum) that it prepares up to four to six weeks in advance, but does not use until ready to hibernate. The hibernaculum is sealed off with a soil plug. The only predator capable of getting into the hibernaculum is the badger.
Males emerge from hibernation from late February to mid-March while females come out about two weeks later.

Social Behavior
Richardson's ground squirrels live in groups of closely related female kin. Females live their entire life in or near their birth site, but males of the year tend to disperse and leave their birth area after weaning.
As soon as the female is pregnant, she will not tolerate males, including her mate(s). Females will only tolerate their female relatives (i.e., mother, grandmother, daughters, etc.) and are aggressive to all other squirrels. Females recognize their kin throughout life, even after many months without contact during hibernation.
Each female rears her litter by herself with no assistance from male or female relatives. Males do not form any social associations, either with other males or with females.

Diet
Richardson's ground squirrels eat a wide variety of food. Most prefer succulent green vegetation such as grasses, forbs, young shrubs and seeds. Richardson's ground squirrels occasionally eat insects and scavenge road-killed ground squirrels, but they very rarely kill for food.
Little is known about the preferred natural diet of Richardson's ground squirrels, but the assumption is the relatively high nutrient and oil content of seeds helps in the deposition of fat necessary for hibernation. Richardson's ground squirrels are also known to store large quantities of food in burrows. Males store seed in the hibernating chamber while females do not store seeds.

Weight
The body weight of Richardson's ground squirrels increases dramatically through the spring and summer months and can double during this period. Adult males weigh about 500 gm (1 lb.) by fall and females about 350 gm (3/4 lb).

Ground Squirrel Damage
Damage caused by Richardson's ground squirrels ranges from an occasional headache for some to a significant loss of crop production to others.
The most common types of ground squirrel damage are crop loss through direct consumption and reduced production due to plant injury and trampling. In addition, downtime and repair costs due to damage to hay binds as well as physical injury to livestock with ground squirrel burrows and those of badgers are also major concerns.
Burrowing activity in green spaces such as ball diamonds, golf courses and cemeteries as well as the risk of an air strike because of large birds attracted by ground squirrels at airports are serious problems for urban managers.
Despite decades of conflicts with ground squirrels, the extent, causes and magnitude of ground squirrel damage have never been fully investigated. This information shortfall has greatly impeded the development of effective, long term control measures.
An in-depth analysis of the causative and associated dynamics of ground squirrel damage as well as a thorough understanding of the biology and behaviour of the animal are vital for the development of a sustainable, long term, affordable and appropriate management strategy.

IDENTIFICATION
Voles are mouselike rodents somewhat similar in appearance to pocket gophers. They have a compact, heavy body, short legs, short-furred tail, small eyes, and partially hidden ears. The long, coarse fur is blackish brown to grayish brown. When fully grown they can measure 5 to 8 inches long, including the tail.

Although voles do spend considerable time aboveground and may occasionally be seen scurrying about, most of their time is spent below ground in their burrow system. The clearest signs of their presence are the well-traveled, aboveground runways that connect burrow openings; the runways are usually hidden beneath a protective layer of grass or other ground cover. The maze of runways leads to multiple burrow openings that are each about 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. The runways are easily found by pulling back overhanging ground cover. Fresh clippings of green grass and greenish-colored droppings about 3/16 inch long in the runways and near the burrows are further evidence of voles. With age, the droppings lose the green coloring and turn brown or gray.

BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR
Voles are active day and night, year-round. They are normally found in areas with dense vegetation. Voles dig many short, shallow burrows and make underground nests of grass, stems, and leaves. In areas with winter snow, voles will burrow in and through the snow to the surface.

Several adults and young may occupy a burrow system. Home-range size varies with habitat quality, food supply, and population levels, but in most cases it is no more than a few hundred square feet.

Vole numbers fluctuate from year to year; under favorable conditions their populations can increase rapidly. In some areas their numbers are cyclical, reaching peak numbers every 3 to 6 years before dropping back to low levels. Voles may breed any time of year, but the peak breeding period is spring. Voles are extremely prolific with females maturing in 35 to 40 days and having five to ten litters per year. Litter size ranges from three to six. However, voles seldom live past 12 months of age.

Voles are mostly herbivorous, feeding on a variety of grasses, herbaceous plants, bulbs, and tubers. They eat bark and roots of trees, usually in fall or winter. Voles store seeds and other plant matter in underground chambers.

Voles are poor climbers and do not usually enter homes or other buildings. Instead, they inhabit wildlands or croplands adjacent to buildings, or gardens and landscaped sites with protective ground cover. Most problems around homes and gardens occur during outbreaks of vole populations.

DAMAGE
Voles cause damage by feeding on a wide range of garden plants including artichoke, beet, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, lettuce, turnip, sweet potato, spinach, and tomato. Turf and other landscape plantings such as lilies and dichondra may be damaged. Voles will gnaw the bark of fruit trees including almond, apple, avocado, cherry, citrus, and olive. Vole damage to tree trunks normally occurs from a few inches aboveground to a few inches below ground. If the damage is below ground, you will need to remove soil from the base of the tree to see it. Although voles are poor climbers, if they can climb on to low-hanging branches they may cause damage higher up on trees as well.

Gnaw marks about 1/8 inch wide and 3/8 inch long found in irregular patches and at various angles, taken in conjunction with other signs (droppings, runways, and burrows), indicate vole damage. If voles gnaw completely around the trunk or roots, the tree's flow of nutrients and water will be disrupted; this is called girdling. Girdling damage on trunks and roots can kill trees. Signs of partial trunk or root girdling may include a prolonged time before young trees bear fruit, reduced fruit yield, abnormal yellowish leaf color, and overall poor vigor. Where snow cover is present, damage to trees may extend a foot or more up the trunk. Damage that occurs under snow cover often escapes notice until it is too late.

Mouse Facts

• Mice travel over their entire territory daily, investigating each change or new object that may be placed there.
• Mice have poor vision, hence their activity patterns rely heavily on smell, taste, touch, and hearing.
• Mice use the long sensitive whiskers near the nose and hairs on the body as tactile sensors. The whiskers and hairs enable the mouse to travel in the dark, adjacent to walls in burrows.
• Mice also have an excellent sense of balance, enabling them to walk along telephone wires, ropes and similar thin objects.
• Mice are excellent jumpers, capable of leaping at least 12 inches vertically.
• Mice can jump against a flat vertical surface using it as a spring board to gain additional height.
• They can run up almost any vertical surface; wood, brick, weathered sheet metal, cables, etc.
• They can easily travel for some distance hanging upside down.
• Although they are good swimmers, mice tend to take to water only if left with no other alternative.
• Mice are basically nocturnal in nature.
• House mice breed throughout the year and can become pregnant within 48 hours of producing a litter.
• There are usually about 6 mice to a litter and females may produce as many as ten litters (about 50 young) per year.
• It takes 18 to 21 days for gestation, and 35 days for a mouse to mature. Most mice live anywhere from 15 to 18 months.
• They make their nests out of the same types of soft materials as rats, and as many as 3 females may use the same nest.
• They commonly nest in insulation in attics, also in stoves and under refrigerators.
• Mice do not travel far from their nest, about 12 to 20 feet.

Feeding Habits

• Mice normally feed 15 to 20 times per day and will eat pretty much anything a human will eat.
• Food preference is cereal or seed, but also gnaw through insulation or wires, sheet rock, storage boxes, etc.
• Mice are nibblers. They do small amounts of damage to many food items in "home range", rather than doing extensive damage to any one item.
• While mice are nibblers and feed many times in many places, they have two main feeding periods, at dusk and just before dawn. They have to consume about 10% to 15% of their body weight every 24 hours and require extremely small amounts of water. Disease & Sanitation Factors
• Mice droppings sometimes are confused with droppings from the larger species of roaches, such as the American roach.
• Mice droppings are smooth with pointed ends, and are 1/8th to 1/4 inch long.
• In six months, one pair of mice can eat about 4 pounds of food and during that period produce some 18,000 fecal droppings.
• Deer mice are a primary vector of Hantaviral infections which cause hemorrhagic fevers.
• Mice may infect food with their droppings transmitting such organisms as salmonella and the microscopic eggs of tapeworms.
• Mice transmit disease in a number of ways including biting, infecting human food with their droppings or urine, indirectly via the dog or cat and bloodsucking insects.

The most common way mice transmit disease organisms is by contaminating food with their droppings and/or urine. The most threatening organism spread by mice is Salmonella, a cause of food poisoning, spread via droppings. Other transmittable organisms include tapeworms via droppings, rat-bite fever via bites, infectious jaundice/leptospirosis/Weil’s Disease via urine in food or water, a fungus disease (Favus) of the scalp either by direct contact or indirectly via cats, plague and murine typhus via fleas, Rickettsial pox via the mite Liponyssoides sanguineus (Hirst), lymphocytic choriomeningitis via droppings, and possibly poliomyelitis (polio). Another problem is house mouse mite dermatitis which is caused by these mites when they feed on humans.   Prevention & Control Good sanitation is essential for effective long term control. Mice can enter any opening larger than 1/4 inch, making it virtually impossible to completely mouse proof a building. The control of mice can be widely varied, depending on the individual situation. It may range from physically altering the conditions allowing the infestation, such as covering holes, filling cracks, etc. to baiting or trapping.

Disease in North America that rodents may harbor or disseminate (Purdue University Cooperative Extension).   Disease  Agent Rodents Implicated   Bordetellosis  bacteria  rats   Encephalomyocarditis  virus  rats, mice   Leptospirosis  bacteria  rats, mice   Pseudorabies  virus  rats*   Salmonellosis  bacteria  rats, mice   Swine dysentery  bacteria  rats, mice   Swine erysipelas  bacteria  rats  Toxoplasmosis  protozoan  various rodents   Trichinosis  nematode  rats   Mice and rats transmit diseases to poultry, hogs and other animals. They consume and contaminate feed, and their constant gnawing causes extensive structural damage to buildings, including fires. All resulting in financial losses to you. To compound the problem, rats and mice breed at an alarming rate. Livestock and other farm facilities provide ideal conditions for rodents to breed with abundant supplies of food, water and harborage. A small population of rodents, left unchecked, could explode to thousands in just a few months. The inspection serves three useful functions:

1. Identifies the rodent species involved. The most common rodent pests in livestock operations are the house mouse, Norway rat and roof rat. The house mouse is easy to recognize, generally 5-7 inches in length and gray in color. The common Norway rat, a large rodent usually 13-18 inches in length, weighs 12-16 ounces with reddish brown fur. The roof rat, found primarily along the west coast and in the southeastern United States, is a smaller black rat weighing between 6-9 ounces. Rats and mice have unique behavioral characteristics. By identifying the species you can select rodent control products and strategies appropriate to that particular pest.

2. Determines the severity and location of the problem. During the inspection, note where you've seen signs of rodents, which include burrows, droppings (rat droppings are about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in length; mouse droppings are 1/4 inch), gnaw marks, and rodent pathways. This information helps you determine the size of the infestation and where rodents are living and feeding. In that way, you have a better idea of how much bait to use and where to place it for optimum results. Rats and mice are nocturnal and are most active from dusk to dawn. Seeing them in the daylight usually indicates a heavy infestation.

3. Identifies where sanitation and rodent proofing are needed. Look for the rodents' sources of food, water and harborage indoors and out, and wherever possible, get rid of them. Also note areas or entry points where rodents are getting into buildings, and, wherever feasible, fix or eliminate these entry points to "build rodents out." Sketching a diagram of your facility that indicates problem areas is useful for keeping track of your baiting efforts. It'll help you evaluate what is working or where adjustments are needed in your rodent control efforts.

Of Mice and FeedersWhat is attracting the mice to your house? Probably you will see more than one bird feeder in nearly every backyard on the block. Stand in that alley on any day of the year and you will soon see that the whole block is alive with birds. Watch carefully though, especially around sunset, and you will also notice that the whole block is alive with mice and voles. Now there are mice in every community in every city, town and village in North America, so that’s hardly a surprise. And since we live so close to the edge of our city, we expect to have more mice around that you might find downtown. But years of bird feeding, years of seed falling on the ground, years of easy, high calorie meals of peanuts and suet, have (I’m certain) contributed to the general health of the mouse population in our area. Yet it need not be this way. It is indeed possible to feed wild birds without contributing to an explosion in the rodent population in your community. By being aware of the problem and taking some simple precautions, you can attract the wild birds you want to your yard without attracting large numbers of mice. Unfortunately, there is hardly ever a mention in bird watching and feeding magacines about mice.  Yes it is pretty awesome to watch all kinds of species come to your backyard adn yes you can purchase all kind of deterrend so the squirrels don't get to your feeding stations but if you ignore the fact that bird feed is mice feed you are asking for trouble. The industry also likes to talk about squirrels both as villains raiding your feeders and as reasons to buy more expensive “squirrel-proof” feeders. What the industry doesn’t like to talk about, though, are mice. With more North Americans feeding wild birds today than ever before in history, it makes sense that we pay attention to these details and take care to adopt a set of best practice guidelines now. It is only a matter of time until people less appreciative of nature than we are raise holy hell with City Hall demanding a crackdown on a popular backyard hobby that has the unfortunate side effect of attracting mice

Precaution 1 – Food Storage Store your food in sealed, waterproof containers. Do not simply put the bag on a shelf in the garage. If you do, your garage will soon be infested with mice. I buy food in 50 lb bags now, so I bought a stack of 5 gallon paint pails from the local hardware store. But even before I started buying food in bulk, I was recycling jars and plastic milk jugs for storing small quantities of bird food.

Precaution 2 – Keep Food Away from Buildings I learned the hard way not to fill my feeders in the garage. Since it is nearly impossible to fill a feeder without spilling some seed on the floor, I soon had a minor mouse infestation. I now store my food in weather proof containers outside. I am also careful to fill my feeders far away from my house and garage.

Precaution 3 – Avoid Ground Feeders Ground feeders are useful for attacting some kinds of birds (such as Chipping Sparrows), but in most cases a large platform feeder stationed near but not on the ground will do the trick just as well. I admit that I still keep one ground feeder filled with oats and barley to attract White-tailed Jackrabbits during winter months. But in order to reduce its attractiveness to mice and voles, I no longer stock it with the suet cakes rabbits (and mice) have such an affection for.

Precaution 4 – Talk To The Industry Canmore, AB, a mountain village 90 minutes to the west of where I live has recently passed a bylaw outlawing bird feeders because they attract Black Bears. This is what happens when the industry tries to ignore a problem instead of meeting it head on. Talk to the industry through your local wild bird food store. Encourage food and feeder manufacturers to adopt a set of best practices guidelines for bird feeding entusiasts. Ask them to include a one page outline of these guidelines in every unit they sell to consumers. Ask your bird food retailer to sell weather proof storage containers and warn customers of the dangers of sloppy feeding practices. The last thing we feeding enthusiasts want to see are bylaws outlawing feeders because they attract mice or coyotes or bears.

Precaution 5 – Keep it Clean Going out to fill your feeders is only half of the job. You are not done until you have cleaned up as much of the ground waste beneath the feeders as you can.If you are an enthusiastic bird watcher/feeder talk to us about preventive control for rodent.

• coveralls (disposable, if possible)
• rubber boots or disposable shoe covers
• rubber, latex, or vinyl gloves
• protective goggles
• and an appropriate respiratory protection device, such as a half-mask air-purifying (or negative-pressure) respirator with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter or a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) with HEPA filters. Follow local and state requirement regarding pulmonary function and fit testing before beginning any work requiring the use of a respirator.

Personal protective gear should be decontaminated upon removal at the end of the day. All potentially infective waste material (including respirator filters) from clean-up operations that cannot be burned or deep-buried on site should be double-bagged in appropriate plastic bags. The bagged material should then be labeled as infectious (if it is to be transported) and disposed of in accordance with local requirements for infectious waste.
 
Cleaning Air Ducts (heating and cooling ventilation systems):
When there is evidence that rodents have access to heating and cooling ventilation systems, it is best to contact a professional rodent exterminating service to remove them. Companies specializing in duct cleaning are familiar with the particular problems and risks associated with rodent infestation in ventilation systems.

For more specific information on eliminating rodent infestations in heating and cooling ventilation systems and the companies that perform this service, refer to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

What is Hantavirus?
Hantavirus is a virus that is found in the urine, saliva, or droppings of infected deer mice and some other wild rodents (cotton rats, rice rats in the southeastern Unites States and the white-footed mouse). It causes a rare but serious lung disease called Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). The virus does not remain active for long once outside of its host — less than 1 week outdoors and a few hours when exposed to direct sunlight.

How common is Hantavirus?
The virus was first reported in Canada in 1994 with 3 cases in British Columbia. Since then, about 50 cases have been reported, mostly in western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia).

How can Hantavirus enter my body?
People can contract the Hantavirus infection through inhalation of respirable droplets of saliva or urine, or through the dust of feces from infected wild rodents, especially the deer mouse. Transmission can also occur when contaminated material gets into broken skin, or possibly, ingested in contaminated food or water. Person-to-person transmission in North America has not been reported. A few situations of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in South America suggests person-to-person transmission is possible. However, the viruses isolated in South America are genetically distinct from those described in North America.

How does Hantavirus affect my health?
The disease caused by Hantavirus is called Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Symptoms appear within 1 to 5 weeks after exposure. The average is 2 to 3.5 weeks. This disease is extremely serious since 50-60% of the people who get the disease die. The disease begins as a flu-like illness. In the early stage, a worker may experience fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat and gastrointestinal problems. However, the disease progresses rapidly and infected people experience an abnormal fall in blood pressure and their lungs will fill with fluid. Severe respiratory failure, resulting in death, can occur within a few days of the early stage symptoms.

What is the treatment for Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome?
There is no specific vaccine, treatment or cure for Hantavirus infection but early recognition and medical care in an intensive care unit can help with recovery. Infected people may be given medication for fever and pain and oxygen therapy.

What occupations are at risk?
Cases of Hantavirus infection contracted in Canada and the United States have been associated with these activities:

•Sweeping out a barn and other ranch buildings
•Trapping and studying mice
•Using compressed air and dry sweeping to clean up wood waste in a sawmill
•Handling grain contaminated with mouse droppings and urine
•Entering a barn infested with mice
•Planting or harvesting field crops
•Occupying previously vacant dwellings
•Disturbing rodent-infested areas while hiking or camping
•Living in dwellings with a sizable indoor rodent population

For workers that might be exposed to rodents as part of their normal job duties, employers are required to comply with relevant occupational health and safety regulations in their jurisdiction. Typically, employers are required to develop and implement an exposure control plan to eliminate or reduce the risk and hazard of Hantavirus in their workplace.

How can we prevent exposure to Hantavirus?
There are no vaccines against Hantavirus. Since human infection occurs through inhalation of contaminated material, clean-up procedures must be performed in a way that limits the amount of airborne dust. Treat all mice and droppings as being potentially infected. People involved in clean-up activities where there are not heavy accumulation of droppings should wear disposable protective clothing and gloves (neoprene, nitrile or latex-free), rubber boots and a disposable N95 respirator. For cleaning up rodent contaminated areas with heavy accumulations of droppings it is necessary to use powered air-purifying (PARP) or air-supplied respirators with P100 filters and eye or face protection to avoid contact with any aerosols.

Dead mice, nests and droppings should be soaked thoroughly with a 1:10 solution of sodium hypochlorite (household bleach). Bleach kills the virus and reduces the chance of further transmission. The contaminated material should be placed in a plastic bag and sealed for disposal. Disinfect by wet-wiping all reusable respirator surfaces, gloves, rubber boots and goggles with bleach solution. All disposable protective clothing, gloves and respirators should be placed in plastic bags and sealed for disposal. Please contact your local environmental authorities concerning approved disposal methods.

Thoroughly wash hands with soap and water after removing the gloves.