Tag: infestation

Rats Scurrying to the Suburbs

  • Life in the suburbs is idyllic to some people... (Photo by Bon Searle)

Unusually heavy rains this summer are partly to blame
for rats pouring out of the sewers in droves all over the country, and the nasty vermin are relocating to some of the most pristine
neighborhoods. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Joyce
Kryszak explains what caused the rat invasion and
what’s being done to evict them:

Transcript

Unusually heavy rains this summer are partly to blame for rats pouring out of the sewers
in droves all over the country. And the nasty vermin are relocating to some of the most
pristine neighborhoods. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Joyce Kryszak explains what
caused the rat invasion and what’s being done to evict them:


Piercing blue autumn skies and billowing white clouds drift across the chimneys of this modest,
but perfectly manicured suburb. There aren’t even many leaves crunching under foot. Town workers
have already come and vacuumed them all away. But there’s a nasty little secret scurrying under
the porches and behind the garden sheds in this Western New York town. County Sanitation Chief
Peter Tripi takes us for a peek.


“Can you see the teeth marks here? That’s actually rat gnaw marks. And there’s the garbage bag.
And that’s what we found when we went to this property.”


Now, you might be thinking that we trudged through derelict grass and scattered debris to find
these rat clues. Nope. This is a gorgeous, manicured yard – with not a blade of grass out of
place. But Tripi says rats aren’t choosy.


“You would never think by looking side to side that there would be a rat problem in this yard.
Doesn’t matter what neighborhood you live in, or how much money you’ve got. There’s no difference.
They just like your food.”


And you’d be surprised where rats can find food. A garbage can left even briefly uncovered, a
neglected bird feeder, uhhh… dog feces… and even a compost pile.


“Absolutely. This is a rat condo. It’s a grass-clipping compost pile that basically housed rats
to go a hundred yard radius all the way around to the different houses.”


Tripi says rats had to get creative with their housing. A summer of extremely heavy rains drove
the out of the sewers and into some previously rat-free neighborhoods. And with the West Nile
virus killing off millions of birds, the rats have less competition for the food they’re finding
above ground. The consequence is a virtual rat infestation all the way from New York and Illinois
to Virginia, Michigan and L.A. In Kenmore, there have been four thousand rat complaints – nearly
double last year.


(Sound of garbage truck)


Of course, none of this is news to the garbage collectors. They see the problem up close and
personal. Twenty-year veteran Louie Tadaro says this past summer is the worst he’s ever seen.


“Across the street there’s an alleyway and there had to be like ten of them in there, And we
started chasing them with garbage cans trying to kill them, but we couldn’t. By the time we
got there they just split.”


The problem is, they don’t split for long. Vector Control Chief Tripi says now that the rats
have relocated from the sewers to upscale accommodations, they kind of like it.


“And what that means is that they want to live with us. They want to be near our garbage and
our bird feeders. The problem with that is that rats carry diseases.”


We all know about stuff like typhus and the bubonic plague. But there are emerging diseases,
such as a pet-killer called Leptospiroris. It’s killing dogs all across the country. Tripi
says they need to get rid of the rats before the disease starts spreading to humans. So, his
team is taking the rats on, one yard at a time.


Tripi and his Vector control team set rat traps, they fill bait boxes with poison, and – when
they have to – they issue citations to residents who don’t heed the town’s new “rat control rules.” Covered garbage cans only. Clear away all brush. Clean up scattered bird seed and dog feces. Slowly, the rules seem to be working.


(sound of Tripi looking into rat trap)


Still Tripi says it’s mostly educational warfare. And he says now – heading into winter – is the
best time to nip the problem. If the rats get cozy, not only will they stay, they will multiply.
Fully nourished, one adult rat can breed up to sixty baby rats a year.


“The adult rat can live on a little bit of food, but he can’t procreate unless he has a lot of
food source. And they can’t live through the winter unless they’re warm and fattened up.”


So now is the time to – quite literally – put a lid on it. Keep those garbage cans covered, unless
you want some uninvited furry guests this winter, and many, many more come spring.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Joyce Kryszak.

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Safety Concerns About New Rat Poison Pill

  • The EPA has rescinded some safety constraints on rodenticides. Some fear this may harm children, because they might now be more likely to ingest rat poison. (Photo by Geovani Arruda)

Plaintiffs in a case before a New York Federal Court accuse the
Environmental Protection Agency of being too soft on protecting children
from poisonous rat pellets. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny
Lawton reports:

Transcript

Plaintiffs in a case before a New York Federal Court accuse the Environmental Protection
Agency of being too soft on protecting children from poisonous rat pellets. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny Lawton reports:


The poisonous pellets aren’t just tough on rats. Some environmentalists say they’re
injuring young children as well. The Natural Resources Defense Council says more than
fifty-thousand children in the U.S. below the age of six have been sickened by rat poison
this year. In 1998, the EPA made a rule that required manufactuers to put a bitter taste
and a special dye in the pellets to keep children from eating them.


But three years later, the agency rescinded that mandate.


It said it had come to a “mutual agreement” with the rodenticide industry that those precautions
might be making the pellets less effective. But critics say that has put kids back in harm’s way.
Especially those living in low-income areas where rat infestation is a common problem.


Although the EPA won’t comment directly on the case, an agency report from 2001 argued that
when rodenticides are used correctly, and children are supervised around them, fewer accidental
ingestions happen.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jenny Lawton.

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Governor Asks for Emergency Ash Borer Help

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is asking the Federal Emergency Management Administration for disaster funds to deal with the Emerald Ash Borer. She says the aid is necessary to prevent the tree-killing pest from spreading into more states. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rick Pluta reports:

Transcript

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is asking the Federal Emergency
Management Administration for disaster funds to deal with the Emerald Ash
Borer. She says the aid is necessary to prevent the tree-killing pest from
spreading into more states. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rick Pluta reports:


The Governor’s request is for money to remove and destroy infested trees, and to come
up with ways to contain the pest. The ash borer has already killed an estimated six
million trees in Michigan, and it’s also been found in Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, and
Virginia.


Governor Granholm says it’s too big a problem for her state to handle
by itself.


“We need additional resources, and certainly I know the federal
government would be interested in making sure that it doesn’t spread to other
states or the entire country. We need help. This is an emergency.”


She says the state’s not assured it will get that help, and is getting
mixed signals from the federal government on its request.


Linda Sacia of the Federal Emergency Management Administration says a review of the
request is still underway, and there’s no word on when an answer might be coming.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Rick Pluta.

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Asian Beetle Invasion Spreads

The infestation of Asian long-horned beetles is spreading in North America. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:

Transcript

The infestation of Asian long-horned beetles is spreading in North America. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:


An Asian long-horned beetle, about two inches long and black with white spots was found in an
industrial park outside of Toronto.


It arrived in packing material from Asia. And it burrowed into nearby trees – making this the first
infestation in Canada.


Forestry specialist Gordon Henry says the beetle poses a serious threat to Canada’s native
hardwoods.


“If it was to get into wild areas and attack maple trees, it would impact probably on tourism, it
would certainly pose a problem for anybody producing maple syrup, would also be a nuisance
pest for any homeowner who’s trying to grow one of the host trees.”


The beetle has also infested trees in Chicago, New York City and New Jersey.


Henry says it takes years to fully eradicate them.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.

Related Links

New Defense Against Emerald Ash Borer

Scientists say they’ve found a fungus that kills the Emerald Ash Borer. The tiny green beetles have devastated ash tree populations in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Canada. Now, the Emerald Ash Borer is moving farther west. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner reports:

Transcript

Scientists say they’ve found a fungus that kills the Emerald Ash Borer. The tiny green
beetles have devastated ash tree populations in parts of Michigan, Ohio, and Canada. Now the Emerald Ash Borer is moving farther west. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner has more:


Researchers with the U.S. Forest
Service and Michigan State University
say a product called “BotaniGard”
kills the Emerald
Ash Borer in lab tests. But they say
it isn’t clear yet whether the product
is effective against widespread
infestation.


BotaniGard is produced
by Emerald BioAgriculture
Corporation. Company President
John McIntyre says
it’s safe for people and animals.


“That’s one of the nice things about
biological pesticides. They oftentimes
are, and in the case of
BotaniGard, certainly is something
that is not harmful to the environment
or to the user.”


BotaniGard is not a new product.
Farmers have been using it since the
late 1990’s. The company plans
to donate some of the product to local
governments dealing with
Emerald Ash
Borer infestation.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erin Toner.

Trade With Asia to Ship in New Invasives?

  • The Asian longhorned beetle, native to China, is a serious threat to hardwood trees in the U.S. So far, populations of the beetle have been confined to Chicago and New York. Foresters are concerned that more non-native species will be introduced through expanded global trade. Photo courtesy of USDA-APHIS.

Forests in the Midwest may be under siege from exotic species more often in the future… partly because of international trade. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams explains:

Transcript

Forests in the Midwest may be under siege from exotic species more often in the future… partly because of international trade. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Rebecca Williams reports:

The Asian longhorned beetle is native to China.
The beetle caught a ride to the U.S. in the wooden packing material of
imported goods. So far, the beetle has been found in New York and
Chicago. 


Once a tree is infested with beetles, the best way to stop the beetles from spreading is to destroy the tree.

A National Academy of Sciences study predicts that threats to native species will increase as trade opens up between the U.S. and China. The authors say that China may become a new “donor region” for species that could become invasive.

Entomologist Deborah McCullough is an author of the study.

“You can kind of visualize this whole complex of insects and weeds and plant pathogens in Asia that haven’t had a pathway, they haven’t had a route to be brought to the country yet… and we really don’t know what all could end up coming in.”

Dr. McCullough says because China’s range of climates and plant life are similar to that of the U.S., many species that make it over here have a chance to become established.

For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Bee Keepers Struggle With Declining Markets

Its estimated that the U.S. honeybee industry generates about $8
million in annual revenue. But the industry has taken a serious
financial hit from a mite infestation. Honey bees are being killed and
honey production is down. You might think that would mean higher
prices for honey. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester
Graham reports, the price of honey has actually gone down:

Beetle Infestation Spreads

A recent discovery of the Asian long horned beetle has caused entomologistsin the Chicago area to declare an outbreak. That worries officials that thetree killing bug could make it’s way into other parts of the Great LakesRegion. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Scheck reports:

Tracking the Round Goby Invasion

The five-inch long round Goby has been found for the first time in Lake Ontario. This summer’s discovery means this European transplant has infiltrated all of the Great Lakes, just eight years after it was first located near Detroit:

Gypsy Moth Quarantine

Officials for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources have taken steps to combat the infestation of gypsy moths by placing a quarantine throughout northeastern Indiana. This makes Indiana the seventeenth (17th) state in the country to enforce such a quarantine. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Scheck reports: