A home in Etobicoke, Toronto was home for 28 cats and kittens. Neighbors have been complaining for over a year about the smells that were coming out of the house to their neighbors. It wasn’t until recently that the Humane Society went into the household and found the 28 cats and kittens. What they also found was a house that resembled a litter box. Feces, urine, and garbage were all over the place. There was something else in the house. A cockroach infestation that one member of the Humane Society said was the largest amount of roaches he has ever seen in one place at a time. When they went into the house to get the cats, they would pick one cat up and more roaches came out. They were coming out of everywhere. Two women are living there, and that resulted in the Health Department being called in.
Officials said that there were roaches all over the floors and walls. When entering the house, officials wore masks and protective clothing. They said it was unbearable to breath in the house. The cats were taken to the vet and examined. Most were ok, while some were treated for respiratory problems. Once they are taken care of, they will be put up for adoption. The rescue was the largest single rescue that the Etobicoke Humane Society has ever done. The amount of roaches and the conditions found were considered “horrifying” to the officials.
A big dream is being threatened by a small creature. Businesswoman Cheryl McIntire and Nancy Magliocchetti have the dream of converting a 95 year old Victorian home in to a showcase, but there is just one problem; termites. They’ve tunneled through the wooden floorboards, headers, support joists and the wall studs. Even little piles of termite dung cover the floors, as these pests have created damages in excess of $15,000. This is definitely not good for Cheryl and Nancy, as it was obviously not part of their plan. “This is a huge impendent in their business plan,” said the women’s Tampa attorney, Pete Cardillo.
The house was built in 1915, and sold a year later. The Eubanks family owned it until 2006 when it was sold to McIntire and Magliocchetti for $178,500. The problem is, there was no termite inspection done. While there are no rules to prevent its demolition, losing the house would be a horrible loss for the two. “We don’t want to sink more money in to it if it’s being eaten alive from the inside…We want it treated so we can at least continue working, and then we’ll deal with the damage claim.”
Beetles are killing various trees that are important to the ecosystem. So how do you prevent them from doing that? How about blasting some “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses, or how about some “Stone Cold Crazy” by Queen, or even just play some Rush Limbaugh clips. Scientists have found that by playing heavy metal music or Rush Limbaugh (Limbaugh was so annoying to the scientists that they played his voice backwards with the same effect), aka the “nastiest, most offensive sounds they could find”, near beetle infested trees effects tunneling, mating and reproduction. This in effects makes it harder for beetles to eat through trees. It is thought that the acoustic stress that comes from these sounds disrupts feeding and even causes beetles to kill each other. “Beetle Mania”, as the project is dubbed, doesn’t use Beatles music, passing on the irony.
While using these sounds works at the start, after a while the beetles begin to ignore it. When this happened, the scientist turned to a new idea. The idea is to play this aggressive call made by males of the “tree-killer” species. They would play the call louder and longer. By doing this, it messed everything up for the beetles. Tunneling, mating, reproducing was effected. They were particularly effective in turning the beetles against each other, which is rare. On one instance, they played the call as a male and female were about to mate. The effect? The male ripped the female apart. There is still a need to expand this testing, to build upon the early returns. However, until then, it is pretty safe to say that the beetles would rather not hear Paradise City any time soon.
Imagine walking into a fancy restaurant in Costa Rica and looking at the menu. You see the usual, but then you come across garlic grasshoppers as a main course. Well the idea of cultivating insects and making them edible has gained steam in Costa Rica. The main source for this idea comes from Africa, where eating insects is apart of every day life. Costa Rican scientists have looked into their forest and surroundings and have found many insects that would work well when put into the everyday diet. The Scientists have joined forces with scientists from Benin. Benin has long consumed insects and mushrooms. In most other countries insects are considered gourmet food believe it or not.
These insects can be cooked multiple ways. You can grill them, fry them, put onions or garlic on them. One Costa Rican scientist said that the large grasshoppers that they find in the forest are “far more savory than shrimp” when garlic is added on. Termites, crickets, butterfly and moth larvae are other types of insects that are routinely consumed. To the credit of the Scientists, they eat every insect that they consider an option to be on menus. The idea has been met with a ton of skepticism, so the best way to introduce this would be to first put only delicacies on the menu, according to the those in charge. Either way, we may not be far off from seeing crickets on skewers with onions in our favorite restaurants.
A woman going from Mexico into Texas was stopped at the border. When it came time to declare what she had, she declared a piece of jewelry, a beetle that was covered in gold and blue jewelry, with a safety-pin in it and a gold chain. It was being worn as a brooch on her sweater. One thing though, the beetle was living. The woman didn’t have the right paperwork filled out, so the beetle was confiscated, and taken for further inspection. In Mexico, wearing beetles as jewelry has long been popular. Now it has developed into wearing live beetles, a new fad that has seemingly caught on. Actually, it has been said that Jackie Kennedy got one of these with emeralds on it.
The problem that has arisen is that the women didn’t properly declare the insect. When coming into a country, one must declare pests in any form (living, pets, and so on) on a PPQ form 526. This form is for the importation or exportation of pests. Due to her not doing that, the insect was taken. Another problem that has arisen is animal rights activists have flocked to this story. They are outraged that a woman would do this to a live beetle. They went to the newspapers in Texas to complain about this treatment of the beetle. Regardless of what is said, this practice of wearing beetles as jewerly is rampant in Mexico, and it makes one wonder if that fad will catch on in the U.S.
Holiday Inn has announced that they are rolling out a new service in London and Manchester.The service?
Bed warmers.
Holiday Inn will send employees to your room before you get there to warm the bed up for you. This may seem a bit odd. The hotel chain says that it is easier to get to sleep when you are in a warm bed.
This is a problem. Hotel workers lying in customer beds before they come in will create a perfect environment to spread bed bugs. There is already a widespread problem in hotel rooms with spreading bed bugs. This service should be immediately discontinued, if the hotel chain wants to warm beds for customers they should install something in the bed that would automatically do the heating.
Michael Bohdan created the one and only Cockroach Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Plano, Texas. This place features many dead cockroaches, dressed up and put into “scenes.” The most popular is Liberoachi. Others include the Statue of Liberty and Ross Peroach. The YouTube video below goes more in depth about the Hall of Fame and Museum. One of the cockroaches Bohdan purchased for $1,000 because of its impressive size!
Maryland resident, Deborah O’Sullivan informed the Baltimore Sun last week that buses within the Maryland Transit System are infested with cockroaches. She claims that every day after she gets off a MTA bus, she must inspect her clothing and bags to ensure there are no cockroaches. It is a very humiliating task, but she has no other choice.
MTA spokesperson issued a statement informing the city that the busses are cleaned every day, and that to ensure the prevention of insects, they will need the help of commuters to obey the laws and not eat or drink anything on buses.
To have cockroaches crawling around in a bus, apartment or other establishment is a sign of poor sanitation. Ensure that you keep a clean living area, food sealed, and you will remain cockroach free. We hope the issue in Maryland is solved, and buses become cleaner.
An annual contest held at the Arizona State University Biology department, awarded the “Snakefly” Ugliest Bug of 2009 award. 2009 contestants included; Aphids, Carpenter Bees, Cockroaches, Coreidaes, Crane Flies, Honey Bees, Jumping Ants, Paper Wasps and Scorpions. The Snakefly won by a margin of about 1,000 votes, with a total of 2,514 votes. The Ugly Bug contest has been going on at ASU since 1997. This year’s voting ended December 15th. Stay tuned for next year! Check out the poster[pdf] ASU made for the contest!
As Christmas is only two days away, many Americas have live Christmas trees in their family room to celebrate the holiday. These trees smell and look amazing after they are all set up and decorated. One thing you need to understand, these trees are from the forest (duh). When these trees are cut down, there is a high chance a few insects call this tree home, most commonly Spiders and Aphids. Though you may have inspected the tree before buying it, “…it’s all about the eggs that the adult insects and arachnids laid on the stems of a tree in late summer or fall.” The presence of insects can actually be a good thing. You will ask..WHY? The presence of insects and their eggs will show the minimal use of pesticides used on these trees, which is the center piece of your home during the holiday season.
Many reports also mention that wildlife has been found in Christmas trees. Bird nests and snakes are among the most popular found in these trees. Wildlife can be a bit more scary then a spider or two…could you imagine a snake popping out of your tree while decorating it?
This is not to scare you, just to inform you. Take a good look at the Christmas tree before you buy it and ensure you don’t see a snake or bird’s nest in it. If an insect has laid eggs on this tree, most likely these eggs will die when the tree is placed inside your warm home.
JP McHale Pest Management Inc. would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
Penn Live.com first wrote about these Christmas tree horrors.
A home in Etobicoke, Toronto was home for 28 cats and kittens. Neighbors have been complaining for over a year about the smells that were coming out of the house to their neighbors. It wasn’t until recently that the Humane Society went into the household and found the 28 cats and kittens. What they also found was a house that resembled a litter box. Feces, urine, and garbage were all over the place. There was something else in the house. A cockroach infestation that one member of the Humane Society said was the largest amount of roaches he has ever seen in one place at a time. When they went into the house to get the cats, they would pick one cat up and more roaches came out. They were coming out of everywhere. Two women are living there, and that resulted in the Health Department being called in.
A woman going from Mexico into Texas was stopped at the border. When it came time to declare what she had, she declared a piece of jewelry, a 
Holiday Inn has announced that they are rolling out a new service in London and Manchester. The service?
As Christmas is only two days away, many Americas have live Christmas trees in their family room to celebrate the holiday. These trees smell and look amazing after they are all set up and decorated. One thing you need to understand, these trees are from the forest (duh). When these trees are cut down, there is a high chance a few insects call this tree home, most commonly 
