Stern Environmental Group would like to take this opportunity to apologize to our faithful customers and readers.  We were recently notified by some of our customers that they had received some very strange email messages which initially looked like they were coming from our company.  Once investigated, we realized that our Stern Twitter account had been hacked by some unscrupulous people on November 4th and November 9th!  Hacking into someone’s online business sources is completely shameful and unethical!

We would like all of our customers and readers to know that Stern never participates in spaming or phishing schemes.  We will never contact you to ask you for any password or credit card information either. Stern strives to provide our readers with the most updated information about bed bugs, bed bug products, bed bug services, and other important pest and urban wildlife information.  Through our extensive research and experience, we are able to bring you interesting and sometimes even funny stories that are directly linked to the industry that we are so passionate about.

If you ever receive any communication from Stern Environmental Group that seems to be out of the ordinary or meets any of the above criteria; we ask that you please contact us immediately so that we can take measures to stop this deceitful practice of others.

We do encourage you all to stop by our Twitter page and view some of our interesting topics and links.

As suburbia continues to spread outwards, more and more residents are encountering raccoons and other dangerous wildlife in their every day life.  Raccoons, along with opossums, rats, mice and other rodents are responsible for transmitting dangerous diseases to humans.  Eight residents in Long Beach, California with ages ranging from 1 to 59 years old have recently been diagnosed with typhus.  Typhus is not transmitted from human to human contact; rather it is spread by fleas that have hosted on various animals like the ones mentioned above.  Luckily for these folks in California, although typhus is unpleasant to contract, it rarely causes death and can be treated with antibiotics.

When dealing with wildlife, rabies should always be a top concern.  Rabies is most commonly found in raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes and coyotes, but any warm blooded animal can pass rabies onto people.

You should always try to avoid direct contact with wildlife; but if they do happen to enter you home or business, you should not try to remove them yourself.  Contacting a nuisance pest control removal specialist is the key to a humane and safe removal of wildlife instead.  Stern Environmental Group offers expert wildlife removal services to most of New Jersey, all of NYC, parts of CT and most of Long Island, NY.

While feral cats can be valuable to neighborhoods in New York City, they can be a public nuisance as well. They can help to reduce the rat problem that is causing great concern for New Yorkers, but they are known to make a lot of noise when they are fighting and mating, which can make people lose sleep and peace of mind. Also, some feral cats carry rabies as well as parasites that can cause various health problems.

Feral cats live in colonies. They can reproduce rapidly and create lots of problems in the neighborhoods. The Feral Cat Initiative has been established to manage the feral cat problems in NYC in a humane way. Teams are sent to various neighborhoods to catch feral cats and send them to centers where they will be vaccinated and neutered or spayed. Then, they will be returned to their colonies. This will control the population of feral cats as well as the spread of rabies, and it will make the neighborhoods quieter too.

Feral cats originate from former domestic cats that have been abandoned by their owners or lost in the outside world.  They learn to survive with little human contact in the outdoors or in abandoned buildings, warehouses, residential areas or other such places.  Unlike stray cats that are tame, feral cats are not accustomed to people and are typically fearful and too wild to handle.

Female feral cats can reproduce up to three times per year.  Without human contact, the surviving kittens will become feral at an early age as well.  Female cats reach reproductive maturity at around 5 months old and as a result, many areas in the United States have experienced a cat population explosion.

In general, feral cat colonies form in areas where food and shelter can be obtained.  Dumpsters near restaurants, a field with plenty of rodents to dine upon, and caring neighbors who feed the animals all help a cat colony to grow.

If you are having trouble with feral cats or other nuisance wildlife in New Jersey or New York City, contact Stern Environmental Group to see how they can help you.

Stalking big cats may be considered sport in Africa, but in Texas it could put you behind bars. Bird lover James Stevenson, founder of the Galveston Ornithological Society, faced two years in jail and a $10,000 fine for taking aim at feral cats. A retired teacher, Stevenson operates a bed and breakfast that caters to the more than 500,000 birders who come to the Gulf Coast island to enjoy hundreds of bird species. The problem is that feral cats come to the island for the same reason — only their idea of enjoyment includes a mouthful of feathers. When Stevenson decided to take the law into his own hands, he touched off a nationwide debate: birders vs cat lovers. In Texas, the result was a hung jury, but the debate — and the problem — rages on.

Cats are cute and playful — I have four and I keep them indoors where they can’t be a nuisance to my neighbors. I also have a bird feeder in my backyard. The cats and I enjoy watching the birds come to the feeder, though I’m sure for different reasons. Unfortunately, we also have a fair number of feral cats in our neighborhood and they, too, like to watch my feeder. About once or twice a year I find a pile of feathers in the yard that reminds me of the law of nature.

The problem is that feral cats aren’t part of the natural ecosystem. Feral cats have become a serious problem in bird sanctuaries, including those in New Jersey. In a city neighborhood like mine, they can be a downright nuisance: spraying and marking porches and front doors, turning flower beds into litter boxes, leaving fleas on porch swing cushions, and carrying diseases that can be passed to household pets. While I don’t think adding cats to the hunting calendar is the answer, it’s time for communities to take action.