In continuation from Wednesday…

Horrified, the hotel’s executive manager asked if I was there to investigate the hotel for a story.  I told no, that in fact I was in town for the singing convention.  I did tell her that I found something terrible in my hotel room that needed addressed immediately.  I then opened up the folded cardboard that I was carrying and explained to her that they were Cimex Lectularius, otherwise known as bed bugs!  I told her that I would require a new room; far away from the room I had been assigned.  I also asked if my new room could be sprayed for bed bugs since I knew that that hotel had an infestation problem.  The executive manager quickly agreed to my request and assigned me a fabulous suite far away from the bed bug nightmare in room 2112…hopefully!

I was assured that pest control would be called immediately and that the room, along with the rooms on either side of 2112, would be in quarantine while the “situation” was being handled. I did ask the hotel if they ever used a bed bug sniffing dog at their establishment.  I explained how dogs are far more accurate at finding infestations than humans are.  She said that their pest control company employs a beagle.

I arrived at my new suite and spent the next hour inspecting for bed bugs.  This room appeared to be in the clear, but as long as pest control was paying a visit, I would sleep better knowing that my new room was treated for bed bugs too!

Upon inspecting my new room, I did find something under the head board that I was not anticipating seeing…a mouse trap!  When I left the hotel later that day to head over to the convention, I asked the executive manager if they were having a mice infestation problem.  She looked terrified as she asked if my new room had a mouse in it.  I then asked if it was customary to leave mice traps in the guest rooms.  She of course said “no” and hung her head in disgust…first bed bugs and now a mouse trap!  When I arrived back at my suite, the mouse trap was removed.  Left on the granite bar was a huge gift bag filled with scrumptious chocolates, candy, drinks, delicious snacks, and a note of apology for the “incident in room 2112”.

Stay tuned for more bed bug adventures in Philadelphia! There’s more than just one hotel in Philadelphia with bed bugs!

Continuing from Thursday…

Not only is Josimar Ferreira accused of operating a Massachusetts extermination company without being certified, but it has been reported that he has also allegedly maintained pest control companies in New Jersey and New York as well.  Both New Jersey and New York have cited Ferreira for operating an unlicensed pesticide business.  It makes you wonder how he is able to obtain toxic pesticides, without being properly licensed.  Clearly there was a breakdown…in three states!

Stern Environmental Group has been providing expert bed bug and pest control services in New Jersey and New York for over ten years.  We pride ourselves on providing our customers with the safest pesticide application available, and offer a wide variety of services and products to meet many different types of needs.  We offer professional services to both residential and business customers alike.  Whether you are looking for help with bed bugs, rats, mice, squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs, ants, spiders, cockroaches, or bee control, Stern Environmental Group’s licensed pest control applicators are here to lend a helping hand!

Continuing from Thursday…

Public services must do their job by providing proper maintenance of buildings and provide good urban planning.  Older buildings that are dilapidated or abandoned should be demolished because they provide a safe haven and a perfect breeding ground for unwanted rodents.  Aging sewage systems and underground utility systems need to be maintained so that rat populations are not allowed to breed excessively, return to the surface for food, and then escape to the underground for cover again.  Overgrown vegetated areas are also prime breeding grounds for rodents and these areas also need to be maintained.

Citizens cannot rely on the government alone for protection from unwanted rodents.  They too must join in the battle to keep population numbers down.  Simple steps like sealing any holes that rodents can gain entrance to homes and properly containing trash in rodent proof containers, with lids, are a must.

Because of the dangers associated with rodent removal, it is not a good idea to handle rodents, their feces, or urine yourself.  Rodent infestations should be left to a professional.  Stern Environmental Group provides expert rodent removal service to Secaucus, New Jersey, the Greater New York City Metro and Connecticut Regions.  Give us a call today!

Cities across America, especially well populated and older ones, are facing a difficult task when it comes to rodent pest control and eradication.  Many governments are suffering financially and are having trouble paying for rodent infestation services so populations continue to be on the rise.  Rodents are known for carrying horrible diseases, gnawing on wiring and causing fires, invading restaurants and stores and contaminating food sources, and damaging structures.  Rodents also multiply quickly and have been known to bite both adults and children.

In 2007 and 2009, a study was done by d-Con that ranked which United States cities were at risk of having serious rodent problems.  In both studies, New York City was the number one contender because of its dense population, size, and age.  Definitely not surprising (ask anyone walking the streets late at night), but not good news either!  The government and citizens alike must join together to help keep the rodent populations down on the streets of New York.

Please check back on Tuesday for the conclusion.

A Walgreens located in Chicago was closed by the mayor’s Dumpster Task Force due to having 570 mouse droppings on the floors and shelves that contained snack foods and candy. Sounds like a good idea. Inquiring minds in New York City and New Jersey want to know if the store would have been shut down if they found 338 mouse droppings.

If a prominent company like Walgreens has 570 mouse droppings in a particular store perhaps other prominent stores have a large collection of mouse droppings. The phrase mouse droppings is not as repulsive as other phrases which could have been selected.

Inquiring minds in New York City and New Jersey and perhaps all over the nation want to know if the 570 mousse droppings count has been verified by an independent source. Well, perhaps not.

Just 20 mouse droppings would be enough to inspire the shouting of yuck! Why didn’t the employees notice the accumulation of mouse droppings when it got to 200 hundred?

Now that winter has officially set in, many homeowners are experiencing the arrival of guests they were not expecting.  No, not Aunt Sally…instead mice, rats, squirrels, and other home invaders are using the warmth of homes to seek shelter from the bitter cold.  According to the National Pest Management Association, an estimated 21 million homes in the United States will experience a rodent invasion of some sort this winter.

If you have not already prepared your home for winter invaders, here are a few things you should do…

Trim any branches and shrubbery away from your home or roof so that rodents do not have easy access to your home.  Firewood is a favorite nesting spot for many creatures, so you should keep it at least 20 feet from your house and elevate it several feet off the ground.  Seal any holes or cracks on the outside of your home to keep would-be invaders out.  If you suspect that you might have a rodent invasion, inspect electrical wires and look for gnaw marks and rodent droppings.

If you are one of the unlucky folks who have been invaded by pests, it is always wise to contact a licensed pest control specialist to take care of the infestation as soon as possible.  Rats and mice carry diseases in their urine and feces that are dangerous when ingested or breathed in by humans.

Stern Environmental Group provides fast quality rodent extermination service to Secaucus, New Jersey, the Greater New York City Metro and Connecticut Regions.

Continuing from last Thursday…

Another neighbor reports using a sticky trap in his laundry room to catch a field mouse home invader.  The trap worked great as a mouse was caught within hours.  Unfortunately his wife found the attached mouse…and she does not like mice.  She begrudgingly carried the attached mouse to the garage to have her husband dispose of it when he got home.  Hours later, she returned to the garage to find another mouse stuck to the trap as well.  Killing two with one trap, sounds pretty good!  A short time later she returned to the trap to find that only one mouse was on the trap and three extra feet and part of a tail from the missing mouse were stuck to the trap!  YUCK!  The second mouse chewed off its own feet and tail just to escape the trap.  One more trip to the garage before her husband returned home revealed no mice on the trap and instead a snake was attached to the sticky trap with a bulge in its belly!  Despite their best efforts, they were not able to remove the snake off of the trap so it encountered an untimely death.

The new guidelines from the CDC are to only use a baited snap trap when catching mice or rats.  Setting the traps can be tricky as it is easy to trap your own hand instead, which is quite painful.

Save yourself the pain and potential health hazards, and call a licensed pest control expert who is trained in rat and mice removal services.  Stern Environmental Group uses not only traditional resources for removal of rats and mice, but also the innovative Track and Trap System in their arsenal of services.  This incredible device allows the Stern experts to track the paths of mice using UV light so that the nest and entry points can be discovered and mice can be sealed out once and for all.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has just released new consumer guidelines for ridding yourself of rats and mice.  Although wildly popular among homeowners and businesses, sticky traps are now on the “do not use” list for the CDC.  Their main issue with using the sticky traps is that once mice or rats are trapped, they are still alive and being such, are scared.  Scared mice and rats will urinate as they struggle to try to free themselves from the sticky traps.

Mice and rat urine carry diseases that are dangerous to humans if they are contracted.  Worldwide, rats and mice are known to spread over 35 different diseases.  These diseases can spread directly to humans through rodent feces and urine.  The bad thing is that you don’t even need to touch the feces and urine to contract one of these diseases.  Their urine or droppings becomes airborne through a process called aerosolization.  Humans can also contract diseases from rodents via fleas, mites and ticks.

Now this might give you the creeps, but these are actual experiences that my neighbors have had when using stickytraps to get rid of field mice in their homes.

One neighbor reports that she used a sticky trap when her cat was chasing a mouse late one night in her house.  The mouse ran under a doorway into the nursery where the baby was sleeping.  After searching for it for an hour, she placed a sticky trap down and went to bed.  She completely forgot about it the next day when her older daughter had a play date with a friend.  A fun game of hide-and-seek ended with a scream from the visiting girl as she knelt down on the sticky trap, which did not contain the mouse.  Many tears ensued as it took over an hour to peel the trap off of the little girl’s sensitive skin.  The girl later suffered from a terrible rash where the trap was attached as well.

Please check back on Tuesday for the conclusion.

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.