Rats have been a problem in New York City since people, boats and goods began arriving in the area report NYC pest control professionals.  These critters need three things for survival…food, water, and safe living quarters.  Rat and mice infestations survive quite well in the controlled environment of commercial establishments, businesses, and warehouses.

Because many business establishments are not open 24 hours a day/7 days per week, rats and mice have the opportunity to easily infest a building or business and operate uninterrupted.  Storage facilities and restaurants that house large amounts of food products are highly susceptible to rat and mice populations.  While these locations remain quiet during the nighttime hours, rats and mice are able to chew and claw their way into precious food supplies, contaminating all that they touch.  It is estimated that rats and mice contaminate 20% of all of the food sources in the world.

Rats and mice are resourceful creatures.  They don’t care much about what they eat report NYC pest control professionals.  Rats and mice are typically nocturnal creatures, but will come out during the daytime hours if they are in need of food or water, or if their nesting area has been disturbed.

Stop by our website to read about our innovative “Track & Trap” system.  Invading mice don’t stand a chance when we use this device as we are able to track their every move which enables us to see where their entry points are and their nesting place is.  We can safely remove mice in no time at all by using the Track & Trap.

Rats continue to be a problem throughout New York City, seemingly in even more ways than people originally thought. Besides infesting restaurants, office buildings, homes and alley-ways, large populations of rats can even be found throughout New York City parks.

There are different methods to eliminate NYC rat infestations being utilized throughout the city. The options include live traps, glue traps, snap traps, and electronic rat stations. Most people are not fond of live traps because they must then relocate the unharmed trapped rat to a new location far away from its nesting site.

Glue traps are commonly used, but often times, a clever rat is able to escape from the glue trap by wiggling free or even chewing its own foot off to free itself. For the faint of heart, the sounds that a rodent makes when stuck to the glue trap can be difficult to endure. Snap traps and electronic rat stations are a fast and immediate rodent kill.

Some people choose to use poison to try to rid their homes or business of rat infestations.  Rodent poisons have proven to be effective at killing rats, but they are also extremely toxic to humans, pets and other wild animals. CBS News reported on March 10, 2012 that three seemingly healthy and uninjured hawks have recently been found dead in NYC parks.  Hawks provide some relief in the war against NYC rats as they are one of their favored meal choices. It is suspected that the hawks were poisoned by eating rats that had consumed rat poison. The NYDailyNews.com reported on April 10, 2012, that suspicions were indeed correct. A necropsy found traces of rat poisoning in the liver of the latest hawk that was discovered in Central Park according to the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Traps alone cannot control rodent populations. Disease ridden NYC rats won’t leave on their own; a New York City pest control professional is needed to eradicate these pests.

Rats living in New York City are as common as people are say NY pest control professionals.  Some experts even believe that for every New York resident, there is a rat living somewhere in a building, park, subway, restaurant, apartment, alley way, or burrow.  Walk the streets late at night and there’s no doubt that New York City rats continue to thrive as they scamper from trash can to trash can searching for a tasty meal.  Any morsel of food dropped on the street serves as a feast to the always hungry rat in the city.

Rats are a particular problem in areas where home and business owners are dumping plastic bags curbside instead of placing them into tightly covered trash cans.  Rats have strong teeth and claws which can easily rip open plastic bags enabling them to gain access to food waste products.  Once inside, it is a variable smorgasbord which attracts many rats in the area.  Even when trash receptacles are used, failing to properly seal them will result in an invasion of filthy disease ridden rats.

The New York Daily News reported on April 5, 2012 that the City New York City Health Department has released their new figures for rat hotspots in the city.  Although the numbers are a bit better than they were in 2010, clearly more work needs to be done to eradicate these vermin as they still pose a serious threat to New York City residents.  You may read the article here.

Don’t wait for the City Health Department to make a visit to your home requiring that you take action against pesky rats.  Hiring a licensed NYC pest control professional with experience in rat removal services will get rid of disease carrying vermin quickly.  Call Stern Environmental Group today for fast rat eradication services.

For the rat lovers in the world, reports are that domestic rats make wonderful pets.  In the Indian city of Deshnoke, rats are revered at the Karni Mata temple.  There people believe that if you eat food or drink water that has been touched by these rats, you will be blessed.  Their wild cousins however are not so welcome in homes and businesses in New York City say NYC pest control experts.

In the United States non-domesticated rats are considered to be pests.  It is widely believed that wild rats originated in Asia and were inadvertently transported via ships to other parts of the world.  There are two types of wild rats:

• The Norway rat or brown rat grows to be about 10 inches long with a tail that is shorter than the rest of its body.

• The roof rat or black rat will grow to about 8 inches long with a tail that is always longer than the body.

These rats are prolific breeders.  Female rats are ready to begin breeding when they are about 3 to 4 months of age.  Once pregnant, the females will give birth in about 21 days.  During her one year life, a female rat can produce up to 7 litters per year. Each litter will have between 6 and 22 babies.  Wow!

Rats are aggressive and adaptable creatures.  They are on the constant lookout for food, water, and shelter, which makes human habitats the perfect place for rats to hang their hat.  Outdoors, rats live in burrows that are located near their food source.

Besides contaminating everything that they touch, rats are known carriers of a variety of diseases that are dangerous to humans.  Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, Leptospirosis, Rat- Bite Fever, and the Plague are common reasons that rats tend to cause panic in humans. Don’t let rats come in and threaten the health and safety of your home or business. Contact a New York City pest control expert for expert rat removal services!

They have a somewhat harmless and romanticized name but they are far from any type of bug that you would want to spend any alone time with!  The “kissing bug” is also known as the assassin bug, the Mexican bed bug, and the cone-nosed bug, is bloodthirsty pest to keep a watchful eye out for.  There are several species of kissing bugs within the United States. Some have a painless bite, while others deliver what is considered to be the most painful bite of any type of insect.

There are 16 species and 18 subspecies of Triatoma in the United States. Just like a bed bug, the kissing bug survives solely on the blood of mammals.  These bugs will attack wild and domestic animals, as well as humans.  In North America, opossums, raccoons, rats, armadillos, cats, and dogs have fallen victim to kissing bug attacks.

Kissing bug bite wounds are often misdiagnosed as spider bites, bed bug bites, herpes zoster, flea bites, and erythema multiforme.  In extreme cases, death from anaphylaxis is possible from the bite of a kissing bug.

The main reason that the kissing bug bite is so dangerous is because it can spread Chagas’ disease.  The disease is spread when the kissing bug bites their victim and leaves their feces behind in or near the bite wound.  If a person scratches or rubs the feces into the bite wound, the disease can be contracted.  Some people will show signs of the disease immediately, some will not.  Symptoms include a rash, fever, vomiting, and a swelling near the eyes.  The disease often goes misdiagnosed by the medical community.  Additionally, some people will not show any symptoms of the disease for years.  Chagas disease will lurk in their blood and surface twenty to thirty years after the bite wound occurred.  When this happens it is difficult for doctors to determine the digestive and heart problems that the victim is exhibiting.

Please check back on Monday for the conclusion.