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.

If you have been out and about enjoying the delightful fall climate in Manhattan or the surrounding areas, you might notice something this year that was not readily seen in previous years.  If you haven’t noticed yet, you should be warned though, that you might want to bring along a good set of nose plugs and your running shoes on your next jaunt out on the town.

Skunks have been showing up more than ever before and raising quite a stink for joggers, bikers, park goers, and homeowners alike.  For reasons unknown, the skunk population is on the rise.  With no natural predators, like the coyotes in the Bronx to munch on these creatures, they are left to their own reproductive devices and their numbers are flourishing.

The good news is that Animal Care and Control of New York City will pick up skunks.  The bad news is that they will only pick them up if they are acting strange because they might have Rabies.  Personally, I think anything that squirts a green acid as a defense mechanism which will stay on your skin for over a week is an animal that acts strange, but that’s just my opinion. 

Don’t risk having to live with nauseous stench by trying to remove skunks on your own.  Always call a pest control specialist instead!

A family of skunks has caused concern among residents in the Laurence Harbor area of Old Bridge, New Jersey after they moved into an abandoned house. Other than emitting a foul smell, the skunks also pose a threat to the safety of pets and residents in the neighborhood.

Ashley Mulcahy, who is living next door to the skunk-infested house, said that she has seen a large number of skunks going in and out of the house, and her nine-year-old American Eskimo dog was sprayed and bitten by one of them. Neighbors are worried that the skunks may spread rabies, and efforts have been made to contact the owner of the house, but she has not responded to the calls.

Director of Middlesex County Public Health Department, David A. Papi, advised residents to avoid contact with skunks or other wild animals and report immediately to their local health departments if they are bitten by wild animals.

If you need professional help to get rid of skunks, you can call pest control experts in NY, NYC, and NJ.

For NJ and NYC residents concerned about their families and pets getting rabies by wildlife, especially raccoons, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service signed the first North American Rabies Management Plan with Canada and Mexico. The goal is to improve the cooperation and the communication among the three nations.

In the United States an oral rabies vaccination program is utilized to prevent rabies spreading in wildlife including raccoons, and coyotes. NJ and NYC residents should be aware that rabies from wild animals can be transmitted to dogs and other types of pets. Raccoons, skunks and other wildlife often live in urban settings such as NYC. Urban raccoons often live in sewer systems.

CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding mentioned that although tremendous improvements have been made in combating rabies, especially canine rabies,  it’s still found in wildlife which puts people at risk.

Canine to canine rabies has been almost eliminated in the United States. Human cases of rabies mostly happens due to exposure to wildlife inflicted with rabies.

NJ and NYC residents that are having problems with raccoons and other wildlife can contact a NJ, NYC wild animal control professional. 

Man, it just doesn’t get much worse than this. Four skunks dug their winter burrow under Karen McCullough’s house in Sheffield Lake, Ohio. Last November, McCullough and her family started hearing scratching noises under the kitchen and living room floors. The scratching set off the family’s dogs and cats that would bark and hiss and paw the carpeting. The skunks responded in the manner of their tribe — they sprayed, and sprayed, and sprayed.

The over-powering stench caused the McCulloughs to spend most of the freezing winter with their windows wide open. Their clothing, couch, chairs — everything! — still smell of skunk half a year later. McCullough said it’s been embarrassing to have to apologize to friends for the way she smells. “I’ve cried a few times. Inside, I’m having a nervous breakdown,” she confided.

Trappers finally lured the skunks from their den and the family is now living in a cramped hotel room while workers replace all their flooring. They’re also pouring a concrete slab to replace the original crawl space under their home. McCullough isn’t taking any chances on a repeat.

Skunks, groundhogs, raccoons, mice and possums can create some serious problems for homeowners. Particularly in newly developed areas, loss of habitat can force these wild animals to seek a substitute in your warm, cozy home. These animals can bring rabies, mites, ticks and fleas with them. For your safety, trapping and removal should only be performed by experienced wildlife control professionals.

Skunks are more than just a smelly problem. Skunks can work over your shrubbery causing expensive damage as well as carry rabies.

Skunks in the urban setting will frequently dig burrows under your shrubbery. This behavior can not only permanently damage your expensive bushes, but can create problems for gardeners and children who happen to come close to their dens. Skunks are mainly nocturnal creatures, but if disturbed can not only spray, but can terrify a hapless victim by its threatening postures and barred teeth.

Before a skunk sprays, it will typically rise up on its front feet elevating its rear for better aim higher up, like a predator’s face and eyes. The liquid not only smells awful but stings and is hard to wash off. As they are mainly nocturnal, your children will probably never come home smelling like a skunk, but your pets may. Dogs are typical and frequent targets as they are territorial and will try to route out skunks from their dens without understanding the consequences.

Once skunks have moved in, the best way to remove them is to trap them and then release them in a wooded area. One of the most frequent calls to animal control is for skunks. Unfortunately there just isn’t much redeeming about them and they can be difficult to trap and remove as they are intelligent, but they are just acting like the wild animals that they are. As we build up more of the nesting areas and territories, skunks are driven right into our own neighborhoods. It is not their fault, but it sure is trouble for all of us.

The stench is nauseating. My eyes won’t stop tearing. Each breath is painfully permeated with noxious odor. Even with the windows tightly shut, the foul smell permeates our house. This is the third night in a row that a skunk has bombed our yard.

Unlike Flower, the skunk in Disney’s Bambi, real skunks don’t exactly have a delicate perfume. As anyone knows who has driven through skunk territory, the malodorous odor permeates a wide area and lingers an unconscionably long time. Skunks seek out comfy accommodations, using their sharp talons to dig under porches, decks and backyard sheds, undermining foundations in search of a cozy shelter.

They’ll munch on your plants, plunder your garden, dig up your lawn searching for grubs, snack on pet food left out for the dog or cat, even sample the garbage. They can douse you or your pet with their penetrating spray from a distance of 7 to 10 feet, quite a feat for a critter the size of a large house cat. Their dens harbor disease, breeding fleas, ticks and mites which can threaten the health and safety of your household pets and even your children.

I can tell you from personal experience that no amount of tomato juice or douche will completely eliminate skunk odor on a dog — and after you wash your pet, on you. Skunk odor clings to skin and hair and fur for long, suffering weeks, no matter how many times you shower. Having barely survived a skunk bombing two years ago, our poor old pooch is confined to a short leash on well-supervised walks until we can locate and roust the skunk from our yard. No more romps around the backyard for awhile, a disappointment for both Rascal and our children.

Getting rid of a skunk is no job for amateurs. If someone’s going to wind up on the wrong end of an angry skunk, you want it to be a professional, paid to take the hit! That’s what we’re here for. If you have a skunk problem, call the wildlife control experts at Stern Environmental Group. To find out more about our superior wildlife control services, click the post title. Visit our website for more information about our complete professional pest control and pest management services. You’ll sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests.