The grey squirrels in one New Jersey County are having a blast this holiday season…again. For the fourth year in a row, grey squirrels are noshing on the LED light bulbs that are decorating Fredericton in New Brunswick County. For some odd reason, the squirrels like all of the colors except the red ones though. County officials thought that this year they had outsmarted the squirrels when they installed larger LED lights. These lights were no match for the taste buds of the grey squirrel though. They like the new ones just as much as the old ones. The squirrels are seen daily sitting up in the trees eating every bit of the plastic bulbs…except those pretty red ones of course!
Squirrels are wonderful to watch while frolicking out in the yard and up in the trees; but they can become quite menacing if they decide that your house or attic would be a good nesting spot. Besides being messy houseguests, for some reason they like to nibble on electrical wires. Many times, their chewing has caused homeowners extensive damage and even fires.
New York City is regarded as one of the country’s leading bedbug battlegrounds. However, the horrible insects live in New Jersey and all over the nation. Hershey the bed bug detection dog primarily works in Cincinnati but has recently been asked to sniff around for the odious insects in Toledo, Ohio.
Hershey was asked to inspect an apartment complex. The janitor was skeptical of the bed bug sniffing dog until Hershey went immediately to a vile of bed bugs that his owner hid in the room as a test. Hershey has been trained to only find live bed bugs. Thus, if you want to see what a dead bed bug looks like don’t call Hershey. The dog has been trained to sit down whenever he smells a bed bug. Sometimes he fakes sitting down just to get the humans excited. Well, perhaps not.
After Hershey was done inspecting the Toledo apartment complex his owner estimated that 40 percent of the units were infested with bed bugs. The nation needs more dogs that have Hershey’s bed bug sniffing skills. The nation also needs more cheese puffs.
I read a story a few days ago about some residents who are renting mobile homes at an RV park in Bakersfield, California. Residents have complained to management about bed bugs biting them for months, yet nothing has been done to eradicate them. Instead they have been told to buy a can of Raid to get rid of the bed bugs. Sorry Charlie, bad advice there! The pest control officials mentioned in the article (it is unknown if they are providing services to the RV park) say that you have to throw out any infested belongings, re-carpet, and fumigate to get rid of the bed bugs. Again, not the best bit of information given out to the public.
A bed bug problem in Morristown, New Jersey has spawned a lawsuit. A tenant in a senior housing complex has filed a lawsuit claiming she has been evicted from her residence due to complaining to the mayor about a bed bug infestation in her building.
The lawsuit also states that the plaintiff was defamed by the executive director of the Morristown Housing Authority who allegedly stated to the media that the plaintiff was the source of the building’s bed bug problem. The plaintiff claims that the Director of the Morristown Housing Authority was “livid” and told the plaintiff that “she had bed bugs and they came from her.” Oh my.
The plaintiff is seeking punitive damages and unspecified compensatory damages. Perhaps there will soon be a bed bug specialty taught at the nation’s best law schools. Perhaps lawyer business cards will have the caption “bed bug lawyer” followed by “if bed bugs make you itch I will make you rich.” Oh my. Bed bugs are a big problem in New Jersey and New York City which keeps the bed bug pest control experts very busy.
In many cities the housing authorities will not help people that claim they have been attacked by bed bugs until they can deliver an actual bed bug. The bed bug may be delivered dead or alive. However apartment tenants often have a difficult time capturing a bed bug since they are often attacked while they are sleeping.
A person could take a couple of weeks or a few months or even a year to finally catch a bed bug and meanwhile the odious insects have infiltrated a large number of apartment units. Perhaps a bed bug pest control expert has a better chance of finding bed bugs, especially if he is accompanied by a bed bug detection dog.
Housing authorities and apartment managers should be trained in detecting bed bug bites on humans. If the skin irritations reasonably appear to be created by the blood sucking work of bed bugs then perhaps the prudent thing to do is to invite a pest control expert to examine the dwelling for bed bugs. In the long run it could save a lot of money.
The grey squirrels in one New Jersey County are having a blast this holiday season…again. For the fourth year in a row, grey squirrels are noshing on the LED light bulbs that are decorating Fredericton in New Brunswick County. For some odd reason, the squirrels like all of the colors except the red ones though. County officials thought that this year they had outsmarted the squirrels when they installed larger LED lights. These lights were no match for the taste buds of the grey squirrel though. They like the new ones just as much as the old ones. The squirrels are seen daily sitting up in the trees eating every bit of the plastic bulbs…except those pretty red ones of course!
In continuation from Thursday…