ALL IN A DAYS WORK - A DAY IN THE LIFE, PART 2
This month we focus on our other services: rats and mice, skunks, yellowjackets and ticks
Last month, we took a closer look at how the men and women of the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District protect public health by working daily to prevent mosquitoes that can transmit disease. This month, we take a look at what the District's inspectors and technicians do each day to prevent rats and mice, skunks, ticks, and ground-nesting yellowjackets. These are the other vectors for which we provide service - five in all. A vector is any insect or animal that can transmit disease or cause harm to a human or other animal.
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| Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District, Concord, California |
Rats & Mice
When it comes to rats and mice, the District provides free inspections and advice to private residents and commercial business owners within Contra Costa County. District inspectors will search for signs of rats and mice indoors and out. They can often find rat or mouse evidence, including droppings and nesting material along fence lines, in outdoor sheds, in wood piles, and around garbage. It's surprising that rats and mice often chew on wiring and build nests in a vehicle's engine. While looking for direct evidence of a rat or mouse, the District inspector will also take note of the things that might provide the rat or mouse with food or shelter. Are palm trees, ivy, fruit trees, nut trees, pet food or bird seed present?
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| Vector Control Inspector David Obrochta inspects a vehicle for signs of rat or mouse activity, May, 2014. Rats and mice frequently nest in or chew on wires in vehicles which can cause significant damage. Pleasant Hill, California |
Once the District inspector has completed an examination of the property's exterior locations, he or she checks out interior locations that provide evidence of rat or mouse activity. Often that can be found around a furnace, under a sink, inside cabinetry, or behind appliances. Following the inspection, the District employee provides the resident with a report that includes the identity of the vector (is it a rat or mouse? If it's a rat, is it a Norway or roof rat?), what kind of evidence is present, what potential food sources are present, and what is providing the rat or mouse a place to live? In addition to these facts, the District inspector also provides recommendations for alleviating the rat or mouse problem, and instructions on how to prevent them from returning in the future. Prevention, after all, is the District's main goal: to protect public health by preventing the insects and animals that can transmit disease or cause discomfort.
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| Vector Control Inspector David Obrochta issues a report to a resident following an inspection for rat and mouse issues, May 2014, Pleasant Hill, California |
Skunks
When a resident believes a skunk is living under his or her home, shed, deck or anywhere else on the property, the resident can contact the District for a free skunk inspection. During the inspection, the District's state-certified inspector will look for evidence that a skunk is present. If the District inspector confirms the existence of a skunk that is living on the property, he will provide valuable information about how to ensure skunks don't visit or take up residence on the property. If warranted, he may provide the homeowner with a humane live-catch trap to catch the skunk. When certain criteria are met, the District may provide free skunk removal as part of the District's Rabies Risk Reduction Program. By state law, the District is prohibited from relocating skunks due to the risk of spreading rabies. Skunks that are removed from a property are humanely euthanized.
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| Vector Control Inspector Jason Descans looks for evidence that a skunk is living under this deck, May 2014, Danville, California |
Yellowjackets
Ground-nesting yellowjackets pose a risk to public health because these aggressive members of the wasp family will swarm to defend their nest, sting and bite repeatedly. They usually chase the person who unwittingly found the nest in the first place. For someone who is allergic to their venom, ground-nesting yellowjackets can be dangerous, but for someone who is not allergic, they are still a vector because they can be the source of great discomfort. For those reasons, the District provides free inspections and treatment for ground-nesting yellowjacket nests, specifically.
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| Vector Control Aide Heidi Budge removes a ground-nesting yellowjacket nest from a park in Concord, California |
To receive the free service, residents must first locate the nest and then mark it in a simple way using a tool or stick so that the District inspector or technician can easily find the nest on the property. (To locate the nest, observe yellowjackets entering or exiting the nest at dawn and dusk.) If the resident cannot be home at the time of the inspection, then he or she should draw a simple map to illustrate the nest's location, and tape that map to the front door to further assist the District employee upon his or her arrival.
If the inspector or technician confirms the nest is home to one of the two species of ground-nesting yellowjackets that can be found in Contra Costa County, he will treat the nest to kill the yellowjackets and reduce the risk of injury to residents. Most often the nest is left in the location because the yellowjackets are no longer a risk to public health; however, in some cases, the District inspector or technician may need to remove part of the nest in order to access parts of the nest that were previously inaccessible.
Ticks
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A western black-legged tick observed under a microscope
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Ticks are also capable of spreading disease and causing harm, so the District provides free tick identification to county residents. Contra Costa County is home to three common species of ticks; the western black-legged tick, the Pacific Coast tick, and the American dog tick. Only the western black-legged tick has the biology that allows it to transmit Lyme disease. Because the risk of Lyme disease in ticks currently resides in just one out of the three types of ticks found within the county, residents who remove a tick from themselves or a human family member (not the family dog, please) can place the tick and a damp cotton ball in a ZiplocŪ style plastic bag and drop it off at the District or send it to the District in the mail.
Upon arrival, the District's entomologist or a member of his staff will examine the tick under a microscope and determine which species has been turned in. If the tick is a western black-legged tick, the District will provide the resident with a list of laboratories that offer Lyme disease testing of ticks. People who are concerned about possible Lyme disease infections should consult their physician.
District employees also survey public parks within the county to monitor for the prevalence of ticks that could potentially spread Lyme disease.
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| Scientific Program Manager Steve Schutz, Ph.D. examines a tick to determine whether it is the western black-legged tick. Only the western black-legged tick is known to transmit Lyme disease in Contra Costa County. May 2014 Concord, California |
At Your Service
The Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District provides very diverse services and conducts varied activities to protect the people of Contra Costa County from the insects and animals that can transmit disease or cause discomfort. It is important work the District's employees do every day to protect public health and gives Contra Costa County residents every opportunity to be healthy people who can live, work, and play in a healthy environment. That, after all, is the vision of the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District.
