Mouse with nose stuck in Ketch-All live trap
Trevor Cuthill took these photos of a field mouse that had been caught in a Ketch-All trap, that then got its nose stuck in one of the ventilation holes. This was highly unusual. The mouse apparently poked its nose too hard through a hole, and got it stuck. Trevor pried one of the vent holes open to free the mouse, as its nose was swollen. He then released it, but it was very weak and injured, and he doesn’t think it survived. In any case, here are the images.
27 November 2018.
Bats in corner trim and roof tiles in Forest Meadows
These photos show where bats were roosting in a house in Forest Meadows.
- They found ample living space under the roof tiles, along the roof edge of this very high roof line.
- Bats were also abundant under the corner trim, used to seal rather poorly formed corners.
Photos by Jason Mink, 27 November 2018.
Raccoon access point under a house
This home in Sugar Pine had a water leak. A company came out and did a repair, cutting a large hole through the sub-floor, to allow drainage. They removed the insulation to allow it to dry out. But they never bothered to repair the hole they made.
A raccoon found the hole and moved in. That is when we were called.
Jason also found a raccoon latrine under the house.
Photos by Jason Mink, 28 November 2018.
Raccoon latrine under house.
The Eurasian Mealworm is its official name
We received notification that the ESA Governing Board officially approved the common name Eurasian mealworm, and it was added to ESA’s Common Names database on their website.
21 November 2018
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | ORDER | FAMILY | AUTHOR | GENUS | SPECIES | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dark mealworm | Tenebrio obscurus Fabricius | COLEOPTERA | Tenebrionidae | Fabricius | Tenebrio | obscurus | |
| Eurasian mealworm | Opatroides punctulatus | COLEOPTERA | Tenebrionidae | Brulle ́ | Opatroides | punctulatus | |
| lesser mealworm | Alphitobius diaperinus (Panzer) | COLEOPTERA | Tenebrionidae | (Panzer) | Alphitobius | diaperinus | |
| yellow mealworm | Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus | COLEOPTERA | Tenebrionidae | Linnaeus | Tenebrio | molito |
Variation in Valley Oak acorns
The autumn of 2018 was a mast year for acorns in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The valley oaks, Quecus lobata, on my property, in Columbia California, produced prodigious quantities of acorns. I had noticed some size variation between the valley oaks located in different parts of the property, and did not think much of it. When I was at the massive house fly invasion job, I noticed that the acorns there were gigantic, far bigger than those at my house.
These giant acorns were coming off large valley oaks that grew along a year-round stream. The stream, on a cattle ranch near Chinese Camp, was fed by a spring, and it even had minnows in it, California roach, a fish that can survive in intermittent streams. A couple of the valley oaks on my property grow along a season creek, which had not had water since spring.
It appears that acorn size may be related, at least in part, to the water available to the tree when the acorns are growing.
These photos show the remarkable size variation in valley oak acorns.
Key:
Valley Oak A is from the Chinese Camp trees, fed by a year-round creek.
Valley Oak B is from across the street from property, from a huge and old valley oak growing alongside a season creek. The creek had water in the winter and dried up mid-spring.
Valley Oak C is from my property, from a somewhat smaller valley oak, and has larger acorns than the largest of my oaks. It is more downhill from “B”.
Valley Oak D is from across the street from my house, nowhere near a creek, uphill from the other oaks. IT appears to be the most water starved of the four oaks compared.
Cory Runyan removes a big dead raccoon from under a house
Cory Runyan saved the day for a customer! He found the source of a terrible odor, under a house, and it was a big, dead, ripe raccoon. Cory extracted the melting, maggot-ridden carcass, sparing the customer probably a week or two of misery. Yay Cory! 8 November 2018.
Two roof rats in one snap trap
Jason Price caught two roof rats in one snap trap. 7 November 2018. These rats really liked the bait. This is a rare occurrence, as I could not find a similar image online.
Two roof rats caught in one snap trap. Jason Price. 7 November 2018
Two roof rats caught in one snap trap. Jason Price. 7 November 2018
Cute Mousetrap Costume
Kari Randall and Veronica Gilbert shared these Facebook photos with us.
A Massive House Fly Invasion
Ryan McQuoid took these photos of a house invaded by houseflies, thousands upon thousands of houseflies, preparing to overwinter, in the Chinese Camp area, 26 October 2018.
Photos of the adults, showing wing venation, are at the bottom.
It appears the flies were entering by way of one of the two swamp coolers on the roof , and then spreading throughout the house, in “biblical numbers”. This residence was unoccupied, and had been for about two months, and was currently unoccupied. The owner had passed away two months prior. The houseflies are said to have started coming into the house in late September. The house is monitored by a caretaker every few days, and she noticed it suddenly had this huge influx of house flies, notifying us of the problem on 25 October 2018, the day before Ryan took these photos.
Both swamp coolers were dry, so moisture was not an attractant.
Ryan said that when he went on the roof and opened the swamp cooler panels, that hundreds and hundreds of flies poured out, hitting him in the face. Being there were no other points of entry for the flies, Ryan concluded that the swamp coolers were the place of entry. One of the two swamp coolers had hundreds of flies in it as well, but the access to the house had been sealed off with a sheet of foam insulation, apparently placed there by the previous resident.
We see seen housefly aggregations like this, but very rarely. It was a tradition for houseflies, in Columbia, years ago, to overwinter in the top section of a tower at a church. The flies would then come out, around Easter, and we’d get called in to treat and kill them. But I have not seen that in many years. I’d seen similar aggregations of syrphid flies at certain houses in Twain Harte, decades ago. This particular house fly infestation is maybe the worst (or best!) we have seen. The flies were coming in to overwinter. This was not a case of flies breeding inside the structure. The large number of dead flies is due, in my opinion, to the inability of the flies to enter and exit the house, in preparation for a permanent, so-to-speak, overwintering. Many, I think, needed the ability to get back outside, and then re-enter. But the flies could not get back out once they got in.
Ryan helped the caretaker place covers on the swamp coolers, prior to the treatment, to stop further fly entry. Thanks Ryan!!
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Chest-Level Bat House
Jason Mink took photos of this bat house that a resident of Arnold California had mounted on their deck. It actually had bats in it.
The bat house was made by Coveside Conservation Products, in Maine.
22 October 2018.
