Feral Hogs in Katy Texas

You may have noticed a seriously damaged lawn, golf course, or community common area and wondered what caused so much damage – Roto-Tiller run amuck??? More likely the culprit is Sus Scrota: Feral Hogs, termed bulldozers on hooves. They are omnivores who eat tender grass roots, grubworms and earthworms in moist environments such as landscapes in areas that abut Bush Park, the Westpark Dam and similar “wild” areas. They were there long before the landscapes: Spanish explorer Hernando Desoto probably dropped off a few; plenty have escaped or been released from farms since and they’re doing just fine, thank you.

One sow can be responsible for 2 litters of as many as 12 piglets a year, beginning when she is 10 months old. It is estimated there are 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas, and they damage $52 million worth of agricultural, residential and hunting environments. The 58 trapped along Bush Park in 2008 was hardly a drop in the bucket.

So, what to do if porky and his pals show up in your yard? Nothing and don’t encourage your dog to do anything, either. No amount of shooing and/or barking is going to disrupt the feeding frenzy and it’s a really bad idea to tangle with a 250-pound animal with tusks and an attitude!

Give the dog a treat, scout around for some bleach or other serious bactericide to spray the “leavings” when this joy of life not in the big city ends; might call the landscaper to arrange a little reclamation work but don’t bother to call animal control or any other government entity: no State or County employee will be dispatched post haste to remove the animals from private property. Suppose you could shoot them if there’s some serious fire-power around, but that’s darned un-neighborly and probably illegal.

Feral hogs are dangerous animals. They are huge disease and tick vectors: an invading pack may destroy the lawn and rub bark off the pine trees to access the pitch, a natural tick repellent. In addition to tick-borne diseases, they can carry Brucellosis, rabies and E-coli bacteria; hence the aforementioned bactericide spray.

You can contact the Agricultural Extension Service (AgriLife Center) in your county who can arrange the capture of hogs on public property.

Then there is hunting in permitted areas: have at ‘em; no license, no limits. Will need a big bullet to penetrate the shoulder area and don’t forget to include the cute little piglets.

White Pock Rot

As you stored your holiday decorations in the attic you may have seen damage to the rafters similar to that in the picture. The wood looks as though it has acne or has been worked over with a meat tenderizer, which was the case for a customer who lives in Mason Creek Park subdivision. He thought he was seeing damage from carpenter ants or termites. Fortunately, it was benign Pock Rot attributable to bacteria that infects live pine trees.

After the wood is cut and seasoned or kilned the bacteria, mycelia, which produces the white color in the pockets die, halting further damage. Not an actual “rot,” this condition is prevalent in the studs used in construction of older homes in Katy suburbs. It would be unacceptable by the current standards set by the Residential Construction Code. It definitely causes the wood to be brittle. This infected lumber has been in houses for some time and no catastrophic event caused by the condition has been reported. Few inspectors performing Wood Destroying Insect Reports identify Pock Rot as a problem, since the damage is done and there is no corrective action. There is no advantage to filling in the pockets with wood putty.

With wood destroying beetles, ants, bees, or termites there will be some wood filings collecting below the infested wood. If this is seen call us for an inspection.

Fire Ants on the Move

News flash - the Texas Department of Agriculture has added 28 counties in West Texas to their official list of areas of Fire Ant infestation and, consequently, to the list of Fire Ant Quarantine areas. By my count, that makes 190 of the State’s 252 counties where commerce is affected.

Movement of hay and nursery/floral commodities from the quarantine area into a non-quarantine area will be disrupted as businesses attempt to jump through the Agriculture Department’s inspection hoop to distribute their products.

Those of us within the quarantine area are free to swap our ant-laden commodities at will, but you may feel compelled to do your part to lessen the agony from this stinging nuisance insect by treating your property for Fire Ants now.

Better yet, help organize your community or neighborhood to have a Fire Ant Eradication Week where all residents are to do something to rid their surroundings of this dreaded ant. Please contact JNJ Pest Control and Grounds Care for ways to accomplish either approach.

Sugar Ants of Katy, Texas

As families gather in kitchens over the city to make tasty goodies and holiday meals, insects in the neighborhood may come in from the cool weather to help themselves to the treats. Bah humbug!

There are a number of small ants that like to feed on sweets indoors. Commonly referred to as “sugar ants,” which isn’t an ant specie at all, the most common identified are Rover, Pharaoh, Crazy, Ghost, and the Fire Ant, with the occasional Honey, Little Black, Acrobat, or White Footed Ant thrown in for good measure. All these ants also need protein and water, and may even be found under the Christmas tree feeding on popcorn strings or flour in handmade plaster ornaments.

Usually, the first reaction to the insect sighting is to pull out the trusty bug spray and squirt their trails. This procedure can be fairly gratifying and may appear to eliminate the problem initially. However, most insecticides are repellent and the ants that survive the ill-conceived attack must go somewhere else to feed – the guest room, perhaps; relatives will love that! Better to choose a simpler approach.

Use a dust buster or vacuum cleaner and suck them into the reservoir, along with a bit of insecticide dust such as boric acid if you have some, then throw away the collection. If you don’t have any insecticide dust or just don’t want to use it, try a shot of liquid soap in some water. This will suffocate the ants and not leave a repellent residual.

Thereafter, I recommend you contact JNJ Pest Control and Grounds Care, Inc. to schedule a time when we can identify the ant that is the nuisance and develop an appropriate control program using a combination of baits and non-repellent insecticides based on the habits of the specific critter.

We wish you a very happy and safe holiday season! FLEAS NAVIDAD!

Protect Katy Palms

Most are aware of protecting tropical plants like Hibiscus and Bouganvilla from freezing weather but many forget about palms. Palm trees more closely related to a grass than a tree. Queen and King Palms are examples of palms that cannot tolerate long periods of freezing temperatures. Cold temperatures slow the growth rate of palms, reduce root activity and weaken the plant, making it more susceptible to disease. Frost temperatures will kill the foliage of many palm species and can reduce the function of water conducting tissue. Wrapping the trunk with freeze cloth is a good idea. Larger palm foliage might be protected by spraying with an anti-transpirant such as Cloud Cover. Bundling the fronds can protect the tender palm “heart.”

If preventive measures are not taken, to help the palm survive a restoration program using copper based fungicides should be initiated within a couple weeks after a hard freeze. However, the final results of the program will not be apparent until late spring. Don’t cut back any fronds that have green remaining and leave totally dead leaves until spring, as they can insulate the palm from further cold temperatures.

When attempting to protect plants during cold weather it’s best to use a freeze cloth designed for that purpose and which will allow the plants to breathe. Home Depot has an insulated cloth material called Planket Plant Covers which, it appears, would make the whole process easier. View that product at www.theplanket.com.

Pest Control Katy, Texas

Welcome to our initial posting to Katy PestScription. The purpose of this medium is to provide timely notification of predictable pest infestations in the greater Katy area as well as confirmed sightings of not-so-predictable pest problems in homes or businesses, lawns, ornamental plants or trees, and noxious weeds. Along with problem identification I will suggest appropriate prevention and control measures, including services available from JNJ Pest Control and Grounds Care, Inc.

We have been in the pest control industry since 1979, when my Uncle Harold Garrett and his wife LaJoy, who were very successful in the pest control industry in Dallas, recognized my disinterest in accountancy where I was floundering. Uncle Harold took me under his wing and mentored me into a full-fledged pest control operator and now an Associate Certified Entomologist. I understand what metamorphosis means and have picked up interesting tidbits about the pest world which I will periodically relay.

Also, I wish to thank my business partner and loving wife of 36 years, Nancy, for putting up with my antics, especially during those years I felt compelled to get involved with the Greater Houston Pest Control Association, Katy Chamber of Commerce, Katy BNI club, and the Katy Rotary Club by taking administrative positions in these organizations. Nancy was understanding and handled important company business matters that were my responsibility while I was occupied with organization concerns. She also has promised to edit all postings before I shame myself with grammatical errors

What Nancy and I have enjoyed most about this industry are the business friendships we have nurtured through the years. More lives have been lost to illnesses caused by insect transmission than any other cause, and there are some great people who have dedicated their careers to entomology, the study of insects, and other sciences to make all our lives safer and more enjoyable. We will interview some of these professionals of pest control and give you some insight into the industry.

I hope you will subscribe to our blog and that we will keep your interest with our periodic postings