Purdue Convention Returns In-Particular person and Just about – PCT

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Pest administration professionals gathered in individual and just about for the 86th annual Purdue Pest Administration Convention this week. The three-day occasion, one of many premier coaching conferences within the pest management trade, was again in-person, but in addition retained its digital capabilities, which have been developed final 12 months in response to COVID-19.

Convention chair Carrie Campbell, proprietor of Hatfield Pest Management, La Porte, Ind., welcomed attendees. Campbell thanked the convention’s planning committee for “holding their thumb on the trade, feeling the heartbeat and actually diving into what we have to find out about within the local weather that we’re doing enterprise.”

A becoming launch to this 12 months’s convention was a 2021 assessment of pest management points offered by Mark VanderWerp, supervisor of training and coaching at Rose Pest Options, Troy, Mich. VanderWerp targeted on three areas: medical, expertise and pest. One of many subjects VanderWerp mentioned was a brand new PLOS Biology paper which cited lizards as a potential think about Lyme illness being extra prevalent within the North than within the South. That paper famous that within the Northeast, black-legged ticks latch onto small mammals just like the white-footed mouse, that are infamous for transmitting the Lyme illness micro organism to the bugs. However within the South, the ticks desire to feed on lizards, notably skinks. Learn a recap of VanderWerp’s presentation.

Different highlights from this 12 months’s convention included:

LADDER SAFETY. OSHA Security and Occupational Well being Specialist Brian Bothast led a presentation on greatest ladder security practices. He offered pointers employers and workers can observe to assist forestall accidents from fall hazards whereas on the job, together with:

OSHA’s basic obligation clause states “every employer shall furnish a spot of employment freed from recognizable hazards which can be more likely to trigger loss of life or severe, bodily hurt.” For questions, report potential violations or to file a complaints, name OSHA at 1-800-321-6742 (OSHA). Complaints might also be filed on its web site, www.osha.gov. 

INVASIVE VERTEBRATE PESTS. Chuck Bargeron, co-director of Heart for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Well being at College of Georgia, introduced an summary of invasive vertebrate wildlife within the Southeastern U.S. Although the pests he mentioned are region-specific, all PMPs ought to take time to grasp the dangers invasive animals current to pure natural world. Examples he offered included:

• A Burmese python that ate an alligator, which served as a “wakeup name” for a way large of a problem the invasive animal is in South Florida, Bargeron stated. The weight loss plan of the bigger number of the snakes might clarify main decreases of mammals noticed in Everglades Nationwide Park in comparison with the ‘90s.
• The inhabitants of feral pigs has elevated significantly throughout the nation throughout the previous couple of many years. Along with the risk they current to native ecosystems, they’ve been recognized to destroy yards and may doubtlessly carry illness. Trapping and searching are the very best types of management, however legal guidelines fluctuate state by state.
• Cane toad sightings have been recorded primarily in South Florida, however their presence is increasing northward. They sometimes develop to 4 to six inches lengthy, however smaller varieties are straightforward to confuse with native toads. They’re toxic to people and home pets. The very best management for them, Bargeron stated, is hand capturing them with gloves and euthanasia. Nevertheless, by no means euthanize a small toad as a result of it is perhaps a local species of toad.