IPM in Multifamily Housing

Tricks of the Trade—Building Contractors and Maintenance

The “integrated” part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is using multiple control strategies together to manage pests in an effective and sustainable way. Control strategies include mechanical traps, sanitation, pesticides, and repairing pest entry points. Ideally, pests are managed by implementing preventative measures. The old leaky bucket analogy works here—fix the reason the pests are around and you won’t have to constantly deal with infestation.

If the goals are to prevent pest entry into your building and make your property unattractive to pests, then maintenance staff members and building contractors are essential. They will be the ones incorporating design features that prevent pests and (literally) plugging the holes.

Which maintenance projects should be done with pest control in mind? What control options are available? Which have been field-tested by an objective researcher?
These are all very important questions that the person making the purchasing decisions needs to ask. Being an  informed consumer in pest control is daunting. Ads in the industry trade magazine, Pest Control Technology or the IPM Practitioner’s 2012 Directory of Least-Toxic Pest Control Products give you a snapshot of what’s out there.

The Pest Prevention By Design Guidelines is a new resource for designing buildings that are resistant to common pests. This free set of guidelines aims to reduce both pests and pesticides for the lifetime of a building. It will be invaluable to housing providers that need an easy-to-use reference for the non-chemical aspects of IPM.

The project was funded by the US Centers for Disease Control as part of a larger project addressing environmental problems in low-income housing.  The Center for Environmental Health was contracted to coordinate the project, and the guidelines were reviewed by the International Code Council and a national, cross-sector team of experts. Allie Taisey was part of the committee that put together the guidelines, as was Leo Saylor from Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority who has worked with the StopPests Program to reduce pests and pesticide use at CMHA through maintenance repairs. 

The experts on pest prevention who worked on this resource will join together on twitter on Wednesday 1/23 from 10am-noon PST using #pestchat. Join in on the conversation to share your experiences and ask your questions.

I’ve included the Guidelines on StopPests.org with other maintenance recommendations.

Are you planning construction? Is your maintenance team making a unit ready for a new resident? Do you have a work order for a repair or a specific pest issue? There’s no time like the present to start using the Guidelines!

The specific guideline tactics are organized by building area category. So if you are renovating kitchens, check out the chapter on kitchens. If you are looking for recommendations for a certain pest, search the .pdf. Birds, ants, bedbugs, cockroaches, fleas, flies, mosquitoes, wasps & bees, dampwood termites, Formosan termites, drywood termites, subterranean termites, miscellaneous wood-destroying insects, miscellaneous insects, spiders, mice, rats, opossums, and raccoons are all in there!

For example, searching for “mice” highlights 60 instances. Reading each tactic where mice are mentioned under “pest affected” tells you exactly what to do. A few of the tactics are below (click to enlarge).

The guidelines are for non-chemical IPM strategies.
The person overseeing the IPM program should know about pesticide options in order to evaluate the pest management professional’s service and best advise residents, but ultimately the licensed applicator should be the pesticide expert for the site. Use the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) (www.npic.orst.edu) for all your pesticide questions. NPIC is also a great source of information on cleaning products. Everyone should consider the risk of using cleaning products too. Remember: read the label! 

On the topic of mice, feel free to share our previously-posted sample newsletter article on how to set a mouse trap!

Trash Handling (Sample Newsletter Article)

Good sanitation makes pest control work. Trash can give a pest everything it needs— food, water and a place to hide. In this post I’ll cover garbage management. Trash handling procedures and problems can often predict the success of a property’s IPM program. If the property staff and residents can’t find a way to manage trash in a way that keeps it away from pests, the pest management professional (PMP) will be fighting an up hill battle.

The common trash handling procedures are chutes and a compactor, dumpsters, and/or individual wheelie bins (often called “toters”). Properties must also manage large item removal and recycling. Below you’ll find a IPM recommendations for each.

General recommendations (also in the sample newsletter below)

• Wrap wet food waste in paper or something that will soak up drips.
• Always use a bag for trash.
• Don’t stuff the trash bag or make it too heavy—the plastic will rip.
• Squeeze air out of the trash bag, then tie it off or use a twist tie.
• Carry the trash bag and place it in the receptacle—don’t drag, throw, or toss it.
• Inspect the receptacles monthly and clean and maintain them as-needed (chutes, dumpsters, and wheelie bins all need cleaning and maintenance).

Trash Chutes and Compactors

With trash chutes and compactors, we are keeping refuse inside the building envelope—a pest control red flag. If units adjacent to trash chutes report pest problems, include the chute when you look for the source of the problem. If your building has trash chutes and a compactor room, you must be vigilant.

On each floor:

• Make sure walls adjacent to the chute are free of gaps or holes. 
• Maintain the chute lining so that bags don’t tear. 
• Wash chutes regularly. 
• Make sure chute doors close tightly.

In the compactor room:

• Seal up all holes and gaps—pay particular attention to pipes and under the door.
• Ventilate if possible, but make sure any windows are screened.
• Avoid storing items in the compactor room—limit pest hiding spots as much as possible.
• Have monitors set to detect pest problems before they grow and spread.

If you’re lucky enough to have renovation funding, consider putting in trash chute doors large enough to fit a tall kitchen trash bag. Make proper trash handling easy for residents to do right.

Dumpsters

Dumpsters should be free of holes, covered, and placed on a cement pad about 50 yards from the building. The closer it is, the greater the chance that pests like yellowjackets that attracted to the dumpster will find their way into your building. Screen drain holes to prevent rodent entry and empty dumpsters regularly—they should never overflow.

Common problems with dumpsters include

• people taking garbage back out; and
• people not getting their garbage bags into the dumpster.

The latter may happen when dumpsters are in a fenced area and people throw the bags over the fence or when kids are responsible for taking out the trash, but can’t get the bag up and over the side of the dumpster. Each community will be different, but some dumpster detective work can get control of the problem. Find identifying information in the trash bag and address the problem with the resident. Pest management often comes down to people management.

Note: many property managers I talk to are not sure what their refuse management contract says. Your contractor may be responsible for pressure washing or replacing dumpsters.

Individual Wheelie Bins

Especially at family sites with duplexes and townhouses, we often see trash wheelie bins for each unit. The PHA or local municipality provides these—and puts their logo on the side to discourage theft. Pick up is usually contracted out. The design is pretty standard and its usability results in residents using them properly—they’re big enough to fit lots of trash, have locking lids that won’t blow open, and are on wheels so they’re easy to roll out to the road.

Residents should know to rinse them out to prevent flies and yellowjackets and get a new wheelie bin if theirs gets a hole (which would allow rodents to get in). Keeping the lids closed is crucial—if it’s open trash will blow out and attract birds, rodents and other wildlife. Ideally, residents would store wheelie bins on a cement pad a few feet away from their building in between pickups.

Large Item Removal

The goal is to prevent other residents from bringing items home from the curb. I love free stuff as much as anyone and come from a long line of proud dumpster-divers. But people throw stuff out for a reason—nowadays it’s often bed bugs. I inspect everything I bring home very carefully for bed bugs before taking it home…and I’ve gotten pretty picky when it comes to furniture. PHA residents usually don’t pay for pest control and may have some tolerance for living with bed bugs. The PHA may have more to lose from bed bugs being spread throughout a community on used furniture than the residents.

Some common approaches:

• Let residents request help moving large items from their home. Maintenance staff should inspect items for bed bugs and take precautions—wrap item in plastic so bed bugs don’t fall off in transport, make the item unusable after getting it out of the building, transport it off property ASAP, and wear personal protection equipment (PPE) for bed bugs if there is concern. PPE for bed bugs may include boot covers, disposable suits and gloves. Be careful about starting gossip: make it known community wide that bed bugs are not related to filth, PPE is simply worn to prevent spreading them between units on staff clothing.
• Have a truck and staff member dedicated to driving around and picking stuff up off the curb. Drive these large items to a fenced-off dumpster area where residents can’t “dumpster dive.” On-site staff should carry utility knives and make items on the curb unusable before calling the truck driver—this will help prevent residents from grabbing the stuff before the truck arrives.

Recycling

Recycling can be curbside, run by the PHA with wheelie bins available for everyone to use, or done at a center where the resident must bring the items. Kids seem to learn good recycling habits at school and if residents take time to sort out recyclables, they usually do a good job of making sure the items get recycled. The same recommendations for wheelie bins and dumpsters apply: keep the recycling containers clean and prevent overflow by providing appropriately sized containers or increasing the frequency of collection. Many pests are transported on cardboard or paper bags, so you want these moved off-site as soon as possible.

A recycling program breaks down in terms of pest management when recyclable containers are not rinsed out. The residue in cans and bottles will attract pests—flies, ants, rodents and cockroaches, to name a few. Low income residents often collect bottles and cans to get money—either find a way to get these recyclables rinsed out/returned immediately or you will find pests.

One property manager told me that to kick off her property’s recycling program in a high-rise building, they had a competition. The floor with the most recycling put in the wheelie bins on their floor got a pizza party. This highlighted the new procedures, captured residents attention so that proper recycling procedures (including rinsing) could be communicated, and got everyone jazzed up about recycling. Earth Day is April 22, 2012—there’s plenty of time to plan an event! 

Thanks to Dr. Bobby Corrigan of RMC Pest Management Consulting and Gil Blum of Standard Pest Management for their guidance.

------------------------Sample Newsletter Article---------------------------

Pests like wasps, mice and roaches are attracted to trash. Help us keep these pests away.

• Wrap wet food waste in paper or something that will soak up drips.
• Always use a bag for your trash.
• Don’t stuff the trash bag or make it too heavy—the plastic will rip.
• Squeeze air out of the trash bag, then tie it off or use a twist tie.
• Carry the trash bag and place it in the receptacle—don’t drag, throw, or toss it.
• Rinse recyclable bottles and cans and cash them in as soon as possible.

 Proper trash handling is part of your responsibility as a resident in this community. 

StopPests.org—check it out!

I am thrilled to announce that www.StopPests.org got a facelift and is ready to step out into the world!

• Want tips for working with residents? Try some techniques we've learned from housing authorities and use our popular Tenant's Role in IPM video (you can download and burn it to a CD for free). 
• Interested in partnering with your local housing authority? Read how we approach, train, and work with housing authorities.
• Need money or free training? There are pages for funding and training opportunities.
• Got pest problems? View our pest solutions page for tips and suggested resources.

And there's so much more!
Try out the site's robust search function if you're looking for something specific. Popular search terms include "hoarding," "spanish" and "video." 

If you don't find what you need or you have suggestions for improving the site, e-mail me at stoppests@cornell.edu.

Don't waste your money on ultrasonic pest repellers

People want to have power over pests. And if there’s a nifty non-chemical gadget with which the battle can be fought, all the better. There are a lot of cool tools available for the mechanical control part of IPM. Figuring out which set to use for each unique problem is one of my favorite parts of this job. But you only want to put tools that work in your toolkit.

Almost every development I’ve worked in has had residents who sing praises for ultrasonic pest repellers. I'm not going to theorize why residents are convinced they work, but no research has been able to prove that these devices work reliably to get rid of pests. Despite this, there are many makes and models available. And they aren't cheap!

Ultrasonic or electromagnetic devices emit a noise that humans can’t hear, but the target pest can. Supposedly this makes the pest go away. There are ones designed for birds, bats, mice, cockroaches, and even mosquitoes. 

Today I was sent the abstract from research by Carlos F. S. Andrade and Isaías Cabrini published in the Journal of Vector Ecology (35 (1): 75-78. 2010) titled, “Electronic Mosquito Repellers Induce Increased Biting Rates in Aedes aegypti Mosquitoes.” You read right—not only are they useless, they may increase the risk of biting! 

Since we’re on the topic of the Maine state bird—check out NPIC’s insect repellent locater. It has you enter your target pest (tick or mosquito or both) and the time you’ll be outside then it suggests repellent products. http://pi.ace.orst.edu/repellents/.

Another great source for mosquito information is TAMU’s Mosquito Safari: http://insects.tamu.edu/feature/mosquitosafari/index.html 

There are auditory repelling devices that DO work for pest control—ones that play distress calls that scare off the target pest. These are used in bird control. In fact, I was sailing last weekend out of a marina that used to have one to deter birds from landing on (and messing up) the boats.

The moral of this story is to look for research before purchasing a pest control device. Or post a comment here and I’ll try to dig up the answer for you!

But what about our residents who are convinced the ones for mice and roaches work? Just referencing research probably won't get you far. Give residents an alternative that works better (and may cost less).

Print off and hand out copies of the Cleaning Supply Shopping List. Download Cleaning Supply Shopping List. Explain that if they spend their $20 on cleaning supplies and use them, they won’t need to repel the pests. The pests won’t have any reason to come in, in the first place. 

Ditch the ultrasonic devices and save the outlets for air conditioners and fans. Stay cool this week. As we say in the Northeast, it’s a scortcha!

Baby Wildlife (sample newsletter article)

The first day of summer is almost here. Schools are ending. Gardens are growing. Tractors are mowing. There’s a lot to do outside and people all across the country are leaving their winter nests.

We’re not the only ones getting out to explore. This time of year, baby wild animals are getting old enough to leave the constant care of their parents. Sometimes our paths cross.

Many public housing developments are in rural areas where deer, skunks, chipmunks, and rabbits can be found. But even urban sites may have baby animals. Most of the year, there are steps you can take to control wildlife invaders—often blocking them out. But this time of year it’s best to let nature take its course. Removing an adult could leave a group of babies stranded. And if they die they will attract even more pests.

So what do you when you find a baby animal?

1. Be safe. Treat even the cutest, fuzziest baby like it could transmit disease. Avoid touching the animal, and if you have to, wear protective clothing—even babies can bite and scratch.

 2. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is it injured? If so, look in the phone book and call your local animal control officer.
• If not, is it really abandoned?

Most wild babies are not abandoned. Make sure the baby is out of harm’s way and in an area where it won’t do any harm. If you have to move it, wear protective clothing and put it somewhere very close so the mother doesn’t have to work too hard to find it. Then leave it alone! Some parents leave their babies all day. An animal’s best chance for survival is with its parents, so give mom a chance to come back.

Bird babies are common—I’ve found three on the ground in the past week! If the fledgling has feathers and isn’t pink, it likely came out of the nest on its own and can be left where it is. The fall from the nest occasionally injures a bird but generally the babies are fine. If it’s pink and hasn’t opened its eyes yet, then something knocked it out of the nest. (Wearing gloves) you can put it back in the nest. The parents will accept it back.

For more information, see http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/wild_neighbors/ and http://www.lensc.org/documents/BabyWildlife.pdf

 And now for the June newsletter article...

------------------------------------------------------

Found a baby animal?
Look, but don’t touch.

This time of year, baby animals are learning to explore the world. If you or your kids find a baby animal, look and see if it is injured.

If it is, call the animal control officer: XXX-XXXX.

If you don’t know, just keep an eye on it for a day. Most wild babies are not abandoned. Make sure the baby is out of harm’s way and in an area where it won’t do any harm. If you have to move it, wear protective clothing and try to put it somewhere very close. Don't make the mother have to work too hard to find it. Then leave it alone! Some parents leave their babies all day.

An animal’s best chance for survival is with its parents, so give the mom a chance to come back.

Millions of Cats

I live with an 87-year-old woman who is learning to use a computer. In addition to e-mailing, discovering that Oprah has put her book on the Kids' Reading List: Classics for 6 to 9 Years, and playing rousing games of solitaire; she is using the computer to type her memoirs. Through helping her learn the advanced features of Microsoft Word such as copy, paste, and the life-changing Cntrl-Z, I have had the opportunity to read pieces of her story. 

The other night, a lesson on the Backspace button let to a tangent on the book Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág. It turns out, one of the paintings in my room is by Ms. Gág. My housemate had a copy of the book, one that Ms. Gág used to read to her. I read it for the first time and years and realized…it’s kind of a violent story!

For those of you who haven’t read the book, it is about an elderly couple that are lonely and want a cat. The husband goes off to find them a feline friend, but is unable to restrain himself from bringing home "...hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats..." This animal hoarding proves unsustainable and a giant catfight breaks out. When the dust settles, only one cat is left. The couple takes in the one cat, nourishes it, loves it, and lives happily ever after. Although it isn’t mentioned in the story, I like to think that they kept their new pet mostly indoors and also took it to be registered, microchipped, vaccinated, and spayed.

Lessons from this story (from my perspective) include the fact that feral cats will fight and kill other cats and people should only try to keep as many cats as they can house and feed. Had a giant catfight not broken out, the man or his wife may have contracted one of the several diseases that unvaccinated feral cats can transmit to humans such as rabies, ringworm, or toxoplasmosis. Their home may have become infested with fleas. The number of birds that visited their window feeder surely would have been reduced. And, despite popular belief, they would still probably have mice. Not a very happy ending for the well-meaning couple.

Cats contribute to the lives of many people as loving companions. As pets they may be classified as indoor, limited-range, or free-range depending on how far they are allowed to venture from home. Home is the key word here—cats that are pets are owned by someone and thus a person is responsible for the care and activities of the animal. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), feral cats are born outside and are never socialized in the first 24 weeks of their lives. Pet cats that are abandoned are called stray cats. So who is responsible for feral and stray cats?

The answer is surprisingly complicated. Feral and stray cats are not technically classified as wildlife, so Wildlife Control Operators (WCOs) or game and parks commissions often won’t deal with them. Feral and stray cats are not technically pets, so municipal animal control may not want to deal with them either. In some towns, if the cat is on your property it’s your responsibility to deal with it, but a feral cat may wander throughout 1.5 square miles regardless of property boundaries. So what can you do? 

Many may ask, why would you do anything? If you had skunks or raccoons crawling all over your property, people would be concerned and want you to take action. For some reason, cats are a different story. People have an affinity for cats and don’t like the idea of controlling them as if they were pests. The reality is that too many cats can be a problem because of the diseases they can carry and harm they can cause to native wildlife and other cats.

Many believe that if they are well fed, cats won’t kill birds and other wildlife. Unfortunately, research doesn’t support this belief. Cats will hunt regardless of how much food we provide them. This is only one of the myths about feral cats that science is proving wrong. Before beginning an IPM program for cats, I recommend you read the four resources recommended here and hold a community meeting so that everyone has an opportunity to understand the problem and can give their input into the management plan.

The goal of feral cat management is to reduce the number of feral cats and manage their care. First, it is good to know your local options. This is a nice rainy day activity—gather your policies and contacts so that when you have feral cats to deal with you know who to go to for help.

• Re-read your lease and pet policy so that you know what residents are required to do.
• Contact your local animal control officer and ask him or her what the regulations apply in your area. In many cases this will include referring you to local shelters.
• Call the local shelters and find out if they accept strays and ferals and also ask if there are any trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) programs in your area. For more information on what the Humane Society of the United States recommends, see http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/pets/overview_caring_for_feral_cats.pdf  

Although I don’t know of any studies on it, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that the rat control information I posted last week could apply to cats. Cats breed in the springtime (when the days get longer), so in order to impact the population the most, you may want to reduce the population as much as possible in the winter. Here is a start to what your IPM plan for cats could include:

1. Inspect and identify

We learn to identify a cat from other kinds of animals as toddlers, but how do you know whether a cat belongs to someone? It is very hard, and possibly impossible to tell—encourage cat owners in your community to put collars on their pets and have a microchip implanted so that if the pet is trapped it will be returned.

Maintenance staff often know the cats on a property based on daily observation (which is inspection). If a cat looks skinny, sick, or has wounds from a cat fight, it may be feral or stray. If the cat has a notch out of its ear or the top of the ear is clipped off (“tipped”), it is neutered. Inspect until you know about how many cats you have and whether each is neutered. During your inspection, also note where the cats get food, water, and shelter so that subsequent control efforts can be focused on these areas.

2. Determine if action is necessary

This is for your IPM team to decide. At the very least, have a TNVR program in place so that all outdoor cats are vaccinated and neutered. Feral cats can produce up to 5 litters per year, each with 2 to 10 kittens... “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats...”

3. Plan treatment and take action

There is a documented phenomenon with cat control called the vacuum effect. Basically, if you remove cats from an area and there are still resources (food, water, and shelter) present, more cats will move in. Unless you are going to reduce the food, water, and shelter available on your property it is not worth your time or money to remove cats for relocation or euthanasia.

Cultural control and habitat modification: 
Help prevent strays by educating residents about pet ownership and enforcing your pet policy. You may be able to partner with a local shelter or vet clinic and offer affordable microchipping, vaccinating, and neutering.

Part of property wide pest control is sanitation—cat control is no exception. Cats will eat both human refuse and pet food, so do what you have to in order to limit the food and water available.

Knowing your property and identifying the areas where cats are getting food and shelter will allow you to implement other creative control strategies. For example, if there is a birdfeeder that the cats are hunting around, move it at least 10 feet from anything the cat could hide under—this will give the birds a better chance of escaping.

Mechanical control:
As with any pest, exclusion is a great option. If cats get into your building’s basement, crawl space, or under a deck, use fencing or netting to keep them out.

Another popular mechanical control option is live-trapping in order to relocate or neuter and vaccinate the animal. Only experienced professionals should trap. If you are relocating cats, do so through a shelter. Simply driving down the road and letting the cat go doesn’t help the community and that cat will be trap shy in the future. For a (somewhat controversial) report on IPM for feral cats, including guidance on trapping, see http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/ec1781/build/ec1781.pdf

Biological Control: 
Dogs that have a limited range may scare cats from coming into an area. If dogs are used in this manner, make sure the dogs are confined so that they don’t chase down and kill the cats.

And I suppose fertility control is part of biological control. The Nebraska report states that more than 70% of the cats must be neutered in order to reduce the population, yet it is mentioned in most control guidances.

Chemical Control: 
There are no toxicants labeled for cats. Although there are repellents labeled for use against cats, the repellents are not effective for long term control.

Chemicals may play a role in feral cat control if you choose to find a professional to humanely euthanize trapped cats through injection.

There is great debate about feral cat euthanasia. If you decide to euthanize, the ultimate goal is always to end the cat’s life with as little distress and pain as possible. The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management advocates trapping and shooting (http://icwdm.org/wildlife/housecat.asp) because these methods eliminate the stressful live-trapping and handling. The AVMA does not advocate trapping or shooting cats. Regardless of how you morally weigh-in on this subject, your options may be limited because of local regulations around firearms and trapping.

FYI, in addition, AVMA specifically lists drowning, blows to the head, chloral hydrate, chloroform, cyanide, formalin, and household products and solvents as being unacceptable agents of euthanasia for any animal in their AVMA Guidelines on Euthanasia: http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf

4. Evaluate effectiveness

Continue to inspect your property for cats as well as the food, water, and shelter they need to survive. If the control plan isn’t working, revisit your options and try a different approach. Regardless of whether you have feral cats or not, make sure people in the community know what they can to do be responsible pet owners—register, microchip, neuter, and vaccinate…oh, and feed and love them too!