rodents

HANTAVIRUS FOUND IN EAST COUNTY RODENTS

 

By Miriam Raftery

February 28, 2018 (San Diego) - County health officials are warning that 16 mice have tested positive for hantavirus, or about  5 percent of all wild mice tested. One meadow vole also tested positive for the disease.  The infected rodents were found in Borrego Springs, Boulevard, Julian, Ramona, San Diego, Santa Ysabel, 4S Ranch and Black Mountain.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

FROM THE CHIEF'S CORNER: RODENTS AND COLD WEATHER - A PESKY FIRE HAZARD!

January 10, 2013 (San Diego) – People aren't the only ones who value a dry, cozy home in cold weather according to Fire Chief Sam DiGiovanna. Rodents do, too. "As it gets colder, everything that was out tends to want to find some sort of harbor inside," says Chief DiGiovanna. They scurry in our walls and above our heads during the night, they raid our food and ruin it with their feces, and they reproduce wildly, creating more and more inhabitants for us to worry about. Rats, mice and squirrels also do a lot of damage to your home's structure, insulation, pipes and even electrical wiring.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

EARTHTALK® BURROWING OWL CONSERVATION NETWORK

E - The Environmental Magazine

Written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss

Dear EarthTalk: What is the Burrowing Owl Conservation Network and why is it so important to put so much effort into saving one species?                               -- Ginny Bateman, Portland, OR

November 9, 2012 (California) --  Western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia) are tiny, long-legged members of the owl family, native to the Americas and preferring open landscapes where they can dig new holes or use existing ones (such as abandoned prairie dog, skunk or armadillo homes) to nest and rear their young. Unlike most other owl species, these small but charismatic birds are more often seen out and about during daylight hours, but they are most active and do their primary feeding at night, preferring a diet of small rodents and large insects.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.