 Hello everyone I'm James Milan and this is Talk of the Town and we are here outside Arlington Police Department headquarters with our animal control officer Diane Welch. We always like to check in with Diane as regularly as we can and certainly as one season is moving into the next and we are here here in August it seems it's come very quickly. Very quickly. But yeah we're happy to check in with you about a number of things going on for you and for the Arlington community at this time of year. I know that one topic that is on the minds of folks a lot and regularly throughout the year these days has to do with rats actually and the fact that there are traditional ways of approaching the rat problem and you know more exploration of alternatives these days. Just give us a sense of where things are at right now. It's an interesting that you bring this up now because I've noticed particularly I'm going to say over the last month I have been getting more and more calls from residents that are asking what can I use for alternatives. I don't want to use poisons. We found some rat boroughs in our yard. How can we treat those. And it's given me hope that word of mouth. I think that Arlington is very environmentally conscientious but I think through word of mouth the word is getting out there that we need to demand as consumers better alternatives from the past control industry. I think that just remind us what what what the traditional approach to this is from the pet control industry traditionally if you were to call a pest control company and you had signs of rats at your house. They come they put out their poisoned bait boxes. You don't ask any questions they do what they do and you're happy. You're just interested in getting rid of the rats you don't care how it happens. And I get that. I don't want rats around me. I'm not afraid of them but I don't want them around the schools or or my home or playgrounds and so without asking questions and again going back to the problem with that rat poison is that killing the rats takes time. It's a blood thinner wharf and the rats go out and stagger and slowly die and are then eaten by hawks coyotes eagles fox owls. Did I say that no and even sometimes people's pets. You know I always worry about dogs or so to demand that they come up with a better alternative. I think it's going to come from public pressure. It's the only way that it's going to happen because cost effective for the pest control industry is to just throw poison out right. Right and you're saying that the that the rats after staggering and finally dying then if they're eaten by these other creatures then that rat poison may pass into the other creatures and affect their own health. Or even if they bring it back to the nest let's say it's a hawk and it brings it back to the nest and then poisons all of the young in that nest. So I'm seeing more I'm getting more and more calls from residents asking what can I use where can I get dry ice. It works very effective in the rat burrows to pack it with dry ice cover it up you never see them smell them they die underground it's fantastic it's CO2 and it sinks to the very bottom of that den. Sounds simple as well. It's very simple. The pest control companies have labeled it I think because it is effective and it takes business away from them labeled it I believe it's listed as a dangerous product which I grew up with dry ice being used in magic shows and school plays and so to me listing that as a dangerous product and not the wharf and or the neurotoxins that they're putting out everywhere is a little bit ridiculous but our board of health also has a lot of really good information you know if you're wondering is this a rat burrow is it a chipmunk hole they have great videos they've done a lot of training in rat behavior and signs to look for in your yard if you're wondering if you do have rats so that's also a great resource for people to go to but I am seeing more and more calls and it gives me hope that there's a quote by Margaret Mead that I just love and it goes never underestimate the power of a few concerned citizens to change the world for indeed it's the only thing that ever has and I love that. And you feel like that may be what you're seeing. I'm hopeful I am hopeful so. And you know with the caveat and the understanding that you're not endorsing any particular approach or anything like that are there other solutions out there for rat infestation beyond dry ice that you've already mentioned that people also could be looking into again just as a matter of information. There are some of the hardware stores home improvement stores are carrying devices that can zap the rats once they go in to abated non-poisonous station being electrocuted I think it would be safe to then you know properly dispose of it or hoping that it doesn't contain any other poisons leave it for a predator to take. There are my sister and I laughed at the name of this one. There's a device called a better way we loved that name and it's a CO2 charged metal spike that when the rat goes in it triggers it so it's it's killed instantly with the metal spike a better way we thought we love whoever picked out that name. But there are sounds electronic sounds that are supposed to prevent rats and mice from coming into the area and so there's a lot of alternatives out there I would say you know Google it Amazon it look at the ratings and see what works for other people. But again it's going to be public demand that comes up with something that is effective cost effective effecting at eliminating rats and easily accessible to the public. Okay well talking about public demand I have to just mention that we are speaking shortly after a gathering that you organized at town hall and just invited people if they wanted to know more about coyotes which have obviously been a more conspicuous presence here in town over the last little while and the place was packed and he brought in an expert to talk about you know to educate basically the public. Talk to us a little bit about that evening what was you know some of the most important information that was shared and just where you know where things stand with coyotes and Arlington at the moment. I have to say that I was so thrilled to see such a turnout you know you offered to have these town meetings up until I announced that I was going to have a town meeting on coyotes I was getting probably 10 to 15 calls a day on you know people were frightened by them some people loved them many were frightened and what about children and what about pets and what if you're out walking and so there was a lot of concern. The minute I announced that meeting the calls stopped immediately which I thought was so interesting but I went to Chief Flaherty and I said you know I see a need in education and she was so supportive and said let's do it. Right because I think what you're saying is people were frightened mostly because they just don't know enough. They just don't understand coyote behavior. We brought in John from Project Coyote and he brought up a really good point about and in talking about the public not having great information and having that fear on coyotes and he said the news has done a great disservice to coyotes. The only time you ever hear about and what sells the news is when there's a coyote grabbing a dog or a coyote attempting to grab a dog or someone's cat or jumping a fence or it never talks about the benefits. Right that disaster driven need. Right and what it doesn't mention is all of the rodents that coyotes eat the number of rabbits that they eat I get a lot of complaints about rabbits that are eating everybody's gardens and plants and coyotes to me are a great sign of a healthy ecosystem and that we have enough prey items to sustain them. We need them to keep the rodents in check and I thought John from Project Coyote just did an amazing presentation every time he speaks I learned something new from him and I think that people left feeling a little bit more empowered knowledgeable and empowered as to what to do if you encounter one he taught us how to properly ease one. And I even got a letter from a gentleman he had contacted me before the meeting was planned and he said you know we can hear howling at night from our home summertime the windows are open and my wife is terrified and then she can't get back to sleep and she was really frightened and it was so great because he sent me a letter after the meeting and he said we left with a better understanding my wife is no longer afraid and when she hears the howling she's not frightened and can sleep through the night now and that that made my day just even that little bit of a change peace of mind to that woman and to that husband and that's what the message we were hoping to get out there so it went really well. Yeah just excuse the interruption but I do want to remind people because we're referring to it that ACMI was there to be able to tape it live and that you can find the entire presentation on ACMI at ACMI.tv and by all means go check it out because as you said it was chock full of useful information. There's so much to learn in how to keep your small dogs safe you know we touched on the subject of outdoor cats and what to do if you encounter one how to properly ease it I had actually run into a few coyote situations in my own yard and I had called John from Project Coyote and said you know what's going on and he said you didn't haze it right and I thought what do you mean I didn't haze it right I thought I knew exactly what to do but I didn't I was hazing it wrong he was exactly right and what he explained for me to do but knew exactly what that coyote was going to do and it did just what he said so. So just to explain it very briefly what hazing is for for folks so hazing is trying to get a coyote to move on move out of your area and so not just get rid of him or her temporarily but but to put a fear into it that this isn't a comfortable place for you to hang out and of course for me I had always heard as many people hazing is to yell make yourself as big as you can bang on pots and pans whatever and make a big ruckus and I did that and yelled and I went up to the coyote and kind of confronted it right to the wood line what John was saying is that it's all in the eye contact right and we talked about there's a saying eyes in front likes to hunt eyes on the side likes to hide so think of rabbits with their eyes on the side and it's so that they can see predators coming from any direction right eyes in front who but humans is one of the biggest predators on earth I think and so you approach that coyote making eye contact you walk right at it making eye contact John said that it's going to run off it's going to stop I forget if you said 20 feet or 20 yards off and it's going to reevaluate it's going to turn and look to see what you and it's exactly what they do if you stop right there you've taught it I'm not going to follow through with it so you keep walking right at it eye contact then it's going to hide so you're supposed to put your hands on your hips and kind of scan the area the woods or wherever as it's hiding like you are the predator I'm the predator you need to be wary of me and that's the proper way to haze it so I loved that it wasn't carrying on and yelling and making myself as big as possible and that didn't work right I was doing it wrong yeah very interesting because I do think that that's going to take some training right people to do what what is recommended looking at just walking right at them because of course and you can clap your hands and but it's eye contact and walking like you're the boss you're the predator yeah so we've talked about rat poison rat poison alternatives and then and then coyotes to two big topics in Arlington at the moment but what are some of the other things that are going on again as we're starting to move into fall or finishing out with summer regrettably I know so fast it's funny because I was just talking to Kylie that works at the Board of Health amazing young woman and I think that we have had I was asking her yesterday is it six is it seven is it eight incidents where people have found a bat in their home in some instance instances children are in the home everybody's sleeping at night the bat could have been flying anywhere through the home and so that to us we take very seriously is a possible exposure where you could be bit by a bat their teeth are so tiny and so sharp that you don't even know that you're bit so we need to catch that bat and have it tested for rabies if we can't catch that rat rat the bat and let's say somebody lets it out and there is a possible exposure we always tell the residents to follow up with their doctors or pediatricians and follow their instructions and often that is to go through a set of rabies shots rabies protocol is very black and white there is no gray area and that's why we don't have much rabies in Massachusetts it's very strict and so I rely on Kylie's expertise in that I'll get the bat if I can catch it in the home and get it to her she knows just how to package it it's very particular in double triple packaging it refrigerating it labeling it biohazard calling couriers and getting it to the state lab in Jamaica to be tested even if your pets have become exposed to it sometimes you'll find your cat playing with the bat in the house we want of course all pets to be up to date on their rabies shots but if that bat is not accessible for testing then we're going to do a 10 day quarantine on those pets to observe them and make sure that they're safe so if you have a bat in your house it seems to be a pattern we've seen in the last week and a half call animal control we want to if at all possible it says Kylie and I were talking a little bit on how to get the right message out and that some people can trap it themselves safely only if safely with a coffee can and then sliding a piece of cardboard and then you've got it and put something on top of it until I can get there or somebody can get there to get it to be shipped off for testing so we want access if there's a any possible exposure to humans we want to be able to test that bat and you were what you were just describing is a process for that testing that you were saying that Kylie supervises should people wait wait for the results of that testing before you know having their themselves their children their pets checked out or should they go ahead and do that it's a really good question and that's why we always defer them to their doctor or pediatrician so they should make that call I want them to make that call with their doctor I've had a case where two little children were playing in their son room and one came in one came in crying to the mom and said I'm scared and she said what are you scared about and went out the child was barefoot and there was a little bat kind of crushed into the rug so did that child step on the bat probably and the dad in his panic took the bat picked it up with gloves and threw it in the middle of the street threw it out of the house and then it was run over I need that bat in the best possible condition to have it tested so I flew over there to get it to pick it up off the street it was able to be tested thank goodness it was negative but they started the children on rabies shots right away they were so frightened and so we always refer them to their doctor or pediatrician follow that doctor's instructions they're gonna know best so definitely as soon as the bat is contained contact your your doctor nutrition absolutely and thank goodness all the bats that we have sent to the lab to be tested have all come back negative thank goodness so great but just so that you know what to do if you ever should find yourself in a situation where there's a bat in your house and I know a lot of people are afraid of bats I love them I even got bit myself catching one in a woman's living room last week and I had my little gloves on and I thought the head I thought it was hanging upside down right like bats do but the head was up so when I grabbed it it was and I got a picture of it and it looks so ferocious they're adorable but they're tiny teeth ferocious and adorable they're so cute I love them and they eat thousands of insects so we need them but that little bite can be so minute that you don't even know you've been bitten so we always always err on the side of precaution when it comes to rabies and right as you just mentioned rabies in the context of rats I mean bats excuse me but I think people usually associate that as a danger a potential danger with dog bites right right and I know that that that you've got some some news to share with us around that right so dog bites it's funny when we were talking about excuse me coyotes I wanted to share with everybody at the meeting and never did but I get reports from the Board of Health anytime someone is bitten by a dog or cat or a dog or cat is bitten by another animal and brought to the vet we get what's called a bite report often it's sent to the Board of Health they then send it to me and I will follow up where animals need to be quarantined we need proof of rabies so I wish that more people knew that when their dog or their child or anything gets bit by another dog or cat a domesticated animal I would like you to treat it like a car accident in other words I know it's a very emotional it's frightening people are heated in the moment defensive try to take a deep breath and remember to exchange information very similar to a car accident very similar to a car accident we want to exchange information not for a good dog bad dog it's more that I need to know that that dog or the biter is up to date on its rabies shots right once I have that information both dogs or if it's a dog biting a child or whatever it's going to be quarantined for 10 days anyway which sounds terrible but it only means that you can't leave the state with the dog you can still walk it on a leash you can't go to a dog park in other words we don't want a chance of that dog biting anybody else but always try to remain calm and exchange information it's terrible that in some cases people will get their dogs and kind of run off they're afraid of a liability or a lawsuit or you know having to pay vet bills or and well I just want to ignore like pretend it never happened and but you need to get we need that information again rabies protocol I want to know that everybody's going to be safe everybody's up to date on their rabies shots and then it's a simple procedure 10 day quarantine a peek at the dogs everybody's fine you're free to go so always try to get that information from the other person parties involved you always want to treat it like a car accident get get the information phone number name the name of their vet all of that information it's critical and then if they don't provide the information I can get it so another issue that you know folks in Arlington run into on occasion is stray dogs lost dogs any thoughts or guidance for folks about how to deal with that I have to say that so we don't have many let's say wild dogs running the streets of Arlington thank goodness but whenever and it happens often I get a call there's a dog scene running on such and such a street anytime that I get to that location the dog is nowhere to be found nowhere to be found they're on the run thank goodness almost every single time some compassionate person in Arlington has an extra leash or gets the caller holds on to the dog till I and calls me till I can get there or the owner is frantically looking it just got escaped the gate often they have people contractors working at the house they left the gate open and the dog got out and thank goodness almost every single time the kind people of Arlington have stepped in to help that dog and I think saved it from being hit by a car and there's a lot of compassion and kindness in Arlington and I get to see it every day there's a lot more it renews my faith in humanity every day and you know we sometimes in talking to friends in the craziness that's going on in the world and it can be a bit overwhelming and I say to people you know what there is more kindness in the world I get to see it every day I see it I know it's true there's more kindness than not and I've got to say I'm just going to I'm going to recite the ovation you yourself received at the coyote you know the public gathering for around coyote information that must have been very heartwarming as you know how you're embraced by this community I am so humbled by the kindness and the support that I truly am humbled by it Arlington loves animals they have loved me and supported me and honestly their kindness has kept me going because I get to see more kindness than not and that was so touching to me at that in fact I was rewatching some of the ACMI dot TV rewatching it and I said to my husband look you have to see this Steve I said look at that and he was just like wow and I said I know my heart was just so full and I was so thrilled that that many people showed up they were supportive and enthusiastic and I went to bed that night with a big smile on my face so relieved and so satisfied that it went so well really well we we've covered coyotes and rats and bats and dogs is there anything else that you want to share it seems to be I'm just seeing in the last week and it's even made me aware at home skunks are on the move right so be careful with your dogs be aware it's an awful feeling when your dog gets sprayed by a skunk but they I've had several calls on skunks in just the last week if your dog does get sprayed by did I say your skunk it's great if your dog is all right you started out if your dog gets sprayed by a skunk number one don't let it in the house or your vehicle if you can avoid it you need hydrogen peroxide baking soda a little bit of Dawn dish detergent I put it in a metal pan because I didn't want the smell to be in like a plastic bowl or whatever a metal pan I added some warm water an old face cloth and I kept my dog outside once that smell comes inside it's you go nose-blind and it's going to be there for a long time and bathe the dog you can put that mixture in a spray bottle if you have one handy and then work it in with plastic gloves on work it into the fur and then rinse but that is the magic formula it will remove the smell don't let it into your house if you can wash it outside and I added not ice-cold water from the hose but warmish water to that mixture hydrogen peroxide baking soda Dawn dish detergent mix it up wash that dog you can do it with the face cloth if it's around like my dog who box and then get sprayed down the throat which is fabulous and it's it's so effective at removing that tongue spray so I would say be warned skunks are on the move right about now and this is not a product endorsement I'm curious about that the fact that you designated Dawn as the as the dish detergent in there is it is there something that people really should be getting that particular one yes and so even Dawn dish detergent is what's used it cuts through oils better than I'm sure there are other brands that maybe are as good I don't we always say Dawn if you think of it for my sister's a wildlife biologist and went down south for one of the big oil spills was it the big one in the Gulf of Mexico and they use Dawn dish detergent to get the birds to bathe them hundreds of them a day because it cuts through the grease so well but it's gentle and rinse them and release it cuts through that grease it cuts through that oily scent of that skunk so we always recommend Dawn dish detergent okay I just a mixture of these ingredients people want to know more can they you can Google it okay Google it doesn't matter the measurements I did a good dose of hydrogen peroxide like three tablespoons of baking soda a couple of good drops of Dawn I don't want it too foamy some warm water a towel gloves and it got every bit of smell off of him great yeah and people shouldn't worry about the ratios there sounds like make sure there's a mix of those ingredients right on the dog I had a friend whose dog just got sprayed Sunday and I felt so bad for her and she said I sent my daughter for tomato soup or tomato paste and I was like no that's not going to work that's old school you need to try this so it really does work so alright so we've added skunks to our mix our mix today anything we've missed that that people should know as we head into fall I was hoping that just as a side note that baby season was done I felt animal baby animal baby season I laughed referring to myself as the midwife for all of the animals wild animals in Arlington with baby birds bunny squirrels raccoons possums and I thought that baby season was done and we're still I'm still getting calls for baby squirrels pinkies this big and baby bunnies and I want everybody to talk to their resident squirrels and bunnies to just say it's time to rest just stop it it's time for us to rest baby season is done I'm exhausted we're done get the word out we're done time to rest and I think maybe we're done at least with this conversation at least for today always good to talk to you thank you so much very good to talk to you as always and we'll be back again all right before too long yes in the fall we'll see what's going on in the fall what's on the move and migrations and getting ready for winter and we'll look forward to all right you too all right always a pleasure to talk to our animal control officer Diane Welsh and we're glad to do so glad you were here for it I'm James Milan this is Stock in the Town thanks for being here