Sending them to Volehole-a Published May 3, 2012 By Chris McCann JBER Public Affairs JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Ah, the long sunny days are back - 55-degree afternoons, fishing, trees budding. The snow is gone - or mostly gone - and you can finally see the lawn again. The lawn you cared for last year, weeded, mowed. It's covered in squiggly lines of grass, and when you brush the grass off, it's a squiggly line of dirt. The voles have had a field day all winter, free to chew your lawn, girdle your trees and destroy your tulip bulbs while comfortably sheltered from cold and predators by four feet of Alaska's finest snow. Fabulous. And with spring's return, there will be cliff swallows and yellowjackets, weeds and wasps. To cope with these pests at home, you'll need to contact the housing office or your landlord - or roll up your sleeves and do battle yourself. When it comes to keeping weeds out of the runway concrete or swallows from nesting above your office window, call JBER's Pest Management section. Staff Sgt. Irney Parton has gone mano-a-mano with many pests; everything from bedbugs and German roaches to squirrels and carpenter ants. While those who've been in the southern part of the United States may be familiar with water or palmetto bugs commonly called roaches, German roaches are smaller. They never need to go outside, so they can hitch rides in household goods and enjoy Alaska from indoors. While they're not common here, "All they need is filth," said Parton. "They lay eggs and reproduce at a high rate. But they're easy to control." Voles are the biggest problem right now, Parton said. "Right now they're big beecause of the snow melting. It's time for them to come out and play; from March to October, they're reproducing." Parton and her co-workers visit most buildings on JBER and check for vole problems. When a population is found, they put rodenticide pellets into some of the entryways to underground burrows. As the rodents pass by, they eat and take food to other individuals. Near schools and child development centers, safety dictates another method. There, specially-designed bait stations are placed only outside the fences, to keep children from coming into contact with baits. Facility managers at such buildings should be sure that tantalizing breeding grounds - especially mulch, tall grass, and other easy-to-dig materials - should be kept to a minimum. Voles and shrews nearly always go into burrows after consuming the bait, so predators do not come in contact with them. Nonetheless, people should not touch any deceased animal. Overall, they're mostly considered a problem in food storage areas; most other places, they're only a nuisance. "Food storage places aren't a problem here," Parton said. "Facility managers control them well in those buildings. But they tear up yards and it looks terrible." In the case of older buildings, they can chew their way into the walls and damage insulation. "They're tiny; they only need about a quarter-inch of space," Parton said. "We encourage people to check for cracks, and look at weather stripping; if you can see light, there's enough room for a vole to get through." Open holes for wiring, pipes, and other structural necessities also offer a way in. "They go through there like nobody's business," she said. For JBER residents, Aurora Military Housing offers traps and steel wool for filling holes and cracks through the U-Fix-It shops on each side of the installation. If preventive measures don't take care of the vole and shrew problem, they also have pest control personnel. Swallows, on the other hand, are protected by federal law, and require a different tack. "Facility managers should keep an eye on (buildings)," Parton said. "Incomplete nests can be knocked down before there are eggs. We can't be everywhere, so facility managers have to keep an eye out." While swallows themselves aren't harmful, they do leave a lot of feces, and they carry mites. "They're not as bad as pigeons, but they do leave a mess," she said. Only ten finished nests can be destroyed, so it's important to stay on top of the issue, she said. Mosquitoes, known as Alaska's state bird, are also a nuisance. "We only treat for mosquitoes if Public Health says to do so," Parton said. "They're not disease-carriers here. If there are large numbers, we recommend (personal protective equipment), but they're only a nuisance, not a vector." Spiders are also becoming active with the onset of warm weather, Parton said. But although they may be creepy, they consume other bugs and are generally beneficial. "Vacuuming every other day will take care of them and their cobwebs," she said. Bug sprays and poisons generally don't work on spiders unless you spray the spider itself, Parton noted. Since spiders have long legs, their bodies don't rub the ground or wall to absorb insecticides, and they don't groom themselves to ingest it either, so vacuuming is the best bet. Vacuuming also keeps silverfish, another nuisance, in check. Yellowjackets are not aggressive unless provoked, Parton said. However, their underground nests can be an unpleasant surprise for someone mowing a lawn. They're easily controlled with a soap-and-water trap. Pest management personnel also remove weeds from the flightline. Weeds can crack the tarmac or concrete and create hazards, Parton said. "For a runway, you need a smooth surface, and weeds can really damage it," she said. Weeds also attract bugs and rodents, and those attract birds - which aren't helpful for aircraft. "It's kind of a chain reaction," Parton said. Weeds can be killed with a Roundup-type herbicide, but a safer and very effective tool is ordinary white vinegar sprayed on the affected area, Parton said. Any treatment should be used carefully though, as they can leave large dead patches in lawns. If you have concerns about pests, call your building or facility manager so they can send a work order to the Pest Management section. If you need assistance with pests in the Aurora housing areas, contact your nearest U-Fix-It facility or call Aurora Military Housing at 753-1023.