City and county experts step in when pest problems surface

Whom do you call when bugs bug you or vermin threaten your quality of life? That depends on which part of the valley you live in.

Various entities in the valley deal with vector control, which involves limiting or eradicating insects or wild animals that transmit disease. In practice, those entities also deal with quality-of-life issues.

For most cases, including mosquitoes that may be carrying the West Nile Virus, code enforcement departments can deal with issues such as green pools, which are unused pools of stagnant water that often serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other problem insects.

The cities of Henderson, North Las Vegas and Las Vegas have their own code enforcement divisions, but the lion's share of code enforcement falls to Clark County, which handles all of the valley's unincorporated areas. Most of the actual work of pest control is contracted out by the entities.

"We do some weed abatement," city of Las Vegas spokesman Jace Radke said. "We contract pest control out to private companies."

The county's vector control department handles issues not only across the valley but also in the outlying regions.

"We've got one of the country's most successful black fly abatement programs down on the Colorado River near Laughlin," county vector control supervisor Chris Bramley said.

The three-man vector control team covers a wide variety of tasks, including mosquito abatement, education and pest control in the county's jurisdiction, except parks and recreation, which has its own pest control specialist.

Most vector control problems are a matter of careful maintenance and not an emergency response. The occasional exception is bees. Bramley said all bees in the county are assumed to be Africanized. Unlike common honeybees, Africanized bees, sometimes called killer bees, are much more aggressive and territorial and will pursue a perceived threat more tenaciously and for a longer time.

Bramley said that if homeowners discover a nest on their property, they should not attempt to take care of it themselves but should instead call a pest control specialist. Nests on county property should be reported to vector control.

At times, swarms of bees will be found flying through the valley or clustered on an object such as a tree or sidewalk. These swarms are typically the result of the population growing too large for a hive to contain, and around half the bees will fly off to establish a new hive elsewhere. Swarming bees can be easy to rile, but they are not necessarily a threat to people, presuming the swarm is off the beaten path, experts said. Swarms should be reported to the local government entity and not approached.

If bees are attacking in large numbers, then it should be reported by calling 911 if the attack is current or 311 if people and animals are out of immediate danger.

While county vector control handles problems on county property, much of the pest control in the valley is the responsibility of private property owners and homeowners associations. Vector control has been known to take care of issues such as bee nests on community property that is the responsibility of an HOA because the HOA can't be contacted in a timely manner, but Bramley said many problems can be handled with preventative maintenance on the part of the homeowner.

Common-sense practices, such as keeping trash covered, not leaving food out and picking up fruit from fruit trees, can go a long way toward preventing pests such as pigeons, rats and flies.

Vector control also has resources for education and pest identification at its offices near Horseman's Park on the east end of Flamingo Road. Bramley welcomes residents to visit to try to identify a problem insect by using his office's books, charts and preserved samples. Calling before visiting is recommended.

"People get a real sense of satisfaction when they can figure out what something that's been causing them trouble is," Bramley said. "Then we can give them advice on how to deal with it or let them know the right questions to ask when they contact a pest control company."

Contact Sunrise/Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.