Team works to keep critters away, pests at bay

After coming into contact with a lethal spray, the wasps make a last ditch effort to escape before they ultimately die. Members of the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron Pest Management Flight use a spray that is nontoxic to humans, but will kill wasps almost immediately on impact. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bryan Swink)

Team works to keep critters away,pests at bay

Airman 1st Class Brandon Burkholder, 60th Civil Engineer Squadron Pest Management technician, sprays wasp colonies located at the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard Building on Travis Sept. 10. The pest management team is tasked with handling and eliminating insects, along with rodents and small animals, for populated areas on the installation. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bryan Swink)

Team works to keep critters away, pests at bay

Published Sept. 19, 2014
By Senior Airman Bryan Swink
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The four-man team of entomology specialists, better known as pest management, from the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron work every day to ensure Travis residents and employees have a safe and pleasant environment to live and work in.

They have two main missions; controlling the small animal, rodent and insect population on base and also clearing the cracks and crevices of sidewalks and roadways of weeds.

"We are mainly known for pest management, but people don't realize how much effort we put into ensuring the sidewalks and roads don't have weeds popping up," said Senior Airman Danae Bogenreif, 60th CES Pest Management technician. "It would be very apparent to the Travis population if we weren't doing our job because weeds would be all over the sidewalks."

Keeping the weeds at bay helps keep the installation beautiful, but controlling the animal and insect population is what keeps the people and structures on Travis safe.

"Many of the rodents, insects and small animals carry dangerous diseases and we want to make sure we do everything in our power to make sure they are not a threat to anyone," said Airman 1st Class William Brazier, 60th CES Pest Management technician.

The team will set up traps all over the installation to catch the animals. The most popular animals to visit the traps are raccoons, possums, skunks and feral cats.

"Once we catch the animals, we take them out to the opposite side of base on the other side of the flightline to release them," Brazier said. "We take every approach possible to ensure the animals safety and return them back into the wild and away from the base population."

Insects also pose a large nuisance to Travis as wasp and bee colonies can overtake buildings. For the wasps, the team uses an instant lethal spray to immobilize colonies and kill them instantly. In contrast, the team takes a different approach for the bees.

"We actually have a program where we remove the queen bee and relocate her and her followers to organized hives where we can control their location and harvest the honey they produce," said Airman 1st Class Brandon Burkholder, 60th CES Pest Management technician. "We harvest approximately 100 gallons of honey every year."

Even though it's a small team assigned to Pest Management to work a large Air Force Base like Travis, they are dedicated to their job and take pride in the fact they help keep the population safe from potential harmful or irritating animals and insects.

"At times, we get extremely busy on base, but regardless of how nasty cockroaches may be or how smelly we may get after dealing with a skunk, we are proud to be the ones to handle any situation," Bogenreif said.