Wild Animals

Bees

If you are visited by a swarm of bees, the Fire Department is not the appropriate agency to call unless someone has become ill from being stung. The best person to call would be a beekeeper as they most knowledgeable in the handling of bees. However, if the bees are nesting in your home or a structure on your property, you can call an exterminator.

Due to fears regarding the Africanized Honeybee, also referred to as Killer Bees, residents are calling authorities whenever they find a swarm in their yards. While caution is justified, African honeybees are mostly a danger to people who provoke them and/or were unable to get away.

View the full article on Bees in Hesperia.

Snakes

Should your intruder come in the form of a snake, the proper authority to contact would be the Hesperia Animal Control. Because of warmer conditions in the spring, encounters with snakes have become more common. The most dangerous is the Mojave rattlesnake that has venom unique to other California rattlesnakes in that it attacks the nervous system and can lead to paralysis.

Although rattlesnakes have several distinctive features, many people are not sure how to identify one. Using the snake’s color or pattern is not a reliable method of identification. Looking for the characteristic rattle on the tail is a good method, but sometimes these rattles are lost. Rattlesnakes do have powerful bodies, thin necks and well defined triangular or arrow shaped heads. Their eyes are hooded, and the pupils of the eyes are oval rather than round.

View the full article on Snakes in Hesperia.

For more information about rattlesnakes in California, visit the California Department of Fish and Game website.
 
For questions regarding Animal Control, call (760) 947-1700. For medical emergencies, call 9-1-1.

Mountain Lions
Mountain Lions are also called cougars, pumas, panthers, painters and catamounts. They roam throughout the San Bernardino forest region and occasionally into the Victor Valley in both desert and mountain areas and are usually quiet and elusive. Although your changes of seeing one of these secretive animals is slight, they have been observed in and around the Victor Valley including Hesperia. Typically, mountain lion sightings occur at a distance and usually around dawn or dusk. However, mountain lions are unpredictable and can be dangerous.

Mountain lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and prey mostly on deer and small animals such as porcupines, rabbits, squirrels, marmots and skunks. Mountain lions have also been know to attack household pets and even coyotes.

For full information on mountain lion safety, visit the National Parks Service website here.

Mosquitoes

The most effective to avoid getting sick from viruses spread by mosquitoes when at home and during travel is to prevent mosquito bites.

Mosquito bites can be more than just annoying and itchy. They can spread viruses that make you sick, or in rare cases, cause death. Although most kinds of mosquitoes are just nuisance mosquitoes, some kinds of mosquitoes in the United States and around the world spread viruses that can cause disease.

Mosquitoes bite during the day and night, live indoors and outdoors, and search for warm places as temperatures begin to drop. Some will hibernate in enclosed spaces like garages, sheds and under (or inside) homes to survive cold temperatures. Except for the southernmost states in North America, mosquito season starts in the summer and continues into fall.

Prevention


  • Use insect repellent: When used as directed, Environmental Protection Agency registered insect repellents are proven safe and effective, even for pregnant and breastfeeding women. For a list of EPA approved registered repellents click here.
  • Cover up: Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
  • Keep mosquitoes outside: Use air conditioning, or window and door screens. If you are not able to protect yourself from mosquitoes inside your home or hotel, sleep under a mosquito bed net.
For more prevention tips, visit the Center for Disease Control's Mosquito Bite Prevention flyer.