Pests in the Urban Landscape

Urban neighborhood and park.

The Pests in the Urban Landscape blog shares the latest resources and information from the UC IPM Urban & Community team to help you sustainably manage pests in the home, garden, and landscape. 

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A close-up of shiny gold and green holiday ornaments and multicolored lights hanging on a fir tree with bushy, dark-green leaves (needles).

Happy Holidays from UC IPM

December 22, 2025
From the UC IPM Urban and Community team, we’d like to wish you a happy holiday season! As we reflect on this past year, we’d like to express our gratitude to all of you for joining us to learn about pest management around the home and garden.  This year, we’ve connected with you in various ways:…
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Many orange fruits and leaves photographed from above.

Don't Give Pests This Holiday Season

December 16, 2025
By Lindsey Hack
Winter is peak citrus season, and a time when many people gift their home-grown fruit to friends and loved ones. This holiday season, we would like to remind everyone that harmful invasive pests can move to new areas on citrus fruit. There are several active quarantines in California aimed at slowing the…
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A paved walking path dotted with orange, fallen leaves, bordered by grass and shaded by trees.

2026 Webinars from UC IPM

December 10, 2025
The new year is just around the corner, and along with it will come new Urban and Community IPM Webinars! Join us every third Thursday of each month from 12:00 to 1:00pm PST to learn about a wide range of urban pest management topics. This series is free and open to the public but advance registration is…
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A large rodent with brown fur, orange teeth, white whiskers, and a long, sparsely-haired, rat-like tail. It is sitting on a sandy bank next to a flowing river, and its fur is wet from being in the water.

Invasive Pest Spotlight: Nutria

December 2, 2025
By Lindsey Hack
The invasive pest spotlight focuses on emerging or potential invasive pests in California. In this issue we are covering nutria. Nutria Facts The nutria is a large semi-aquatic rodent introduced to California in the early 1900s to be farmed for their fur. When the fur market collapsed, many nutria…
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A small brown mouse poking it's head and front paws out from a hole in the ground.

Management of Urban Rats and Mice

November 21, 2025
By Niamh M Quinn
Let’s be real—California's rodent issue is extensive. In some areas, it may seem like an infinite sea of rats and mice. Commensal rodents, those that live among and benefit from association with humans, significantly affect public health, environmental sustainability, and urban infrastructure.  …
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