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Spring-time Pests
Geoffrey McGinness • April 14, 2021
It is spring-time, warm weather, sunny days, a chance to get out and time for many pests to wake up from a long winter of hiding.
With spring-time comes warm weather, sunny days, a bit of rain and the bloom of plants everywhere. It also brings lots of different types of pests. During spring, ants will start to forage in force and colonies will quickly grow in population. They also will migrate, looking for a place out of the rain, protected from predators but close to food sources. If a colony is already quite large, they will start to swarm, where hundred (or even thousands) of pairs of winged ants will leave the colony and set off to find a place to start a new colony. Often, finding mulch beds, crawlspaces, or roots of trees to start a colony. Places commonly around most homes and businesses, allowing them a short path to foraging inside your house. A great way to prevent this is to be proactive and have the exterior of your home treated against intruders with a product they will track back into the colony and help reduce their numbers or wipe out the colony. Many baits do not work unless placed at a certain distance to the colony. To close and the colony may realize it is dangerous before having its full effect and be able to migrate their colony, so far and the ants gathering it will start to become ill and be rejected by the colony, thus the bait never making it into the colony. A slow residual is usually best unless you can find the colony and treat it directly.
Another pest that is prevalent and hated by most people: wasps. This time of year many are just starting to forage for the materials needed to start their nests. Now is a good time to do something against them. Within a month of two, a small nest the size of an acorn can grow to the size of a football with hundreds of wasps and eggs inside. Removing a nest that size can be laborious and dangerous. I also suggest at that point, hiring a professional so you do not risk getting stung a bunch of times.
Other common spring pests: spiders, beatles, gnats and early garden harvesting insects. Most of these are just mildly annoying and all but the spiders generally prefer to be outside. But they do wander in from time to time. With pest control treatments, you can make sure they don't annoy you.
I have fought this as long as I could. With rising costs on everything, I have had to raise my prices on initial services, along with the cost of recurring service and one time services. I wish this was not necessary as I know everyone is feeling the pain of prices increasing all over. Unfortunately, prices on all products in the pest industry have increase, some even tripling. The price increase I have put into place is modest and will hopefully help me offset the costs of running the business. Thank you for understanding!
As the temperature drops in the area and the farmers start harvesting their fields, mice activity spikes across the mid-west. With the fields that once gave mice harborage are now bare, the mice must find someplace to stay warm and hide from predators along with find a source for food and water. This begins the flood of mice moving towards homes and businesses to find a home for the winter. The key to making sure mice do not become an issue is to ensure there are no penetrations on the exterior of your home or business. Expandable foam and silicone caulk work but can eventually be chewed away, giving mice an entry that was previously sealed. Damaged vents, small gaps in the foundation, doors that improperly seal, garage door seals that have been damaged or worn away and pipes running to your exterior air conditioning unit are all common entry ways that need to be sealed or fixed properly to keep the mice out. Once a mice finds a way into your home, they leave a scent trail for others to follow. An invitation for other mice looking for a warm place to winter over and possibly find mating partners. Once a few mice have made their way in, they can start to cause issues such as chewing holes in drywall, chewing their way into stored food and creating a playground in your attic insulation. It is important to be ahead of the mice and get any issues taken care of before mice manage to get in and breed. A free inspection can help you know if your house is sealed well and you shouldn't expect problems or if there are issues, I can design a plan of action and seal small gaps to keep mice from becoming an issue along with advising you about any repairs that need to be made. All the room a young mouse needs is a gap about the size of a dime and they can get into your home, rely on the experience and knowledge of a professional with 7 years of experience. A professional who worked with companies with stringent standards of their business being mice free. Thank You for reading.