Tag Archives: pest control

BZZZZZ!

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What? Too early?!

I’m already thinking about mosquitoes, ticks, spiders and all that fun stuff – aren’t you?

Ok, well, I suppose it is a ~bit~ early. But I’m picking up my new-to-me car tomorrow and I’ve been thinking about what I want the wrap design to say.

I’m thinking to focus on things we take pride in:

That seems like a lot to incorporate into a car wrap – but it’s pretty straightforward when it comes to actually doing pest control.

It means that we kill less, not more. The goal of IPM is to monitor and manage pests using the most effective and lowest risk option. For Cottage Country Pest Control that means we do things such as

  • Find it We follow the pee. Also poop, footprints and any other clues we can find to determine where your critters are getting in (& out). Refilling bait stations and signing one up for regular servicing is the opposite of IPM and I don’t like it.
  • Solve it We don’t actually care that the board of health is okay with rats in restaurants as long as there is evidence (bait stations) that they’re trying. Gross!!! – dead rats near my food doesn’t really appeal much more than live ones, thanks.
  • Prevent it When we spot something likely to be a problem in the future, we’ll let you know… and make sure you know what can be done about it.
  • Protect it. When we have choices to make, our goal is always the most environmentally responsible and humane solution. Most pests aren’t actually pests unless they are in the wrong place, and being in the wrong place doesn’t need to be a death sentence (bedbugs, spongey moth caterpillars, and roaches excepted).

Following IPM guidelines is not, actually, all that good for business sometimes. When you’re doing it right, you often manage yourself out of jobs. But it is good for everything that makes Tay, Tiny, Simcoe, Muskoka, and beyond such a great place to visit – and for those of us who are really, really lucky – to live.

Winter is on its way

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Personally, I do not approve. Especially this year, when the garage is so full there isn’t any room for my poor car. It is going to have to stay out in the driveway and be cold and covered with yuck!

Hopefully we’ll get it sorted by the time I have to start driving in to school again. That won’t be until January, so …. it could happen.

It’s unlikely. We have a lot of ~stuff~ in need of new places to be. But it could.

Anyway – we have time to worry about that. For now I’m just worrying about getting what absolutely has to be done, done. My mom’s stuff is arriving early in November, and we need to have the rest of our stuff out of the area we’ve renovated for her. Most of my ~stuff~ is up in my office (aka the attic) or at my store (still not open but I have plenty of inventory). Ross’s, on the other hand, is still in there. All of his glass and supplies currently have no place to be, and all the tools he’s been using are all over the place. So chances are, all of that will go out to the garage. I don’t think my zoom-zoom is going to get in there any time soon.

Oh well. These days I drive the SUV a whole lot more than my own car, anyway. It is a lot better at getting in and out of the places some of you guys have your cottages. There are some very steep and/or narrow and/or muddy roads throughout our area. But you know that already.

Anyway, as you might expect at this time of year, most of what we are dealing with is rodents. We don’t do raccoons or skunks for the most part; Jessa and I don’t have the experience for that and Ross isn’t into coaching us. So – rats, mice and squirrels.

Lots of rats, mice, and squirrels. Thank goodness for toys. Ross was better at being able to just spot where things were getting in and out than I am – but I am way better at collecting toys than he is. We’ve added a bunch of toys to our toolkit to help us to figure out where critters are getting in.

Of course, we can still just treat the problem …. in some places where it’s just not practical (or cost effective) to find and seal up every access point, we can use traps or bait, and come back as needed. But our preference (unlike some of the other companies) is always to prevent and solve your pest problems – managing is a last resort.

Still got one more set of assignments to mark so I guess I’ll have to leave showing you Jessa’s nifty bedbug shot till next time. There you go – something to look forward to!

In the meantime, if you have mice, rats, squirrels, or unidentified furry critters in your home, cottage or business in Tiny, Tay, Simcoe or Muskoka, you can reach us at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com, or by calling 705-534-7863. Jessa has her own M – F business in Oshawa and I teach 3 days a week and do the gramma thing the other two, so we work almost entirely weekends right now, though, just so you know.

Ants and mice and critters, oh my!

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It’s a very odd year. Still the normal stuff for this time of year – spider sprays and carpenter ants, mostly. A LOT of carpenter ants.

But we are also still getting so many calls for other pests – pests that aren’t usually a problem until fall. Mice are the biggest; we have had about 3x as many calls that include mice infestations as we normally would by this time of year. I guess conditions were good for overwintering this year, and maybe even for having increased numbers of litters.

We’re also getting a lot more wasp calls than usual; those seem to be mostly in Tay and Muskoka – and apparently Victoria Harbour as well, as I seem to have some of my own! I’d better call an exterminator, eh?

Even though we’re pretty busy right now, we’re still getting to most things within a few days, so if you have pest problems anywhere in Tay, Tiny, Midland, Penetanguishene and/or surrounding areas, give us a call at 705-534-7863, or drop us an email at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com.

And just so you know, the guys are all aware of the actions they need to take to keep everybody safe, and are traveling with masks, gloves and sanitizer to be used as needed.

It’s Cottage Week!

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For us, I mean. Even though we basically live in a cottage anyway, we still look forward to going away to another. Since pest control is SO seasonal – except for mice and bedbugs – we don’t really get ALL that much time to enjoy it. And going away is better because we don’t go alone. 

My girls will come up for a visit – not a long one because they work too much, and Ross’s daughter and her family come too. Lots of fishing, losing at euchre, and this year, a new baby!!!

Pappy and Noah

So ….if you’re looking for help with whatever is irking you, we’re sorry, but we’re away. The good news is that it’s only a week – we’ll be back on the 24th and Ross will be totally ready to take care of your pest problems whatever they are. 

If you need advise or want to book an appointment for as soon as we’re back, please do feel free to email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com – I’m sure I’ll have to let others have a turn at holding Noah once in awhile. 

 

And….we’re off….

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Georgian Bay sunsetNot off as in on holiday, but off as in we are getting a pretty full on stream of calls finally. Slow start to this season – not a bad thing, actually. Full days, but not packed & running full tilt is clearly better for old guys. Not that Ross is getting old, or anything! (But he is)

Has a helper most of the time this year; Matt & Ross worked together way back when they started in pest control (for someone else). Matt went off and did other things for several years, but he was available this summer, so we grabbed him. Always easier to have two anyway – but mostly, Ross needed someone to keep track of his hat and his phone!

Bit of a pain juggling everything with me working at the College and not here to answer the phone. Email works; I still get to that right away – but phone messages, not so much! I keep thinking that I should check them periodically from work but … yeah… that usually doesn’t happen; sorry!

Anyway …. coffee’s almost done and time I was making lunch and heading off to work…. ooh… or ordering some fancy new stylus pens and THEN heading off to work.

Have a lovely and pest-free day – but if not exactly pest-free, yep, we are still here and Ross will be happy to take care of your carpenter ants, spider webs, mice, bedbugs, and/or whatever else for you 🙂

Give us a call at 705-534-7863 (or if urgent, call or text me at 705.647.2567), or email us at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com . And now I’m really off to work!

And it’s summer!!

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Let the – power outages? – begin.

Seems like that’s the order of the day/week around here. There are signs at both ends of our road telling us the power will be out from the 26th to the 28th – but ~only~ from 8:30 to 4:00 pm.

How very convenient – NOT!!!

We will be here and happy to arrange whatever pest control service you need – but no phone/Internet could make that a bit ~fun~. Can get email through my phone though, so that will probably be the easiest way to get in touch. I will also try to remember to check messages remotely but … yeah… haven’t proven to be so good at that.

If you don’t email, and you don’t want to leave a message, do feel free to call us after 4 though. Thanks

And so it begins…

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Even though I have yet to send my annual email  (my bad – BUT I got through a condensed semester with all my marks done & submitted early AND got my gall bladder out last week, so…. yeah… )  I’ll get there!

But it was a beautiful day and a whole bunch of people decided the time was right even without that. Lots of phone calls and emails today. I THINK I have everything sorted so that Ross can deal with things while I work at the group home tomorrow. We shall see 🙂 I might need to print off calendar pages for him… hmmm ….

Anyway, we are here and we are getting sorted so please do feel free to give us a call at 705-534-7863, or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com. Oh, and we’d love it if you followed us on Facebook as well, if you do that Facebooking thing 🙂

Spring!

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So happy to look out my window and see water again! So much prettier than ice.

All kinds of ducks around, plus a few swans; geese haven’t shown up yet – so it’s about perfect.

Ross has started gearing up for another season – ordered his products, cleaned my junk out of his car, all that fun stuff.

I’m still doing the computer and phone thing for him, as much as I can – but I’m also working a few days a week at a group home in Orillia. Really do need to figure out how to update my phone message so I can be a ~little~ more informative… but email IS going to be the best way to reach us to schedule your exterior spray, carpenter ant treatment, and/or any other pest control you need.

You can reach us by phone at 705-534-7863, or email us at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com.

Hope to hear from you soon 🙂

Lauralee

 

And we’re back

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Had a great time at NoFishIn Lake, as Ross has taken to calling Lake Nosbonsing, where we were. Disappointed in his quest for walleye yet again! Didn’t see much of anything worth keeping, actually. The only fish that made it to the very nicely outfitted cleaning shack at Birch Hill Camp was a nice-sized bass which “I could have caught at home.” Maybe – but t’wasn’t him that caught the one up there; it was his daughter.

She out-fished us all; more of the little guys, including four too small pike in the same outing that she got the bass, and the only one worth cleaning. Clearly the champ.

Me, I think when you’re going to lakes you’ve never been to, a fish-finder is pretty much a necessity. We have two that came with the boat but neither works. Thinking to buy Ross one for his birthday next month but he wants one that is really really SIMPLE and easy to use and I have yet to find anything that straight forward. They all have multiple bells, whistles, etc – and he doesn’t WANT that; he wants to be able to use it all by his own self, darn it!!

View from our cabin at Birch Hill Camp, Nosbosing Lake. That’s Ross with his two grandkids – they went down in the pouring rain to make sure my kayak was secured.

Anyway, we did have a good week – but OMG I was happy to get back home to my own bed and even more importantly, a bathroom with a tub, a fully functional toilet, and a door that closes properly and does not have little boys opening it at will! Next time we’re looking for a cottage to rent I am SO going to remember to ask what kind of bathrooms they provide, and if there are locks on the door. Bad enough we paid so much to rent a cottage that is further away from the water (and with a lesser view, also) than our home is – shouldn’t have to give up privacy, too. Or is that just me?

 

 

 

So – now we’re back and will get back to work and

View from our front yard. 7-June-17 sunset. We are a ~little~ spoiled.

everything caught up within the next few days. Keep waiting on carpenter ants to slow down, but they don’t seem inclined to do that, especially in Tiny and Tay. Starting to get a whole lot more wasp calls this week – fall must be on its way.

And bat calls too!! Happy to hear that the bats are coming back … hopefully a good sign that perhaps the white nose fungus that has been decimating Ontario bat populations is waning? Once can only hope! But we have started seeing them outside our own home in Victoria Harbour, and we have received quite a number of inquiries about them already this year, so finger’s crossed.

Got pests? Other than the ones you brought into the world yourself? Give us a call at 705-534-7863 or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com.

Yep, we’re back :)

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Wouldn’t know it though, given how slow I’ve been responding to calls and stuff this weekend. My apologies!! But one day old baby beats carpenter ants any day of the week!

My nephew had his first, so no sooner got back from Havelock than I was in the car again to go meet him. In Oakville. Yes, on a Friday. So yes, again Ross got to shake his head at me 🙂  He tries to avoid putting himself into Friday night cottage traffic. Me, not so much! If I want to go meet my kids at the zoo, or go hold a new baby, or …whatever, off I go. Even if that means I’ll have to drive back up with all the rest of you that are trying to escape the city.

Thinking my next car will need to be an automatic though! Traffic jams and standards suck!

Anyway, we’re home now, and I’m ready to fill up the few remaining spots in his calendar for this week, so if you’ve got carpenter ants or spiders or mice or whatever, feel free to give us a call at 705-534-7863, or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com.

Or you can use the quote form above BUT please do be advised that I’m hearing that my responses are getting caught in people’s spam filters lately! I DO reply to each and every quote form, usually within an hour of receiving it – so if you haven’t seen my response, maybe search to see if it got filtered!