Tag Archives: port mcnicoll

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.

We were back – but now guess what?!

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Got it in one – we are taking off again.

Well, assuming we can get everything done that needs doing 🙂  Got some bedbugs that must die, rats that need a new home, and on and on it goes.

Bedbugs seem to be picking up this month- let’s hope THAT is a short-lived aberration! Nobody wants bedbugs! Ever! We’ve also had our very first ever case of termites! Hundreds & hundreds of carpenter ants over the past few years – but not one termite to be seen. Until this week. Also not a positive development! Interesting that the one and only case we’ve seen is in Tiny – that’s where the carpenter ants seemed to start from, also!

But not to worry – Ross just ~loves~ to help people solve their pest problems, whether they are common or rare. For quickest response over the next week or so, email is your best bet …my dog sitter is great, but he isn’t up for doing the phone thing, so I’ll have to call home to get messages. Which I will do my best to do – but if you CAN email, please do!

Or if you prefer, you can always use the chat function on our Facebook page – that works too 🙂 And as an added bonus, you can like our page while you’re there because, you know, it will not do to have my kid’s Facebook page getting more likes than ours just cuz her pictures are ever so much cuter than ours.

Oh, one last thing – if you happen to be over in the Kawarthas/Peterborough area, we no longer cover that region. Not sure why we’ve all of a sudden started turning up in your search results but we sold our Peterborough property several years ago and I haven’t included any of those place names in my tags in forever!

Beekeeping

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bees in hiveWell, I don’t know that I’m interested enough to spend money to set up hives – but did attend a beekeeping course this weekend. Mostly, I was hoping to get more information so that I’d be better able to help people that call about swarms of honey bees. We do get a fair number of calls about bees each year…. and have yet to find a beekeeper in the area that wants anything to do with them.

Fortunately, only some of them actually turn out to actually be bees – except in the case of swarms. Wasps of any variety, we have no qualms about treating, but with so much in the media about bees dying and how that will impact pollination and food production, we’d hate to harm any more than absolutely necessary.

Interestingly, one of the very first things I learned about bees is that they don’t actually belong here! Bees are imports; they don’t like Canadian weather. But they do so much good for food production that it’s worth it to continue to help them to survive here. And clearly, if’s very possible to do so, if one knows what one is doing (and is willing to invest the time & money to do things properly). And it can be a profitable enterprise as well.

I did not, however, learn a whole lot about dealing with swarms! Which wasn’t at all surprising, as it was an introductory course meant for potential beekeepers, not really for me. He did talk about when and how they happen though, and that, in combination with further research, has given me rather more to go on. Think I’d want to do a whole lot more learning before we would actually feel qualified to DO anything though.

And of course, there’s little/no point to collecting a swarm unless one has a place to relocate them to. Suppose we could purchase a hive and supplies and hope for a swarm call to come along – but that seems like a fairly big investment for something that may or may not happen.

Anyway, we shall see. For now, though, we shall continue on as we have been, which is to identify the pest, and figure out the best way to handle it. In most cases, a bee swarm really isn’t near as big a problem as people tend to think. They are in search of a new & suitable home, and as long as you’re not providing them with that, they will soon move along.

 

Spring in Cottage Country!

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Victoria Harbour ON

Kali and Aswell help He build docks

The lake is open, the ice is gone, and Ross has already started mucking around with pieces of dock. Some of it suffered damage and is going to need quite a bit of repair, apparently.  Trying to get that done before he gets so busy he doesn’t have time to do it.

We are already starting to get a fair number of calls and emails though – carpenter ants, already – and people wanting to know when we’ll start spraying for spiders. The answer to that is pretty weather dependent but every time I ask Ross, he says probably “mid-May”

I’ve started a folder for people who want to be among the first to be sprayed already though – so if you already know you’re going to want him, feel free to give me a call (705-534-7863) or email us at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com and I will be happy to add you.

Looking forward to hearing from you! Have a great spring 🙂

Lauralee

A new one on us: ermine!

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I did not know that we had ermine in Central Ontario. Guess you learn something every day.

This little guy managed to find it’s way into a house in the Shelburne area  – and stayed for 3 days before getting the food he was after and taking off.

We’ve actually seen quite a few bigger critters around Hogg’s Bay this winter. Coyotes walking along the edges of the lake; almost always two together. A fox that comes right up into our yard to play with our dogs! And marten (or otters, maybe)? Have heard there’s a fisher around as well, although haven’t seen it. Have yet to see an ermine though – but since I guess their coats turn white for the winter, I probably never will. Unless one decides to come visit our house!

 

Wasps & hornets

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wasp2
Having a really bad year for wasps all through cottage country this year… has been an issue all summer, but now as we’re heading to fall, just crazy!

And yes we treat them – but before you call us (or any pest control company) you should know that we can’t do magic!

We can treat existing wasp problems. Any wasps that happen to be there when Ross is will wind up dead.

We can use products that provide residual protection as well – so that the wasps that are out and about at the time will die if/when they return

Most often, we try to leave the nest in place – this is for two reasons:

  1. so that the wasps that come back get dead too, and
  2. because new wasps looking for a place to build are less likely to choose a spot that, as far as they know, is already occupied

The residual products, and the (dead/vacant) nests can help to prevent new infestations …. but unfortunately, not 100% and not forever. If there are a lot of wasps in your area, you will quite likely continue to see some wasps even after we’ve been there. If they land in the right place, they’ll die – but if they don’t, well….

So – if you’ve got a wasp, bee, or hornet problem, yes, we can help – but just so we’re clear, we can take care of your existing wasps only. We can not, do not, and will not guarantee that new wasps won’t show up at some point in the future.

Which is not to say that we won’t come back if need be – we do, as much as possible – but we tend to do those follow ups informally; he stops by if/when he’s in the area. BUT you should know that this is done as a courtesy (and because he really prefers to ~win~) not because of any guarantee. And sorry, but the further away you are, the better the chance that you’re likely to have to wait a bit for one of those courtesy (aka free) drop by’s.

If you’d like your existing wasp problem dealt with, please do feel free to give us a call at 705-534-7863 or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com.

 

Rain!

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Carpenter antsFinally some rain!

Works for me – although we’ve got 3 jobs this morning that it rather complicates, but oh well …stuff happens 🙂  If need be he’ll do the inside part today and go back and do the outside when it stops. But complications aside, sure would be nice to get enough rain to get some fire bans lifted, wouldn’t it?

And I’m happy that I can skip watering my tomatoes for a change. Picked my first three yesterday – well, not really – have picked and tossed lots of ugly black flat bottomed ones already – but finally (after adding calcium as one of our tenants insisted I needed to) got some nice non-ucky tomatoes.

Still getting lots of calls about carpenter ants in Tay, Tiny, Severn and beyond. Still lots of people discovering that they have them, or more like, giving up on the trying to fix it themselves with over the counter products and calling for help, now. The majority of the products you can buy are so mild (thanks to government regulations) that for carpenter ants, they really don’t do the job, unfortunately. Professional products, too, are strictly controlled by government regulations – but at least we’re allowed to buy stuff that actually works, thank goodness.

We’re also hearing back from some of the carpenter ant jobs we did earlier this year, which is absolutely expected. There’s almost always a “bloom” about four weeks after treatment. For the first few weeks, you see lots more dead ants, less live ones – and then at about four weeks, the nests are decimated, the queens are dead, and all of a sudden a whole lot of really dumb ants start showing up. People get worried that “it didn’t work” … but in almost every case, it is the exact opposite – the bloom is the indication that it DID work!

There are always many more times the number of ants in the nests than you’re seeing – when the nests die, all of a sudden there’s a flood of the little buggers that don’t know what to do without their queen and out they come. And they’re dazed and confused and do dumb things, too. In one case, they exited en mass and marched into our customer’s pool! – but usually they’re nowhere near that organized about it.

It can be a ~little~ distressing to see so many more all of a sudden. We get that, and  we will come back if need be, honest 🙂

But in most cases, if we can convince you to wait just a little bit longer, you’ll find that you no longer need us to come back, because it really is over and the problem is solved.

Ants are fascinating; I wish we didn’t need to kill so many of them – but since they do so much damage to homes & cottages if left unchecked, it must be so.

Weather Watch

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Wish it would just RAIN already!!! This constant feels-like-it’s-gonna-but-doesn’t is aggravating. Do I send him to Tiny, first, or Parry Sound?  Constantly checking weather apps these days; too bad they hardly ever agree! I keep thinking I maybe don’t need to water my garden because it feels like it’s going to rain – but then it doesn’t; at least not here. It should rain already!!! And then stop so we can get on with our day.

Fortunately we do have some work that can be done even in the rain  – indoor stuff like fleas and mice, anyway. Never had SO many mice calls through the summer as we do this year -usually that’s a winter thing. Not many bedbugs in cottage country this year though; that’s a plus … well, for you guys, not so much for us 😉

If you have pest problems of any sort – well, aside from those you brought into the world yourself – please do give us a call at 705-534-7863, or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com and I’ll be happy to book a time for Ross to come and solve them for you.

 

 

Pappy Days

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Pappy DaysSo… Pappy’s still pretty busy most days – but he is finding a bit of time here and there to spend with the grandkids.

This week, we had them for Tuesday & Wednesday. I work Tuesday mornings, so Pappy & the boys got the Airhead tow thing blown up and ready for me to take them out on it in the afternoon while he was off killing things.

He had to work all day Wednesday too. I sure don’t envy him hanging out outside in this heat – even less so when he’s working in attics or crawlspaces. Or worst of all, on roofs.

I felt bad, honest – all day, while the kids and I hung around in the air conditioning watching Netflix and playing games and collecting Pokémon.

Not ~quite~ sorry enough to stop booking him to keep going out to solve your pest problems though, of course!

Got ants? Or spiders? Or any other creepy crawlies you don’t like? Give me a call at 705-534-7863 or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com and I’ll send him your way.

Ross’ boat

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Ross' boat

June 10 and it’s still in the yard! And filling up with tree gunk too.

Well, we’re off to a very busy start this season.

So busy, in fact, that Ross’ boat is still sitting in the yard. He had time to remove the tarps. And he’s got it serviced.

And – well, since then, he’s been on lots & lots of other people’s boats. That should count for something right?

This week has been all about the Honey Harbour area. Lots of carpenter ants, mice and of course spider sprays. Have had him up there several days already, and today he’s out with Big Red Works all day. That works great – they run him around so that he can fit a whole lot more into one day by skipping the time spent waiting at marinas.

Already got more island calls set up for next week as well, both in Honey Harbour and the Parry Sound area. Oh yeah, and Mactier. Haven’t heard much from Go Home Lake cottagers yet. Hmm… maybe they don’t like us any more?!  Or maybe they’ve just been spared the invasion of the carpenter ants, I don’t know.

Anyway, given how busy we are, and the fact that it doesn’t seem like he’s going to have time to get our boat in the water any time soon, I guess I won’t complain. Too much!

If you’re having problems with birds, carpenter ants, mice, spiders, etc etc, do give us a call or email us and we’ll do our best to fit you in somewhere. Even though we’re hopping, we’re still managing to get to most within a day or two. On land, anyway.