Tag Archives: tay

Of course we are still here!

Posted on by

But Google has disappeared us. I am not amused.

I’m still going back and forth with them, but for the time being, I can’t get a single blessed customer support person that can, apparently, see reason. They just keep telling me that we don’t qualify to be on the map. Which is fine by me!! I’m not TRYING to be on the map, I’m trying to show up in Google search. That’s all.

They say that businesses that go to customer’s homes can appear in Search, which is all I’m trying to do, but apparently, that’s not something they comprehend. I wound up in the Map side of things and all they are concerned about is making sure we don’t appear on the map. Round and round in SO FRUSTRATING circles we go.

I never thought I’d hate Google the way I do right now.

But anyway, we are still here, and available to solve your pest problems in Barrie, Orillia, Elmvale, Tiny, Tay, Port McNicoll, Severn, Gravenhurst, Parry Sound, Oro, and so on and so on….

These days that’s mostly mice, rats, and bedbugs, but still some carpenter ants around. Apparently, they are making some adjustments to their behaviour these days, perhaps as a result of climate change? I’m sure there will be research reports on it sometime soon.

If you’re looking for environmentally responsible pest control, give us a call or text 705.534.7863. Or you can still reach us via ccpestcontrol@gmail.com because apparently, we do exist there.

Checked your trees today?

Posted on by

Well, they’re here – spongy ldd gypsy moth caterpillars are up in the leaves eating as of this week. Jessa and I are a little annoyed that they have reached the leaves before we managed to get everyone that wanted a spray for them done – darn rain!!

We’ve been able to do a few things this weekend, but nowhere near as many as we could have if the weather would have just cooperated!! SO annoying!! But it did mean that we were able to spend some time troubleshooting around squirrels and mice at one home in Tiny. I was pretty darn proud of myself at that one – usually it’s Jessa that finds things but this time I did it!! I found a mouse nest mostly by smell. And then I topped that off by – just as we were about to leave – noticing a (very) split beam that answered the question of how the heck the squirrels got in. Yay me!!

Solving mysteries is a fun part of this gig.

Anyway, just today we saw caterpillars eating in the leaves in Victoria Harbour, Bracebridge, Midland, and Tiny – basically every place we went whether it was about those or not. Was very satisfying to stop by some of the trees we sprayed proactively. No holes in the leaves, no caterpillars…. just as we wanted.

Too late for proactive now – we’ll have to switch to spraying up into the leaves as well as just ’round the trunks – but still able to make a huge difference in how much damage they’ll do and how much (or how little) mess you’ll have to deal with.

We’re pretty booked up right now, and the weatherman is STILL not cooperating too well!! But we are most definitely trying to get to everyone that is outstanding right now. Next weekend is Robin’s Point – if you’re here to sign up for that, there’s a link in the menu bar at the top or you can click right here: Robin’s Point Form.

If you need help with your spongy moths though – or with any other pests you didn’t bring into the world yourself, please do give us a call and we will do our very best to get there and solve it for you just as soon as we can.

Lauralee

Spring 2022

Posted on by

Another year already! Time flies when you’re having fun.

And I have been having rather more fun than I expected to when I took on this pest control gig. I always did like a challenge. And problem-solving. And learning.

So, in spite of the fact that I’m way too old to be crawling under houses or climbing ladders, I do it anyway (only when Jessa isn’t around to do it for me, of course)!!  Don’t know what I’m going to do when she quits on me – now that she’s fully licensed, too, she doesn’t need me for anything, really. Well, except for answering the phone, booking the jobs, ordering the supplies, and paying for everything. Okay, so she ~might~ need me for a bit longer! But it would definitely make a lot more sense for her to be finding bed bug jobs in Oshawa and/or Durham Region and skip the drive.

Anyway …. since Jessa is only available weekends, and working just weekends isn’t going to work for much longer, I’m going to have to find a weekday helper as well. Possibly more than one if the LDD moth caterpillars stick around. Which they likely will, although I think that this should be the end of it for a few years.  Lots and lots of eggs out there, just waiting for the warmer weather….. but this year we’ll be ready for them. And, hopefully, the virus that eventually wipes them out will be that much more prevalent.

In the meantime, though, if you are concerned about the caterpillars, and want to protect your trees, we can help with that – and the earlier the better. If we treat your tree trunks early in the spring, before or just as the leaves are coming in, we can use far less product in a more targeted way, and solve the problem before it starts.

And that is the way we prefer to do pest control around here: the environmentally responsible way.

We’ve already got quite a large number of jobs lining up for early spring – if you are interested in being added to our schedule, the sooner you contact me the better. I’ll try to get a sign up form added here in the next few days – but in the meantime, feel free to email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com, or text/call me at 705-534-7863 and I’ll pencil you in.

Not sure whether you’re going to need treatment? Have a look at any trees in your area. Do they have eggs sacs? What about your home or cottage? Some areas that we’ve seen have an alarming number.  If you’re able to reach and remove them, there’s still time to do that – but otherwise, we are happy to help.

Winter is on its way

Posted on by

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.

Quick fly by

Posted on by

Yep, we’re up and running, albeit in a Ross-less way … he’s still around and occasionally even answers the phone, and he’s telling us all what to do and how to do it, but not going out on calls these days.

As you probably know, the weather has been particularly not cooperative … not rain so much, but wind, at least along the water, which is, of course, where people need spider sprays most. But we’re starting to book them – tentatively, weather permitting – so do give us a call at 705-534-7863, or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com.

And now I’m off to spend the day with my grandson. Tuesday is my favourite day of the week! Have a good one 🙂

Lauralee

More questions & answers

Posted on by

So, if Ross is retired, who is taking over?

Many of you will have met Matt last season – he’s still with us, and in the long run, the hope is that he’ll take over all aspects of the business so that I can retire too. But we’re not quite there yet, so hi … I’m Lauralee, and I am currently studying for the licensing exams – was scheduled to take them on 16-April but got email today that they’ve been canceled (thank the good Lord!! That was way too fast given that the three books just arrived yesterday!).

I’m not actually likely to be DOING much of the actual spraying and so on but until Matt and Jessa get their licenses and enough training in all aspects to not need me any more, I expect I’ll be hanging around a fair bit. Jessa is my youngest – she works M – F in Oshawa, so is only available to us on weekends, but she wants to learn and get licensed so that she’ll have more options with which to make a living. She’s an ECE, mostly, and loves operating her home day care – but that, especially given that she’s single, has serious limitations.

So… when you call, you’ll get either Ross, myself or Matt; email is almost always me, and if/when you book you’ll get either Matt or Jessa.

All of us have been or are learning from the master, though, so you can expect the same environmentally responsible pest control solutions as ever. We’re looking forward to getting busy. Well, Matt & Jessa are – me, I still have a semester to finish, exams to study for, and so on… so I can wait a week or three yet!

By the time this ’emergency brake’ thing ends, we’ll be ready to go full steam ahead – and in the meantime, we are here and will make time to help you with any pressing problems.

It’s Cottage Week!

Posted on by

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. 

 

Great weather for pest control…

Posted on by

Not so great for pest control companies! This year has been a real challenge. Lots & Lots of people want outside sprays … some people to keep their home &/ cottage looking nice and clean and free of webs and some because the only good spider is most definitely a dead spider.

But with the windy, wet and generally dreary days we’ve mostly been having there just aren’t that many good days for spraying!

Can’t spray when it’s too windy – can’t control the spray well enough to be sure it’s only going where you want it to and not where you don’t. Especially near water; most of the products we use are highly unlikely to damage anything on land, but aquatic life just can’t…. And anyway, it’s illegal and we’re kind of sticklers about that. Partly because we don’t want to pay fines, but also because we care a great deal about our environment. We would miss our heron if it stopped showing up!

We also can’t spray when it’s raining. …. sort of. We actually CAN spray while it’s raining….but so few people believe us about that that we have pretty much given up on trying it for the most part.

Ross would never spray in a typhoon, or even just in torrential downpours. But light rains like we’ve had this spring really aren’t problematic at all. We use water, after all, to mix the product 🙂 Once the product is on the walls, it’s not going to go anywhere because of the rain. What causes it to break down over time is direct sunlight!

Which means there’s not much to worry about this year! At least not so far 🙁

I can’t believe that my summer is halfway over! It can’t have gone by so quickly; I haven’t even been kayaking yet!! I’ve accepted a 7 week contract at Georgian College so will be juggling between Ross’s calendar and so on, and that. Which means that there may be a bit of a delay in returning your phone calls. For the fastest response, please do use email if at all possible. Thanks!

Lauralee

Spring is coming

Posted on by

woodpecker hole in houseReally it is!!

I sure will be happy when the ice on the lake breaks up and I can get my kayak out! Not teaching this summer, nor working at the group home (long story there!) so unless something changes, will be here most of the time to take people’s calls. Well, when I’m not out on the lake anyway.

It could be worse though! The year I moved to Barrie we had a horrible snow storm on April 3 – and some jerk stole my shovel right out of my yard. I wasn’t amused.

Anyway, even though the weather is not cooperating, seems like the critters know that spring is coming. We’ve already been getting calls about critters where they don’t belong, and carpenter ants. Lots and lots of carpenter ants. We actually had several calls about them over the winter, too – every time the weather warmed up even a little, the ants would get busy.

Did you know that the ants you see are generally only a very small percentage? And that, while they don’t actually eat your wood or your insulation, they do damage it by tunneling through it to build their nests.

First sign people usually notice is a few ants…eventually, things progress to ‘raining’ sawdust (or insulation/building foam dust) – that’s called frazz. After that, things can get so bad one can hear them in the walls. And if you ignore all that long enough…? The woodpeckers come!! Woodpeckers love carpenter ants – whether they are in trees, or buildings. Fortunately most people get on top of the problem before that happens – but it does happen!

Early intervention saves the structural integrity of your home or cottage!

No matter where you are in Simcoe, Muskoka, Tiny, or Tay, or even beyond, and we will be happy to help you to solve your pest problems – or better yet, prevent them!

Our phone number is 705.534.7863, or you can email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Lauralee

Another New Year

Posted on by

And here’s hoping it’s a happy one all ’round.

We are still here – unlike what this blog would seem to show. My bad! Got a whole lot more hours at my second job than I anticipated. Finished there this month though, so I’m back to just teaching. And this, of course. Ross is supposed to be back to doing his glass work by this time of year, but moving his workshop downstairs turned into a pretty big renovation so I don’t think he’s made a single cut yet!

Still working though, of course, even though he’s getting somewhat crankier about crawlspaces and climbing up on rooftops….  in other words, he’d prefer if y’all could just have bedbugs  instead of mice! But yes, he will still deal with mice, bats, and other assorted critters …. just means I have to listen to more grumbling, is all.

If you have pest problems you would like solved, feel free to give us a call at 705.534.7863, or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com …. Mondays & Fridays are my teaching days, so responses may take a bit longer … but otherwise I’ll get back to you asap.

Lauralee