Category Archives: Family

Got mice? Or rats?

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rat

This would be the season – rats and mice don’t mind living outdoors when it’s nice out. It’s now, when the weather is starting to cool off, that they start looking for nice warm places to hang out for the winter. You do not want your place to be one of those winter refuges!

Prevention is the first step. If you have holes that they can use to get in, you will want to block those. If you’ve had any construction or renovations done, it’s a really good idea to have another look, even if you’ve never had a problem before! Contractors and builders are very knowledgeable about a lot of things, but pest control is rarely top of mind, and they will sometimes inadvertently leave vulnerabilities.

One thing that sets Cottage Country Pest Control apart from many of the other pest control companies is that we are persistent in our quest for solutions to your rodent problems. We’ll keep looking & blocking access points for as long as it takes, or as long as you’re willing to put up with us. We have cameras (motion-sensored; thermal; endoscopic), glow in the dark baits, and UV lights that help us to figure out exactly what is going on where, and how to fix it. We don’t do maintenance contracts.

Of course we’ll come back regularly if needed – but our preference is to solve the problem so that we won’t be. Nobody should have to cohabitate with mice or rats running freely throughout their living space, business, or restaurant.

Placing bait stations and/or traps is part of an Integrated Pest Management program – but is not, on its own, enough.

If you have mice, rats or other small rodents hanging out in your living space, give us a call at 705-534-7863, or email us at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to help.

well, this is not fun!

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I will get out and back to working – and teaching – but in meantime I’m hanging out in a private room at Midland hospital after several days in the ER waiting to be moved. So apparently the after contractor inspections, termites, and other assorted jobs will have to wait a bit.

Pneumonia is no joke! By the time Ross brought me in, I was pretty much incapable of stringing any words together. Also of too many other things.

Poor Ross….. he’s been taking care of my mom, me, Kali the diabetic dog ; has his hands full.

I’m irked that I’m now so useless, too! Finally decided to advertise, ordered postcards and delivered fifty. Only 950 to go. Yay! I’m being sarcastic there, just so we’re clear. .

I really want to focus on skitters….like as in take jobs away from companies that are using Dragnet every time it kills way more things than mosquitos🦟🦟🦟🦟. In fact they don’t hang out on foliage anywhere near as much as the pollinators, caterpillars, other bugs do. And they’ll tell you it’s fine for the birds. .sure it is – but by poisoning their food sources you’ll have to feed them (and THAT can lead to rats and other problems.)

There is a solution! check out Willd Birds Unlimited hot pepper options. My birds and I love them. Other critters not so much.

They’ll also, I hear, spray right upto the water’s edge, which is a huge nono. The label is clear; pyretherins are terrible for Aquatic life.

I spray to the waters edge too… but no pyretherins at all. I live on Georgian Bay and I have heron, swans, ducks, and an occasional otter hanging around….. and visitors that love to fish and…. there are SO many reasons to take the protection of our water seriously.

That’s why I like the garlic concentrate I use. Don’t love smelling it all summer! It does sneak its scent everywhere. But mosquitoes hate it. Ticks, too!. I do have my mosquito license, so I generally keep on top of any standing water…. if it can be dumped great , otherwise I can treat it. But mostly just spraying garlic regularly, paying attention to the weather (often needs to be done again after it rains)

I limited the number I did quite a bit the last two years, but the plan is to take summers off from teaching, and do pest control full time for the season. Maybe even find time for some kayaking again!

Anyway., the postcards need to go out somehow so will have to see what the deal is with the post office, or find a helper, I guess

And in the meantime I need to get off supplementalary oxygen and iv meds and seriously insulin, even! Blood sugars went crazy … just what I needed!

Got another (much better!) xray done today, Hopefully won’t be too long

And another summer’s in the books….

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And what a busy summer it was!

Kept trying to keep things reasonable – work weekends only (& do the skitter sprays during the week) BUT it just never seems to work out that way.

Thinking that next summer I might just skip the whole teaching thing and focus on pest control full time.

Partly that’s because doing both is just too darn hectic. But even more, it’s because it irks me that so many pollinators are dying unnecessarily.

So – instead of bitching about it, I’m thinking to DO something about it – to spend some time and energy marketing pest control the way I think it should be done.

We can control your mosquitoes and ticks without causing harm to people, pets, water, or pollinators!!

And since it’ll cause me a lot less stress if I can be sure I’m going to have enough work to keep me going and to hire a helper or two, I figure now is the time for marketing the services I intent to offer. I’ll be wandering the streets – hopefully with the older two grandkids and/or other helpers and doing some marketing.

And anyone that signs up for the mailing list by emailing me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com or calling 705-534-7863 will lock in 2023 prices.

No commitment, no deposit required.

If you concerned that I’m going to spam you with email, I can safely promise I don’t and won’t do that. Up until now, I’ve stuck to one email a year. Thinking to double that now, with taking the summers off – but still – that’s only 2 emails per year. And absolutely no sharing of emails either.

So – – – ? What have you got to lose? A millisecond off your time to lock inn 2023 pricing just in case you decide you want your family, renters, and guests to enjoy the outdoors without the constant annoying whines.

Happy 2023!

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Hope you had a great holiday season, and that this year is wonderful.

At the very least, I’m hoping Covid is less of a concern! Both my mom and Ross managed to get it over the holidays. Ross is feeling better – mostly. Ma, not so much. *sigh* Fun times!

We got our issues with Google business sorted out, so we’re back on the map and in search, which makes me happy. Whole thing was ridiculous!! And of course, they, like many others, are still using Covid as the reason for poor customer service. Getting annoyed with that whole song.

So, none of that here 🙂 We have much better reasons for delays! Not really – we try to minimize those. New semester, though, so I am in classes a couple of days a week. But even so, if you don’t get me, please do leave a message and I will get back to you. Or text (same number) and I’ll likely be even quicker.

We’re always happy to help solve your pest problems responsibly – it’s what we do.

ratAnd we do it well too. Probably too well sometimes – apparently the way to be successful in pest control is NOT to solve problems! We should, we’re told, just sign people up for regular visits.

Refill the bait stations, but leave the holes so that you still have to live with rodents and poop?! That’s rude!! Especially when we’ve learned some really effective ways to figure out what’s going on and how to fix it.. We would much rather build our business by solving your problems so well that when you get a chance, you’ll refer others our way.

Anyway … I need to be shutting up and moving on to the work I need to be doing this evening … haven’t yet up written up the note I promised my new first year class. My bad! 

If you have pest problems, please do give us a call or text us at 705-534-7863 and we’ll be happy to help.

And drive safe!!

 

Spring 2022

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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.

Still here, but….

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Wow… I haven’t written a blog since we got back from the cottage last year! My bad…

baby in bouncerAnyway, we are still around, but at this point doing the social distancing thing, since both of us have health vulnerabilities and would prefer to avoid the whole COVID-19 thing. So, aside from some advice over the phone if you’re lucky and catch him at a non-grumpy time (not today! he’s misplaced one thing and broken another; this does not make him cooperative at all). Pretty sure they’d better not skip Jeopardy again!

Sad when pretty much the only thing to look forward to is a half hour of Jeopardy but hey, it does give our day a little bit of structure. Haven’t really cared about being stuck at home up until now, except for the fact that I don’t get my weekly grandson cuddles!! But as of right now, my schoolwork is done – nothing more to do but upload their final marks into the main system tomorrow. And then I’m off until the end of May and pretty sure that is going to go a lot slower when I’m not working.

I’m actually pretty unhappy that I’m not teaching at least one course this semester … I was really getting into the whole remote learning thing, and have all kinds of ideas for things I could do better. But no such luck. I’d pout but that that would only make Ross even grumpier. If we’re stuck together for who-knows-how-long probably better not to irk him too too much.

Anyway…. all’s well, more or less. Hope you & yours are all staying safe and healthy wherever you happen to be waiting it out.

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.