Tag Archives: Elmvale

The good old days

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Well, it was almost like the good old days. One out of our typical area call, and we actually managed to get it all done pretty much as planned – so better, mostly – than some of the days we’ve had in previous years.

Yesterday was the first day of this year that we’ve had a full slate of bookings. Down to Woodbridge, one in Tiny (which isn’t, in case you didn’t know), up to Port Severn for a few, then the locals in Victoria Harbour and Port McNicoll. Still mostly rodents, but that won’t last much longer. And it’s mostly mice again, not rats, which is a positive thing (for you, not us, necessarily, but oh well. No one should have to live with rats in their home or cottage!!!)

This weekend we were mostly dealing with mice, but two skunks, as well… they’re a pain in the butt! Especially when most of the issues are skunks that are just wandering through and around in your area. They cover a lot of ground in their travels so may wander through a property frequently, but not actually den there. And of course, the more time they’re there, the higher the likelihood of a mishap, especially if there are dogs also in the area.

While we can trap and remove, unless we fix the things attracting the skunks – or other critters – to an area, they’ll be back. Not necessarily the same critter(s) – but if it was perfect for one, it’s also going to be perfect for someone – or something – else to move into. So, that tends to be our focus wherever possible: convincing the critters that ‘this’ is not a desirable place to hang out. Humanely, of course!

Anyway, much as I like to go on and on about not much in particular, it’s back to school tomorrow and one of us hasn’t finished her homework!! Need to get some assignment details fleshed out and posted so that my almost-ready-to-graduate(!!) students can work on them independently while they’re out on placement(!!). And to make the flood of emails asking for more details about this, that, and the other thing stop already.

Have a lovely spring, and do call or text us at (705)534-7863, or send email to ccpestcontrol@gmail.com; we’re happy to help solve what’s bugging you. Environmentally responsible, local pest control – and hey! We work weekends!

Lauralee

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!!

 

Of course we are still here!

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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?

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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

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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.

Quick fly by

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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

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. 

 

Great weather for pest control…

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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

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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

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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