Tag Archives: integrated pest management

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

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

 

Oopsie!

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So I was showing someone our site today and noticed that I hadn’t updated since last October. My bad!! Let’s not mention that to Ross, k?

Funny thing is though, that even though I haven’t been doing much (okay, anything at all) he’s still had probably the busiest winter yet. Bedbugs, roaches and mice, oh my. And we’re seeing more rat calls as well for some reason. Rats are a PITA – way too smart… but I digress.

snowshoe pigPoor guy hasn’t even had much time for working on stained glass so far … did do a snowshoe pig though! (Doesn’t everyone need a snowshoe pig? No? Just Sue then!)  And he just finished a snowshoe old, except it’s  not yet in its snowshoe.

ANYWAY, in spite of the fact that Ross is now officially entitled to all the senior discounts, he’s still going, and we are still here to solve all your pest control problems in Tiny, Tay, Simcoe, Muskoka and beyond.

It’s a little early to be booking yet, but won’t be long before we’re gearing up for spring so here I am babbling about not much of anything so that you’ll know we are in fact still here, and so that all the search engine bots will also know it. Time for me to start posting regularly again, whether I actually have anything interesting to write about or not!

Thanks for stopping by, and if you are looking for help with a pest of some sort, do feel free to drop us an email or give us a call at 705-534-7863.  We look forward to hearing from you. Unless it’s a rat problem. We’ll still solve it for you, but we don’t actually look forward to those ones much!

Crazy weather for bugs!

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Gotta love this heat!  STILL getting calls about spiders; pretty late in the season for that! Just realized something too – this is the first year in a while that we haven’t had any calls for either brown recluse or black widow spiders in Penetanguishene. That is most assuredly a good thing.

Anyway, carpenter ants seem to be slowing down now which is another good thing. They started early this year, so we did lots & lots of them all throughout Tiny, Tay, Muskoka and Simcoe.

And still only the one termite call – which has responded very well to treatment, thank goodness.

This heat can’t last TOO much longer though! Soon it will be time to book Ross to come out and refill/replace mouse baits, and/or to tackle any bat problems. Sure wish someone would call up for some bat houses sooner rather than later !! He’s left them sitting right where I planted morning glories; just happened to notice a few determined little flowers poking up from behind the blasted thing. THEY need to move!  Wouldn’t you like a nice seasoned bat house? I’m sure you would 🙂

If you are calling us this time of year, please do leave a message if need be and either Ross or I will get back to you as soon as we’re able…. my teaching schedule this semester is NOT ideal – have to drive down to Barrie 4 days each week for 2 or 3 hours each day. They can and will do better when I whine – but I save that for the Winter semester when I really REALLY don’t want to drive 2 hours for a 2 hour class every darn day. If I take what I’m given in the Fall semester, usually get what I want in Winter. Here’s hoping!   It does mean that I’m often not here to answer the phone right away though – but Ross will check & return messages if/when he stops in, and if he doesn’t, I will get to them as soon as I get home.

 

 

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!

Carpenter ants!

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Carpenter antsMy goodness, have we ever become inundated with carpenter ants. We are getting SO many calls from throughout Tay and Tiny Townships. They started early this year, and so many of them, we’ve been having a hard time keeping enough product in stock to treat them.

Could be worse though – from what I’ve been reading, some areas are starting to see increasing numbers of termites. We have never had a single call for those – and would rather like to keep it that way!  While both carpenter ants and termites can do a great deal of damage to a home or cottage, termites tend to do it faster – we can do without that!

Just because they’re slower, doesn’t mean you should ignore carpenter ants though! In addition to the structural damage they can do, and the very annoying noise they can make if you leave them untreated long enough, you just might find your cottage poked full of holes. Woodpeckers just love carpenter ants – and they can and will do a lot of

Woodpeckers are ~cute~ …sometimes!

damage very quickly once they discover them.

And of course, just like most everything else, it’s usually easier – and cheaper – to solve problems when they’re small. Do you suspect you have carpenter ants? Ross will be happy to help you with those – before the woodpeckers show up 🙂

Give us a call at 705-534-7863, or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com. Or you can click on the quote form up there and get a guesstimate that way, too.

Have a great day!

Lauralee

 

Maybe I’m working him too hard?

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Or maybe I just need to buy him a whole case of hats?

Poor Ross!  I’ve been keeping him hopping lately. He did get a day off – well, sort of off. He got to stay home and work on getting the dock in this weekend – does that count? I think he’d probably say no, but hey, we had helpers! And beer! And food! So that counts, right?

And the dock is – mostly – in; just a few floating bits to more into place and secure. He’ll soon be able to start fishing off the end of it. When he gets home. After lots of long days spent driving all over cottage country 🙂

Have been able to do a lot better scheduling than in some previous years, though. Today, for example, he was in Tiny. All over Tiny, but hey – at least all in that one general area. Tomorrow, weather permitting, he’ll be heading up to Gravenhurst area, I hope. And in between times, got lots of Tay Township, Midland & Penetanguishene area calls to get done.

Sure miss his helper though! He needs one to keep track of his hat(s), if nothing else!

Anyway, even though we’re crazy busy right now, I’m always happy to add more to his calendar – give us a call at 705-534-7863, or email me at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com.