Tag Archives: port mcnicoll

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

More questions & answers

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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!

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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. 

 

And….we’re off….

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Georgian Bay sunsetNot off as in on holiday, but off as in we are getting a pretty full on stream of calls finally. Slow start to this season – not a bad thing, actually. Full days, but not packed & running full tilt is clearly better for old guys. Not that Ross is getting old, or anything! (But he is)

Has a helper most of the time this year; Matt & Ross worked together way back when they started in pest control (for someone else). Matt went off and did other things for several years, but he was available this summer, so we grabbed him. Always easier to have two anyway – but mostly, Ross needed someone to keep track of his hat and his phone!

Bit of a pain juggling everything with me working at the College and not here to answer the phone. Email works; I still get to that right away – but phone messages, not so much! I keep thinking that I should check them periodically from work but … yeah… that usually doesn’t happen; sorry!

Anyway …. coffee’s almost done and time I was making lunch and heading off to work…. ooh… or ordering some fancy new stylus pens and THEN heading off to work.

Have a lovely and pest-free day – but if not exactly pest-free, yep, we are still here and Ross will be happy to take care of your carpenter ants, spider webs, mice, bedbugs, and/or whatever else for you 🙂

Give us a call at 705-534-7863 (or if urgent, call or text me at 705.647.2567), or email us at ccpestcontrol@gmail.com . And now I’m really off to work!

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

And it’s summer!!

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Let the – power outages? – begin.

Seems like that’s the order of the day/week around here. There are signs at both ends of our road telling us the power will be out from the 26th to the 28th – but ~only~ from 8:30 to 4:00 pm.

How very convenient – NOT!!!

We will be here and happy to arrange whatever pest control service you need – but no phone/Internet could make that a bit ~fun~. Can get email through my phone though, so that will probably be the easiest way to get in touch. I will also try to remember to check messages remotely but … yeah… haven’t proven to be so good at that.

If you don’t email, and you don’t want to leave a message, do feel free to call us after 4 though. Thanks

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!