Ants? This Pest Control Coupon for Portland is for YOU!

After all of the time spent eating outdoors, sitting on the lawn, enjoying the beautiful and uncharacteristic for the northwest 4th of July weather, I realized (ok truthfully I already know but for the sake of the blog, it's more of a second realization...) it is high season for ants.  If you noticed any ants marching away from your backyard picnic with bits of chips or watermelon (or just marching along checking out the spread),  What better way to celebrate ant season then with a seasonal pest control coupon for ANTS!

Need to get rid of ants? Go ahead, send those ants packing and marching down around and through the town looking for a new home with this coupon!  Indoor ants? Not a problem!  Outdoor ants?  I've got you covered!  Both?  Ask me about a discount for both indoor and outdoor- I've got one for you too.  

Portland, Vancouver, Beaverton, Lake Oswego, St. Helens, Battleground, Aloha, where ever there are ants, we'll be there (well, if you call us and let us know)!

Micah Wood

Peak Pest Management

360-607-1933

503-998-4322

www.Peak-Pest-Management.com

micah@peak-pest-management.com

Spiders: 5 Tips to Reduce Spiders Indoors

Spiders, let's face it, these creatures are creepy!  Spiders are a common pest control issue.  Pest control professionals in the northwest see and treat for spiders regularly about 10 months out of the year.  While there are far more virtually harmless spiders than there are deadly ones, the deadly ones give all spiders a bad name!   There is a reason this pest is featured on a specifically creepy holiday.  I don't know about your house but in mine, if a spider goes zipping across the wall (or floor, or ceiling) someone is shrieking at the top of their lungs (and no, it's not me)!  Luckily for my family, dad/husband is a pest control professional, so it is a rare occasion that a spider has the opportunity to enter my home!  Here are a few tips to keep your home free from spiders.

• Keep laundry and clutter off of the floor.  The longer a pile of laundry, toys, papers etc. sits untouched, the more likely it is that it will become home to a creepy crawly eight-legged beast spider.  Keeping laundry rotating through and up in laundry baskets or hampers is one way to minimize the draw.  Keeping toys in bins and papers filed also decreases common indoor dwelling areas for spiders.
• Regularly sweep and vacuum especially areas with less traffic.  Most people are pretty good about keeping regularly trafficked areas of the house swept and vacuumed because there is a constant reminder that it needs to be done.  It is also important when sweeping and vacuuming to make it to the dark forgotten corners of the hallways and closets, behind and under furniture, and any place that can be dark and forgotten for a long period of time.
• Regularly dust and remove cobwebs.  Regularly dusting and removing cobwebs and dust from furniture, in corners etc. much like sweeping and vacuuming is a way to keep under-trafficked areas of the home from becoming forgotten welcoming homes to spiders.
• Regularly go through and purge items that are sitting unused and keep stored materials in air tight containers.  Keeping stored materials loose or in bags and boxes is inviting not only to spiders but a wide variety of other pests.  Purge unnecessary items and papers on a regular basis. For those things that need to be stored for much of the time, choose air tight storage containers that are more difficult for spiders and other pests to inhabit and infest.
• Have a regularly scheduled spider and or general pest treatment indoors.  You may want to treat both indoors and outdoors if you live in an area prone to spider infestations.  If you have an array of unwanted pests and or spiders it is a good idea to have a regularly scheduled spider or general pest treatment with a local pest control company. Click here for coupons in Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA

With these few basic tips, you should be able to keep your home free from spiders.  Most professional pest control companies can schedule regular maintenance for spiders and general pests.  A maintenance is a good option for preventing future infestations from happening and keeping a maintenance schedule is often a much more cost effective option than waiting for a problem to get bad before making the call.

Sugar Ants and Pest Control in Spring

Spring in the northwest means rain!  And rain brings in sugar ants.  Sugar ants are also called odorous house ants in the pest control industry.  One way to know if you're dealing with this pest is by the smell given off when they are crushed.  Different people compare the scent to different smells-- where one person compares the smell to coconut; another may say it smells like urine.  Regardless of the scent, an ant that gives off an aroma or odor when crushed is likely an odorous house ant.

Many people wonder why sugar ants tend to appear after a rain.  The answer is simply that the rain washes away honeydew produced by aphids, which is a major source of food for these ants.  They are attracted indoors, out of the rain and often find a plentiful food source in kitchens and pantries of homes.  Sugar ants can eat a wide variety of human foods and are attracted, as their common name suggests, to foods with sugar.  Sugar ants also look for an area to nest and build their colony near food and water supply.  Sugar ants can colonize a very wide variety of areas ranging from under a piece of furniture, under/in a toilet seat, in cracks and crevices throughout a home etc.  Even outdoors sugar ants will colonize opportunistically under a rock, wood pile, alongside another ant colony, etc.  These ants are opportunistic and resilient.  A colony can be tricky to locate and can reproduce and grow pretty rapidly-- a queen ant can lay between 2-20 eggs in a day and a colony can have multiple queens..

A colony of sugar ants will range in size from 100-20,000 so you can imagine that it is probably a wise plan to seek a pest control professional right away to avoid a larger, irritating infestation.  Because sugar ants move indoors with rain, they are a very common pest here in the rainy northwest.  Often people choose to have a regular maintenance program for sugar ants simply because sugar ants are so common in many areas of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington.  A maintenance program is a very cost effective way to manage sugar ants in the northwest.

While sugar ants do not cause structural damage to a home, they can contaminate foods in the kitchen-- nobody likes to pour a bowl of cereal, or scoop sugar into a cup of coffee with ants!  They can also be an itchy, tickle-y nuisance.

For Local coupons for Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR click HERE.

Local Pest Control: 7 Benefits of Choosing a Small Local Business

When choosing a company for pest control needs, there are several benefits for YOU when you go with a local business.  These benefits include better customer service, great attention to detail, more qualified employees, often on-call service, a business relationship, personal service, area specific expertise.  These things are important when it comes to a service that protects your home from pests and potential pest related damage.

1. You will get better customer service.  Customer service is important in the pest control industry because people have questions about services, products, pet and family safety, etc.  When you choose a small local company, not only do you usually reach a live person (as opposed to the frustrating push button menu) but you also have a higher likelihood of talking to someone who is actually a pest control expert and potentially even the same expert who will be coming to your house or business to perform pest control services.
2. Great attention to detail is something you can expect with a local small business.  A local company cannot afford to make the same mistakes that a larger company can absorb, so you are much more likely to have a pest control professional who is paying close attention to what he/she is doing throughout your service.  This means a lesser likelihood of property damage as well careful attention to the proper product measurement and application.
3. Small companies often hire and individually train employees.  Often they seek employees with more expertise and higher qualifications because the services need to be done well-- the first time.  Because of the higher qualifications and individual training, the pest control professional at your door is often highly knowledgeable and in tune with both the pest problem and the needs and wants of their customer.
4. Often with a local company you can get on-call service during hours when more corporate centered companies close the office.  Many local companies are more flexible with business hours and more understanding of your schedule and willing to work around it so that you can have quality pest control service when it is convenient for you.
5. With a local company, you can build a business relationship.  A local company is more likely to remember you when you call for another service.  A local company is also more likely to build a mutually beneficial business relationship with other local companies.  Some local pest control companies know and call local bee keepers for some jobs, as well local pest control companies often work with local construction companies, property management companies, vacation rentals, etc.  
6. Local companies are able to offer a personalized service.  To a small local company, each customer is important.  Often when you call a local company you will reach a live person who is happy and able to answer your questions and concerns.
7. It is also likely, with a local company, that training is completed locally and on the pests that are most common in the area they service.  It is also likely that the owner of the business (who is required to have specific training, education and testing) may be one of the Pest Control Professionals who goes out on service calls.

When it comes to personal, quality, affordable service-- generally a local pest control company is going to be your best solution!  Choosing local when it comes to pest control is about more than supporting the local economy through shopping local businesses.  Choosing local pest control is about choosing the service that will best suite your needs.