Second Sprays

If you are familiar with spiders and spider sprays (which you should be if you've been reading this blog....you can read them here and here) then  you might already know that generally once you have had one spray done they last about 6-8 weeks depending on weather conditions. Most people find two sprays per season provide optimal control, but this is purely a matter of personal preference and tolerance for spiders.


Since, spider sprays are generally started in May, now is the time to start booking for your second spray,  especially if you are once again seeing an excessive number of spiders and their webs on your home, cottage, dock, garages, etc.

Give Cottage Country Pest Control a call today at 705-534-7863 to book your second appointment (or even your first) or email us.

Friday Link Roundup

www.bedbugremoval.ca- New Research Reveals Bed Bugs' ability to transfer harmful bacteria

thestar.com- Bedbug problem triggers $250,000 funding from Toronto Council

CBCnews- Bedbug battle being won in Winnipeg

CBCnews- Bed bugs a cottage problem, too

thestar.com- Environmental commissioner: Ontario not prepared for heavy costs of climate change

news.ontario.ca- Ontario named Canada's Greenest Province

news.ontario.ca- Restoring Great Lakes to protect Ontario's future
 
thestar.com-  Beware a staggering squirrel in your backyard

As always, if you have any suggestions for our Friday Link Roundup, have any questions or want to book an appointment, you can email us or give us a call at 705-534-7863.

Raccoon Roundworm

On Saturday June 16, in the Toronto Star there was an article entitled "Beware a staggering squirrel in your backyard". In the article by Margaret Bream she wrote about her encounter with a squirrel in her backyard that was behaving oddly. After doing some research she discovered that the squirrel was likely suffering from Raccoon roundworm. 


Raccoon roundworm is a diseased caused by the parasite Baylisascaris procyonis. Raccoons are the main host of these parasites (they live in the small intestines of the raccoons), however can be passed to other small mammals such as squirrels, groundhogs and rabbits. While the parasite doesn't kill raccoons, it is a fatal disease to the other small mammals it infects and there have been confirmed cases of the disease in humans (it can be fatal in humans as well).


Dr. Douglas Campbell, a veterinary pathologist at the Canadian Co-operative Wildlife Health Centre at the University of Guelph says "Baylisascaris procyonis is by far the most common cause of neurological disease that we see in grey squirrels".


Small mammals get infected by the parasite by digging in the scat of an infected raccoon, which they do to find seeds to eat and they eat the roundworm eggs. Once the eggs hatch and become larvae that is when they become fatal to the animal.


It is stated in the article that "If you find raccoon excrement — or a communal “latrine,” where a group of coons regularly defecate — around your property, consider calling in a professional wildlife service for decontamination. If you opt to do the cleanup yourself, the Guelph wildlife centre advises that you do so cautiously. Wear a protective mask, gloves and clothing that can be discarded after use".

To book an appointment or if you have any questions about pests in and around your home, email or call us at 705-534-7863.

Identifying: German Cockroaches

German Cockroach. See the 2 dark parallel streaks running across it's body?

• The most common cockroach in Canada is the German Cockroach
• The German roach is about 1.3 to 1.6 cm long and has a flattened oval body with long spiny legs
• They are tan or light brown colour with 2 dark parallel streaks that run from their heads and down to the base of their wings 
• Despite having wings, German roaches are unable to sustain flight
• German roaches can be found in any part of your home, but they usually prefer a damp environment such as kitchens, bathrooms, basements,etc.
• German cockroaches are also considered to be a public health concern because they have been known to carry Salmonella bacteria,which it has been shown can remain in their feces for several years
• German roaches (and many other species of roaches) have been known to also cause allergies in people that can result in skin rashes, asthma and other reactions 
• Allergies are primarily caused by their feces, saliva and eggs
• German roaches can also carry bacteria such as Staphylococcus, Streptococcus and other bacterial pathogens that can make you or your family sick through contaminated food

So what can Cottage Country Pest Control do? Well, by practicing IPM (which if you are not familiar with, you can read about here) we can approach the infestation and find the best way to solve the problem using environmentally responsible and people-friendly ways.

Contact Cottage Country Pest Control through email or call us at 705-534-7863 to book and appointment or to find out more information.  

Identifying: Wood Roaches

Wood roaches have:

• A flat, oval body with long antenna
• Spiny legs 
• Overall chestnut brown colour
• A male is usually about 25 mm while a female is up to 19 mm 
• Generally the males appear to have a bit of a tan colour because of the colour of their wings
• Adults and large nymphs of the wood roach can be recognized by the pale, creamy white or transparent stripe on the outer edge of the thorax
• The pale edge extends onto the first 1/3 of the front wings on adult roaches

• Wood roaches are common outdoor dwelling insects that are native to North America
• Are found throughout Ontario
• They are most commonly found in moist woodland, ground litter, mulch, firewood, potted plants, shingles and rain gutters

• Wood roaches that have entered a home will act differently than other roach species 
• They are not secretive, they are active day and night and they are less likely to run when approached
• They will also wander around a house, without stay localized to a specific area such as the kitchen
• Wood roaches will not thrive or reproduce indoors, because they require specific habitat to do so
• They need a consistently moist environment such as under wood piles, loose bark and decaying logs into order to reproduce

Male wood roach. Notice the difference in size and colour.

Female wood roach. Noticeable is the the slightly smaller size and difference in colour.

So what can Cottage Country Pest Control do? Well, by practicing IPM (which if you are not familiar with, you can read about here) we can approach the infestation and find the best way to solve the problem using environmentally responsible and people-friendly ways.

Contact Cottage Country Pest Control through email or call us at 705-534-7863 to book and appointment or to find out more information. 

Friday Link Round Up

CBCnews- Giant algae blooms thriving under thinning Arctic sea ice

CTVnews- Shipping change puts right whale back on healthy course

The Globe and Mail- Cleanup of latest Alberta oil spill could take all summer

Newscanada.com- Fruits in abundance for Canadians due to pest control products

Newscanada.com- Do what you can to save the honey bee

Newscanada.com- How to deal with local wildlife the right way

The Globe and Mail- Former Reform MP rakes Harper over environmental coals

The Toronto Star - How the family cat infected an Oregon man with Black Death

Hornets: A Revisit

If you haven't already, go ahead and read the revisit on bees and/or wasps.

Today's post is the revisit on hornets. Fun right?

• The European Hornet (Vespa crabro) is black and dark with yellow, they have deeply indented eyes (think c-shaped) with reddish-orange wings and their petiolate abdomen is brown striped with yellow and some hair
• They can be as big as 3.5 cm and like the honeybee and bumblebee they have a gentle disposition 
• This means they won't sting unless they provoked, stepped on or grabbed
• They will however get defensive when their hives are threatened and they can become aggressive
• Male European hornets have abdomens that have 7 segments and the females have 6 and the male antenna have 13 segments and the female antenna have 12
• European hornets will eat insects and they are also attracted to lights at night 
• Their nests are large paper nests and can be found in hollow trees that have sheltered positions

• Bald-face Hornet or (Dolichovespula maculata) is also known as the white-faced hornet and the white-tailed hornet
• Found throughout North America including parts of Canada, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Coast of the United States and most of the Eastern United States
• They are black with white ivory markings and can be up to 1.9 cm
• They also have 2 visible legs that hang when they are in flight and they lack pollen baskets
• Like the European hornets, the Bald-face hornet also eats other insects
• Bald-faced hornets are known for their large football-shaped nests, which they build in the Spring
• They are extremely protective of their nests and  can sting repeatedly

Basically, you don't really want hornets hanging around your home especially if you or someone in your family is allergic to their stings, so Cottage Country Pest Control can come in and using IPM methods we can help make your environment safer for you and your family.


To book an appointment or for more information email or call us at 705-534-7863.

Wasps: A Revisit

Like yesterday's post, today's will be a quick revisit but this time all about wasps.

• Paper wasps are one of the most commonly observed wasps in Canada
• Named for their habit of making paper nests 
• This species is dusty yellow to dark brown or black in colour and have little to no hair
• Paper wasps are generally between 1.9 and 2.5 cm 
• Are slender, with needle-thin waists, they have oval eyes and long antenna
• Like both bald-face hornets and European hornets they have 2 legs that hang visibly when flying
• Paper wasps are considered to be gentle, however if they or their wasps are threatened or disturbed they will become aggressive and can sting repeatedly
• Their nests consist of open hexagonal cells built using paper--which is wood fibers mixed with the wasps' saliva They can collect the wood fiber from various sources such as dead wood, wooden structures and plant stems Their nests hang down horizontally in protect spaces such as attics, eaves or can be found in soil cavities
• A nest will rarely exceed the size of an outstretched hand with populations of  between 15-200

Wasps (and bees and hornets) are not necessarily a pest you want hanging around to closely to your home since many people do have allergies to them. Cottage Country Pest Control can come in and using IPM methods we can help make your environment safer for you and your family.
To book an appointment or for more information email or call us at 705-534-7863.

Bees: A revisit

So I've noticed that a lot of the hits lately on the blog are people looking for information on bees. If you want to read the past posts I've written about bees (or wasps or hornets) you can click here for the first post in the series.

If you just want some quick information then keep reading. I won't cover everything again, because it's already been written, but I will give you some quick information and facts.

• There are over 1000 native species of bees in Canada (honeybee is not a native species)
• Honeybees were originally from Eurasia where they have been a domesticated species for centuries
• All the "wild" honeybees we have in Canada are from colonies that escaped from domesticated hives
• Bees are able to live year-round assuming the colony worked hard enough in the summer
• They are completely adaptable to the Canadian climate
• Honeybees are amber to brown in colour with alternating black stripes
• They are furry (with short hair) and are approximately 1.3 cm
• They eat nectar from flowers and when they sting (which they won't do unless provoked as they are considered gentle) it will kill them
• Honeybees live in large colonies in flat wax-based honeycomb hives that hang vertically

• Bumblebees lived in the wild for thousands of years before people started capturing them in order to domesticate them
• Bumblebees have long tongues which means they are able to pollinate a large variety of flowers.
  In the late 1880's, researchers began to think about using bumblebees to their advantage when it came to agricultural matters
• In Canada, the bumblebee was first used commercially in 1990 as a tomato pollinator
• Throughout the world there are 5 species of bumblebee that are commercially reared, however in North America only 2 are used commercially--the Bombus impatiens and Bombus occidentalis
• Bumblebees are yellow with black stripes and are furry, but with long hair
• They are considerably larger than a honeybee at 2.5 cm
• Like the honeybee they also eat nectar from flowers and if they sting it will kill them
• They too are considered gentle and will not sting unless provoked in someway
• Bumblebees can be found living in the soil in small cavities

Yes, honeybees and bumblebees are beneficial to the environment and agriculturally but that doesn't mean you necessarily want them building hives around your home or cottage. Especially if you or someone in your family is allergic to their stings, so Cottage Country Pest Control can come in and using IPM methods we can help make your environment safer for you and your family.

To book an appointment or for more information email or call us at 705-534-7863. 

Just Add Water Festival and Trade Show

This weekend is the Just Add Water Festival in Honey Harbour. Part of this festival is the trade show at Village Marina.

Cottage Country Pest Control will be there today, so if you are in the area stop by and come find us!