Author: Kurt Treftz, Cascade Pest Control
What are Seattle’s Biggest Pest Problems?
The Seattle area is home to many beautiful areas and fun activities, but unfortunately also home to a variety of different pests. Knowing how to protect your space against these pests is important in maintaining the safety and cleanliness of your home or business. Cascade Pest Control is here to help demystify pest control in Seattle and share everything you need to know!
What to Know About Seattle Pest Control
Whether you’ve just moved here, or are a true Seattlite looking to better protect your home, learning about pest control is a necessary evil. Infestations are not fun, so anything that can be done to avoid them is helpful–an essential step of this prevention process is educating yourself about the types of pests in your area and their habits.
Ants
There’s lots of wood and lots of moisture in our area, so ants attracted to burrowing in wet, decaying wood thrive here. These are unfortunately also the types of ants that can do the most structural damage should they find their way into your space.
Carpenter ants, moisture ants, and occasionally velvety tree ants will be the species to look out for when it comes to preventing structural damage. Carpenter ants are the most common, and most easy to identify since they’re noticeably larger than most other ants you’ll come across.
Any ant you see inside your space is less than ideal. Make sure you’re sealing exterior cracks and gaps well, keep kitchens clean, and, for the wood-loving varieties, keep any wood piles or large tree branches away from the sides of your house. This helps avoid creating easy entries for them.
Rats and Mice
These rodents are more than prevalent in this area. If you haven’t seen one somewhere on the street before, you haven’t been looking close enough. Seattle has an ideal climate for rats and mice, as well as an abundance of people for them to thrive near.
The particular challenge with these rodents is that they’re able to chew through nearly anything to create an in for themselves, they’re agile climbers, and they can squeeze through surprisingly small holes or cracks, so if you aren’t on top of your home repairs, you make their job easy for them. Keep a special eye on attic and crawl spaces for signs of nesting or rodent damage.
Spiders
A spider or two lurking in the corner isn’t going to cause any large threat to your space, but you will see spiders out and about at different times of year here. They’re actually helpful to keep around to catch other pesky insects, so you won’t typically see a large number inside.
A common concern is what venomous spiders are native to the Seattle area. Luckily, we really only have to worry about the occasional yellow sac or black widow spider. These two are pretty easy to recognize, and aren’t often spotted.
Keeping your space less cluttered and regularly cleaning will do a lot to prevent any spiders from being able to settle in. Some can sneak in on produce, so washing your fruits and veggies before putting them away will also reduce the risk of them building a web in your space.
Wasps
Wasps and yellow jackets are some of the nastier pests Seattle experiences. They can be very sneaky with where they build their hives, and they’re more aggressive than the bees you’ll see snacking on your yard’s flora.
Depending on the type, some wasps build their nests up high–like in a tree, the eaves of your house, or a door jamb–or they can burrow in the ground. Keep an eye out for any patterns in movement or regular sightings of wasps near your home, as this may be a signal of a nest being near.
If the nest is small enough, you’re welcome to try and remove it yourself with commercial products, but a large, active nest can be very dangerous, so it’s sometimes best left to wasp control professionals.
Cascade Pest Control has been solving Seattle’s pest control needs for over 40 years now. Call 888-989-8979 for a service quote today!