Winter Pests
With the change of seasons, comes the changing cast of pests. For more information on these pests, check under the insect or rodent links. These are some of the main culprits on the ‘pest parade’ for the fall and winter season.
Mice
Fall and early winter are the prime times for mice to try and enter homes. Some of the most common ways that mice enter homes are through attached garages, up the outside walls and through gaps in the wall-soffit juncture and gaps in the outside walls of the house. From the attic, mice often find ways to work their way down and into the house.
Cluster Flies
Cluster flies usually start entering homes in mid to late August. Population sizes were larger this year than they have been for the last few years. You can expect to get some of the flies coming out of dormancy on warmer sunny days over the winter and clustering on windows. We do cluster flies treatments in the spring between late March and the end of April and in the fall between late August and the end of October.
Paper wasps, pine seed bugs and lady bugs
All three of these insects will over-winter in homes in the same way as cluster flies do. Our cluster fly treatment is also effective against all 3 of these pests.
Ants
Various species of ants can appear at any time of the year although they are not active outside in the winter. If ants appear inside during late fall, winter or spring, this indicates that you have an ant colony inside the house or building that has become active due to central heating.
Carpenter ants will appear over the winter and especially in early spring starting in March. If this occurs you can be sure that you have a colony in the structure of the house. Firewood stored inside can also be a source of these ants.
Small ants can also appear in cold weather with colonies also being inside the house. They can also be under concrete slabs which is very common in commercial & institutional buildings.
Dr. Bug - Urban Pest Control Ltd. 