Bringing 2016 To A Frozen Close

It's been some time since I last updated the Z Pest website, and I have all of my customers to thank for that: you've all kept me so busy that there wasn't much time left for anything else!

2016 marked five years in business for me under the Z Pest banner (nine years working in this industry), and it turned out to be the strongest year for the business so far.

Going into 2017, I will be making some new offerings available, things not currently provided by other operators in this area, so please keep checking back to see what's happening!

Snow is nice to look at... in photos... when they're not mine.

As for now, despite the heavy blanket of snow that we're under, some pests are still making themselves known in people's homes around the Walla Walla valley, and as such I'm still available if you need help. You may have a few spiders living with you as refugees from the cold (they may even hitch a ride on your fresh Christmas tree!), and it's not at all uncommon for ants to suddenly show up inside your house in the dead of winter, as I wrote about here around this time last year. Lately the Z Pest phone has been ringing quite a bit more than usual with calls about mice turning up in places where they're not wanted, too. These are pretty common occurrences in this region during this part of the year, so I'm well versed in getting them sorted out.

You can get in touch with me by phone, email, or text message if you need help (for texting, please provide some identifying information so I know if you're a new or returning customer). Invoicing and receipts can be handled paperlessly if you would like, and payments are accepted by cash, check, charge, and Bitcoin, whichever one or several of those methods is most convenient for you.

Z Pest Control LLC

509-540-7946

(Call or text!)

paul@zpestcontrol.com

Spider Time!

It's that time of the year again in the Walla Walla valley, when all of the eight-legged friends you never knew you had start inviting themselves into your home!

Fall is fast approaching, and based on the number of spiders I've personally witnessed my two cats chase down and turn into snacks inside of my house, it appears that the spiders around here are well aware of it. 

Through any crack, crevice, and gap they can find, several species of spiders will begin exploring the indoors of homes and businesses around here in their search for mates and for shelter against the cooler days to come. Hardly any of them can seriously harm you, but that doesn't mean you have to like or tolerate them!

With some simple exterior spraying around your home or office, and maybe a few other optional, helpful applications (if you want added protection), you can skip the impromptu arachnid housewarming party this season.

Depending on the options you select, a round of treatment for spiders will generally cost between $40-$80. 

As always, Z Pest Control provides these services with no long-term commitments! 

Z Pest Control LLC

509-540-7946

(Call or text!)

paul@zpestcontrol.com

Fall Spider Barrier Treatments

It's that time of the year again! Every fall as temperatures begin to decline and the days grow shorter, the guest list at your house starts growing. The problem is, all of your new acquaintances have eight legs...

For various reasons, a variety of spiders begin turning up in homes and offices in increasing numbers. For the most part, it's the same reason that you go inside: to stay out of the cold.

With very few exceptions, the spiders that tend to turn up in our homes around here are not harmful. Physically speaking, that is. How they affect your enjoyment of your home is another matter. 

I can help! With some simple and thorough spraying around the perimeter of your home or office, most spiders can be prevented from entering the structure and snuggling with you all winter. These applications also affect insects that enter the treated area - a nice bonus.

The products I've selected for this type of application have been chosen because of their longevity, which will allow them to continue working around your home well past first frost, after which nothing much will be crawling around outside. I also mix in an additive product that helps the mix stick to the surfaces it lands on, further enhancing the effect of the treatment. 

Interior work can be combined with an exterior treatment if you want more comprehensive spider control, or if you already have quite a few of them running around inside.

In the Walla Walla area, these treatments run $40 for either an inside or an outside treatment, or $60 for both if performed during the same visit. For places outside of this area, there's only a slight increase in the cost to cover fuel ($5 more in the Milton Freewater area, for example). In most cases these jobs take no longer than 30 minutes (and if it's outside only, you may not even need to be there when I do the work), so it won't take much time out of your day, but it will save you from many days spent with your new spider buddies.

If you're not interested in sharing your home with dozens of arachnid friends this fall and winter, give me a call! You won't regret it... but the spiders will.

509-540-7946

paul@zpestcontrol.com

Earwigs here, earwigs there...

...earwigs everywhere!

Perhaps because of rapidly improving summer weather and the desire of people here in the Walla Walla valley to spend time outdoors enjoying it, more people lately are encountering earwigs. We've all experienced the usual scenario when it comes to these - you move something on your deck or in your yard that has been sitting for a while, and suddenly earwigs are running everywhere!

Why are these earwigs here?!

Primarily, the reason you have a bunch of earwigs around your home and yard is moisture. Earwigs are mostly nocturnal creatures that seek out moist, shaded spots to spend the day - get them in the sun for very long and they dry up and die. Popular earwig hangouts include objects placed outside (coolers, planters, folded-up lawn furniture; just about anything), crack and crevice areas such as broken pavement slabs, the point where a lawn meets a patio or the foundation of your house, or in the cool, moisture-retaining environment found underneath leaf litter, mulch, decorative rock, etc.

What are these earwigs doing?

Earwigs are out there feeding on other insects, decaying plant and animal matter, and at times damaging living  plants in your landscape. One thing that they're definitely NOT doing is seeking out your ears - that's a popular myth that makes a somewhat scary looking insect more scary to people than it ought to be. Other than the occasional defensive pinch (which an earwig did to my foot last night while I was enjoying my backyard fire pit), earwigs are not going to seek out interactions with you very much, or at all.

How do I get rid of my earwigs?

Since moisture is key to an earwig's needs, eliminate sources of moisture in your home and around your yard. For the most part this will be an outdoor effort, as much of the earwig activity in your home is likely due to them accidentally wandering inside (however, be on the lookout for moisture in your home, which can be a sign of a structural problem that should be corrected). Remove leaf litter, grass clippings, etc. from the yard; move decorative rocks, paving stones, etc. away from the structure; store lawn furnishings in high and dry places when possible; clean and clear gutters and ensure that your downspouts are directing water away from your foundation, and so forth. Basically, whatever you can alter in and around your home to dry out the environment will help a great deal.

Chemical control is highly effective against earwigs, and in cases where an environment that favors earwigs cannot be altered - such as the point where your yard meets your foundation - it is necessary. A commonly available product that is effective against earwigs is Ortho's Home Defense:

This can be sprayed around the foundation of your home to provide some relief from earwigs. I say "some," however, because what this product lacks is the ability to deliver a high volume of spray deep into the places where earwigs find harborage (this is due to the relatively limited quantity of spray and the limitations of the application device it comes with, not the active ingredient). That's what I use my powered spraying equipment to do:

My equipment allows me to project the insecticides I use for this type of work deep into the places that earwigs hide, which not only kills the earwigs that are there at the time, but prevents other earwigs from moving into the space for a period of around four to six weeks.

The over-the-counter product I've mentioned here will help you to get a bit more of a handle on your earwigs, but if you would like a more thorough, penetrating knock-down of their numbers around your home and yard to get you ahead of the game, I can help. To treat directly around an average house in the Walla Walla valley area, I charge between $40-$45, plus tax when applicable (I work in both Washington and Oregon). While I'm at it I keep an eye out for other things I can treat for you, such as paper wasps, spiders, etc., which I generally throw in at no extra charge. If you like, I can also expand the treatment further out into your yard, which typically adds 50% to the total price for the job (the exact pricing depends on the size of the yard and the extent of the treated area, but the "average" house and yard around here would bring the total to somewhere around $60 before tax). If this sounds good to you, please email me or give me a call! I can typically respond very rapidly to this kind of work, often on the same day.

509-540-7946

paul@zpestcontrol.com

Ants on the march!

Featured in this post - read
on to discover why!

In the last couple of days, calls for ant control have ticked upward significantly. This is no surprise after the recent heavy rains we've experienced here in the Walla Walla valley. The types making themselves known are our two most common pest ants here, the Odorous House ant and the Pavement ant. Look at it from their perspective: if you were only about a millimeter in height and had a home at or below ground level, you would probably be looking to set up shop on higher ground now, too.

This isn't the only time that these ants will make their appearance in your home or business, however, as there are plenty of other reasons for them to do so. Narrowing down those reasons and finding an extermination solution is first a matter of answering one simple question: did the ants begin turning up after the weather warmed up, or have they been present inside your home when it was cold outside (roughly 50º F or below)?

The answer to that question helps to determine if your ants are living primarily outside in the soil and wandering in looking for a snack, or if they and their queens (that's right -- plural) have made their home in the walls of your home. It doesn't make much of a difference in terms of how the ants will be treated (that's mainly a question of climate conditions at the time), but it does help to determine how intense the inside vs. outside effort should likely be.

The method is a two-part method, exclude, and sabotage:

Exclude: excluding these pests from a structure is a matter of treating the outside of it such that it's not possible for the ants to gain a foothold inside. This is done with spray applications that are not detectable by the ants, that kill the ants slowly, and that the individual ants can spread to each other through physical contact. A spray of this type "excludes" ants from a structure in that it becomes an environment that will destroy an entire colony, not just individual ants. All common over-the-counter sprays lack virtually all of these features. As such, they are the opposite, and will tend to produce the opposite of the desired result (in fact, many of these sprays can prompt the ants to defend themselves by spreading their colonies out all over your house - the problem actually gets worse!).

Sabotage: ants love a free meal. Using ant baits is the best way to deal with them indoors; it's the Trojan Horse of ant control. The advantage of a bait over a spray is that a spray will only work if the ants are in the treated spot (and only if the spray matches the characteristics I described above), but a bait will go to where the ants are because the ants themselves will take it there! Further, the ants you can see are only workers, which if killed will be rapidly replaced by the queens. Those queens are your true targets, and it is with bait ferried to them by their workers that they can be most easily attacked and destroyed. Not all baits are created equal, however. As a rule of thumb of using bait for ants, if the ants don't respond to your bait like these ants did to mine...

...then your bait does not work. Those little plastic domes with solid form baits inside that people constantly buy, they're garbage. Throw them out, or better yet return them for a refund if you can. The reason those "work" is typically that someone sees some ants feeding on something, they run to the grocery/hardware store and spend their money on little plastic domes, they put those domes out... and then they clean. Suddenly, the ants are gone and they credit the little plastic domes. What actually happened is that cleaning took away whatever it was that was of interest to the ants, so the ants hid away again. The next time one of their scouts finds a dropped crumb, however, they'll come back out in full force as they were never really gone.

There is one kind of over-the-counter bait that works. It's a liquid bait, not a solid: Terro Liquid Ant Bait: 

  This is the only OTC ant bait product I recommend to my clients as a stop-gap measure for those times I can't get to them right away, or for clearing up small ant incursions that may not warrant the cost of a full treatment. Terro is not as good as the products I use in my work, but it is adequate for keeping an ant issue down to a dull roar until the cavalry arrives.  If you are dealing with a new or on-going ant infestation, you can try the product I'm recommending, or if you would like my help getting you ahead of the ants' game, give me a call! Treatments typically run around $60 to treat an average house inside and out in the Walla Walla valley area (more if the structure is larger, of course), dropping to $40 for follow-on 30 day periods if additional maintenance is necessary. I will also point out things in and around your home or place of business that may be encouraging ants to constantly invite themselves over for a picnic. My help is just a phone call or an email away!

509-540-7946 paul@zpestcontrol.com

Wasp Season!

Finally warm weather is here in the Walla Walla valley! It's time to get outside and enjoy it.

Unfortunately, we humans won't be the only ones doing so.

Calls are coming in daily now for control of paper wasps, the flying-stinging variety of nastiness that seeks out the eaves of our homes, decks and railings, the gaps between panels of parked vehicles, even our mailboxes:

If you have these around your house and yard, you're not alone. Many Z Pest customers, both old and new, are seeking and receiving assistance with these critters currently. This is a great time of the year to do it, too, as attacking the wasps now prevents them from establishing quite so many nests, breeding, and multiplying. Done correctly and with residual insecticide treatments, one treatment can kill off established wasp nests and continue to kill newly-arrived wasps for potentially four to six weeks after.

If you're new to Z Pest and you would like help with these or other creatures, here's a little something to say welcome and to sweeten the deal for you:

Simply click on the coupon, print it out, give Z Pest a call, save some money, and save yourself from some stings!

Z PEST CONTROL LLC - 509-540-7946

Veteran-owned, locally operated

Boxelder Bugs: They're Back!

As our daytime temperatures in the Walla Walla valley have steadily risen recently, so, too, has the presence of these little guys and gals:

Boxelder bugs!

I took this photo the other day outside of a client's place of business. Though largely harmless (boxelder bugs don't bite, sting, or cause significant damage to plants), these insects are exhibiting the part of their behavior that makes them a nuisance: boxelder bugs are dedicated sun bathers! This pic shows what looks like a lot of boxelder bugs, but the truth is that this is only the beginning. As anyone who has experience with this pest can tell you, if they decide that your home is a nice place to soak up some rays, they'll be there to do it by the hundreds or even thousands. They'll be on your stuff, in your way, and flying at your face. 

Here's another photo from a different client's home that shows how bad even a "moderate" number of boxelder bugs can be:

Ordinary insecticides can knock a boxelder bug infestation back some, but unless the product is persistent and applied correctly, it won't do a lot of good. The Z Pest boxelder bug mix takes into account not only the boxleder bug's daily movement habits, but it also attacks their reproductive strategy, making it harder for them to repopulate a treated area. The result is highly effective, longer term control than what is typically possible using common off-the-shelf products.

This treatment will also affect other common outdoor pests, such as ants, spiders, and wasps, so you get more for your money. If you're seeing boxelder bugs around your home now, chances are the population is only going to get larger (worse) as summer gets closer. This is a great time to nip the problem in the bud! You'll find that my prices are very hard to beat, so please give me a call!

509-540-7946

Expanded Weed Control Services

This is what growth looks like! Since its inception, Z Pest has offered weed control services, but those offerings initially were limited to smaller projects due limitations imposed by the available equipment. No longer! 

The larger skid in this photo, the one positioned directly behind the cab, that is Z Pest's new 200 gallon weed control skid, which is capable of delivering treatment over an area of approximately 2.25 acres per tank load! Whether you have a small lawn or a large field that needs selective weed control, Z Pest is ready to help!

Fall Spider Barrier Treatments

Fall is the time of year when some species of spiders will attempt to come inside so they can snuggle with you all winter! There are far less expensive ways of remedying the problem than this! Z Pest can provide spider-preventative exterior sprays and crawlspace dusting. Put away those matches! Call today!

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

-- Motto of the U.S. Postal Service

Nothing in that motto about killing paper wasps!

For that, Z Pest delivers. 

Ants, Spiders, Mice, Weeds - Z Pest Control LLC, Walla Walla, WA

European Paper Wasps: The Battle for Your Backyard!

It is once again the time of the year when these unwelcome guests begin to make themselves known around your home or business:

This is the European Paper Wasp, an invasive species in these parts that really puts the "invasive" in the term.  Right now they're flying around all over the place, looking for suitable sites to build nests. Their preference is for eastern/southern exposed areas with nearby food (shrubs and trees that harbor aphids are a favorite), water (yours and your neighbor's sprinkler systems), and a nearby source of raw wood they can take strips from to make paper (got a wooden fence?). These things put together ping this wasp's instinctual radar, and you will find them calling your home their home year after year.

Before you completely tear down your home and reorganize it to make it less appealing to these wasps, try giving me a call! Well-timed and properly placed insecticide treatments can greatly reduce the presence of these pests in your yard, restoring it to its proper function: your enjoyment. I've been ruining the party for these wasps for years, and it's something that I enjoy doing. Give me a call at 509-540-7946 and ask me to come by for a free quote. You won't regret it, but the wasps will!

The Dreaded Brown Recluse Spider

I saw this article this morning and wanted to share it. I get questions from folks around here all the time about the dreaded brown recluse spider. They can be somewhat of a problem, except for one major detail: in our part of the country, except for very rare cases probably explained by modern motor and/or air shipping, we don't have them. The key piece of information, from the article, entitled, Deadly Brown Recluse Spider Coming to a Town Near You?:

"The spider's habitat is limited to the Southeast and Midwest, stretching from Kansas east to the Appalachian states."

Why then the persistent myth that we have these spiders living around us? It's generally thought that the assumption is due to the similarities between the wound a brown recluse bite can produce (but not always) and other conditions. An infection of the skin by MRSA bacteria, for example, can produce lesions that appear similar, sometimes leading physicians to reach a hasty conclusion about what they're looking at and diagnose it as a recluse bite. There are also a few species of spiders that exist locally that have a similar appearance to the brown recluse. The media frequently doesn't help the situation either, hence this excellent quote by Rick Vetter, an entomologist who works at the University of California, Riverside:

"These are distorted reports ... hyperbolic media crap."

That isn't to say that brown recluse spiders never injure people, but the truth is that the extreme injuries are relatively rare. Around here, it's all but impossible.

That still leaves us with our local varieties, most of which are not dangerous. That does not mean that they're enjoyable, however. Even a physically harmless spider in your house is harmful if it causes you distress. It's your house, after all, and you get to say what is acceptable and what is not. I can help you get the spiders you do have out of your home (which at this time of the year you may be seeing more of), but hopefully you'll feel a bit more at ease knowing that among the spiders you have seen lately, the brown recluse is not one of them.

Call me at 509-540-7946 if you have more spiders than you want, inside or outside, and I'll help you get them sorted out.

New Radio Ad, 1490 KTEL Walla Walla

Just did this one on Tuesday the 6th and it hit the air the following day:



There's a primary focus on weed issues in this one, but like the ad says, I take care of insect, rodent, and other issues, too. The weather is FINALLY turning nice again, and that's when the kinds of problems I handle start to appear more often, too. Give me a call, let me help you sort them out, and your home and yard will be for your enjoyment, not some pest's. 

New gear!

A recent addition to the Z Pest tool kit:

With the addition of this spray skid to the Z Pest operation, nearly all types of insect pest treatments can be performed. If what's bugging you is up high, no problem! With this piece of equipment, I can treat it. If you need help with something that's just out of reach, but still too close for comfort, give me a call at 509-540-7946.

Paper Wasps

I got rid of several batches of these critters for a client recently:

These are European Paper Wasps, a flying insect with a particularly painful sting, but (thankfully) a fairly mild demeanor. Most of the time they'll leave you alone if you leave them alone, but left untreated on your house or in your yard, they can get out of hand quickly. As their numbers rise, so does the chance that you'll cross paths with one or several, and that's when the stingers come out! Fortunately, they're easy to get rid of and with regular follow-up treatments they can be kept away. If you need help with these, please call! 509-540-7946.