Mike Londry on CKNW980 radio – Ask a Pest Control Question

Speaker 1:

It’s what’s happening right now. This is The Mike Smyth Show.

Mike Smyth:

Welcome back to the show. Time to talk springtime pest control. Now you got pests, rats, mice, ants, raccoons. Yeah, those trash pandas. They may look cute, but they can be nasty. My next guest does it all. Mike Londry from Westside Pest Control. And I’m very pleased to welcome him back to the show again. Hey, Mike.

Mike Londry:

Hey, how are you doing, Mike?

Mike Smyth:

I’m doing good. Thanks a lot for coming on. So, Mike spring has sprung. The warm weather is finally starting to arrive. Is this a busy time in the pest control business?

Mike Londry:

Yeah, absolutely. We’re probably expecting the biggest uptick next week with that beautiful weather coming. All the gardens come to life, and with it, the insects.

Mike Smyth:

Okay. What are the most common kind of calls that you get at this time of year?

Mike Londry:

Yeah. We’re starting to get lots of calls for carpenter ants, and pavement ants. The wasp calls are trickling in, but not quite yet. Again, those will probably start next week.

Mike Smyth:

Okay. I had it a little bit of an ant infection, but last year, how do you deal with those?

Mike Londry:

So, lots of different ways. It really depends on the type of ant. Do you remember, Mike, were they little black ants or large ants that would hurt you if you got bit.

Mike Smyth:

They were small. They were little ones.

Mike Londry:

Okay. So, those are most commonly pavement ants in the greater Vancouver area. And if you get them really early with a domestic grade bait. And liquid bait is always the best. Those little pucks that have a hard bait inside don’t seem to work very good. But a liquid bait, or a homemade bait with any sort of sweet substance and borax is going to work well to keep them at bay. Now, I say, keep them at bay, because pavement ants can number tens of thousands. And they’re usually underneath sidewalks, or slab on grade houses. So, ultimate elimination is always difficult, but keeping the numbers lower is certainly possible.

Mike Smyth:

Okay, here’s one that I got, Mike, right now, and these things gross me out. I got them in my basement. It’s not like an infestation, but it’s so gross. It’s silverfish. Okay? These things are just disgusting. How do I get rid of these things, man? Because, they’re gross.

Mike Londry:

They’ve been disgusting since before the time of the dinosaurs.

Mike Smyth:

Okay.

Mike Londry:

And they thrive in temperate rain forest, just like ours. So, they’re not going anywhere soon. They don’t cause any damage to the structure. They’re not going to bite you. But the best thing that you can do to reduce their numbers without any pesticide application, is to reduce the humidity. So, a dehumidifier from a local hardware store for $75 will go a long way. And so will turning on a bathroom fan, or a kitchen fan. Those are usually the two places where people are spotting them. I had one many years ago in a place I lived in, and I turned the bathroom fan on for a month and that did the trick.

Mike Smyth:

Wow, okay. That’s a great tip for sure. All right. I’m already getting emails for you here, Mike. So, Steven says to me in an email, “I’ve trapped over 20 rats that have come from my neighbor’s backyard. We’re not prepared to move from where we’re living. They’re difficult to get rid of. You got any suggestions?”

Mike Londry:

Hopefully they’re still friends, him and the neighbor. 20 rats, that’s a lot.

Mike Smyth:

It’s a lot.

Mike Londry:

That’s a ton. We’re consistently seeing an uptick right across Lower Mainland. There’s years where insects ebb and flow, but the rodent populations don’t seem to be… The increase doesn’t seem to slow down. For the outside areas of the house, you’re never going to rat-proof the exterior of a home. Unfortunately, that just isn’t possible. So, the caller and his neighbor doing their best to keep foliage around the house trimmed back. Because, rats have sensors on the hairs of their bodies that says, “I’m safe if I’m covered from potential predators.” So, keeping areas around the house clear. Obviously keeping garbage bag compost bins secure, and any food sources, including bird feeders. Everybody loves to fill up their bird feeders at this time of the year. But they should spend a little bit of extra money and buy a good one that’s less likely to spill seeds all over the ground.

Mike Smyth:

Okay. And that’s another really good tip. What’s the biggest rat infestation you’ve ever dealt with?

Mike Londry:

Oh. Well, it’s funny you say 20. We had a client once who had caught over 30 rats in a month. And I’d never seen anything like it. We went, stood on her back deck, and any time during the day you just saw them running around the yard. Kind of like a few pets in the backyard. The most I’ve seen inside of a house was 17.

Mike Smyth:

17. Oh my God. That’s brutal. Okay. Raccoons. I remember last time I think you were on, Mike, you said that raccoons can be particularly nasty to deal with. They can be really aggressive?

Mike Londry:

Yes. Yeah, absolutely. You definitely want to call in the professionals when it comes to raccoons. And not just us, there’s another great company in greater Vancouver that does more raccoon stuff than us, called AAA Wildlife. I would definitely recommend them as well. We’re experts at getting them out of sheds, and under decks, and doing all kinds of fancy exclusion work to keep them from coming back. But if you’ve got them in your attic, then you definitely want to call someone in. And you’ll know if you do. If you hear scratching up above your head, it’s probably rodents. If it sounds like there’s actually a person living up there, then you’ve likely got raccoons.

Mike Smyth:

Okay, Mike, standby here. We’ll take a quick break. We’ll come back, and let’s open the phone lines. So, my guest is Mike Londry, Westside Pest Control. Now, do you-

Speaker 1:

Now back to the Mike Smith show.

Mike:

All right. Welcome back. Lots of calls from Mike Londry from Westside Pest Control. So let’s go right to it. Tina in Pitt Meadows. Hi.

Tina:

Good morning.

Mike:

Hi.

Tina:

I have live caught three little rats in my yard within the last three days. And at that time, they joined the relocation program. So how far should I take them away so they don’t return?

Mike:

Okay. You don’t want to deal with it with extreme prejudice, huh? Okay.

Tina:

No.

Mike:

All right, Mike, what do you think?

Tina:

I’ve taken them about two or three kilometers away, down to the river in a bush area.

Mike:

Okay.

Mike:

Okay. I don’t know. Mike, do you think that’s a good idea?

Mike Londry:

I mean, it’s great. It’s great if you can do it in a humane way like that. I would say two or three kilometers, you might be catching the same ones again in the next day or two.

Mike:

Really?

Mike Londry:

I would… Yeah. Even with rats, with larger wildlife, you need to go much further than that. So with rats, I would say your best bet is actually to cross a body of water. Otherwise, I would go five to 10 kilometers.

Mike:

Okay. Tina, good luck with that. Let’s go to Tom in North Van. Hey Tom.

Tom:

Hey. How’re you doing?

Mike:

Good. Go ahead.

Tom:

Good. Just a question on carpenter ants.

Mike:

Sure.

Tom:

It’s been an ongoing battle for me for about 10 years.

Mike:

Wow.

Tom:

And so at this time of year, when the weather starts getting nicer, they start appearing in the house. And they don’t present themselves outside yet, but as it starts warming up, eventually I can see where they’re coming from. And I use AntOut and I cut their path off that way. They end up [inaudible 00:01:53] a different route. There’s about six different paths of lead up to the house. And just wondering how you go about eliminating the problem?

Mike:

Okay. 10 year battle. Mike.

Mike Londry:

Yeah. So 10 year battle, those carpenter ants are well-established. There’s probably a parent colony as well as multiple satellite colonies. Potentially two parent colonies, depending on the size of the house and what kind of wood is in the backyard or in the front yard. So AntOut, it’s really going to be a band-aid treatment, and at that, possibly a band-aid that’s not even big enough for the wound. You really need to get to the nest. In most cases, you’re going to probably need a professional to help with it, but otherwise you’re really going to want to start drilling and injecting into the wall [inaudible 00:02:47].

Mike Londry:

Try to figure out where the parent nest is. That’s usually going to be located where there’s some moisture. So you may have had a leak five, 10 years ago, which created some wood rot, and there’s still going to be some remaining moisture. They need a certain level of humidity for the queen to have her nest in the wall. So really, really good detection and identification. And then drilling and injecting walls. And in some extreme cases, you’d need to actually remove some of the siding to get to the nest.

Mike:

Oh boy. Okay, Tom. Sounds like you need some help, man. Give Mike a call later, maybe.

Mike:

Carol, in New West. Hey, Carol.

Carol:

Oh, hi. I’m calling about a problem I have with the Northern slickers. They keep insisting, they want to make holes in the side of the house, and I don’t know how to deter them from doing that.

Mike:

Is that a bird, right?

Carol:

Yeah.

Mike:

Mike.

Carol:

A woodpecker, kind of.

Mike:

Hmm.

Mike Londry:

Yeah. So at this time of year, a flicker counting on the side of the house can actually mean one of three things. They can be trying to establish a nest and there’ll be pecking away to try and find a soft spot to create a hole to do that as they would in a tree. Or it’s possible that there’s an underlying issue. Again, it’s usually moisture ingress, which has created the perfect environment for some insects to be residing in that area. And the third one is it’s mating season. So they will just hammer away on objects, especially aluminum metal. You’ll often hear them on chimneys to try and attract a mate. So one option is actually to do nothing, and it may just go away in the next few weeks. Aside from that, yeah. You may want to investigate to see if there’s an underlying issue and maybe some moisture ingress, which is causing an insect population.

Mike:

Okay, Carol. Good luck with that. Let’s go to Mimi and Langley. Hi, Mimi.

Mimi:

Hi there. Thank you for taking my call.

Mike:

Sure.

Mimi:

I have a similar problem with a woodpecker. We have a cedar house, and he made a hole, and he went right through to our living room. We did the owls, we did the balloon, and then we put up a steel plate there. Now he’s moved to the chimney, and he’s pecking at the chimney. I’m wondering, we’re going to change the front of the outside envelope of the house, and thinking of going to vinyl. Would that help, instead of having a wood, cedar house?

Mike:

Mike.

Mike Londry:

Yeah, absolutely. They’re not going to have the same interests in the vinyl. I mean, wood siding is beautiful. So if you can keep it just for the sake of the woodpecker, I would maybe try to battle it first. Companies such as ours will actually come in and put up a temporary netting over the areas of concern for six weeks until they’re conditioned to go elsewhere. And then we come back and remove it. So that might be a better option than redoing all the siding on the house. But ultimately, yes, vinyl would be better for woodpeckers.

Mike:

Okay. Craig, on the line in Surrey. Hey. Craig.

Craig:

Hi there. I was just going to say for, I usually wrap the tree in 1/16 inch plexiglass, three feet wide, and then they can’t climb it. It keeps the squirrels out of your attic too. So if they’re already established, then you have to do as the man said. But to keep them from getting to your attic, I just wrap it with plexiglass at the base, or I have a fence beside us, so I put it three feet above the fence.

Mike:

You’re talking about squirrels?

Craig:

Squirrels, or raccoons that like to climb the trees. I just wrap it in three foot wide plexiglass and then they can’t climb past the plexiglass.

Mike:

What do you think of that, Mike?

Mike Londry:

That’s a great idea. I mean, you’re always trying to find the balance of practicality and aesthetics. So if the tree overhanging or being in contact with the house, it’s just not something that you’re willing to cut back, then, yeah. Putting something around the base of the tree is a perfect idea.

Mike:

Okay. Star 98. 98 on your cell is the number to call. Susan in Kitsilano. Hey, Susan.

Susan:

Hi. How would you deal with-

Susan:

(silence)

Mike Londry:

Your clothing, Susan, or in your pantry?

Susan:

Clothing.

Mike Londry:

In the clothing. Okay. So it’s not a simple and easy process. Unfortunately, clothing moths are going to require removing everything. All of the clothes need to be removed. They don’t need to be laundered completely and they don’t need to be dry cleaned, but they should all be removed and at least put through a high heat cycle in the dryer to kill off the adults and any larvae. And then you are going to want to have a pest control company come in and spray the empty space, and then wait one or two weeks before reintroducing the clothes again.

Mike:

Okay, Susan, good luck with that. Carol in Cloverdale. Hi, Carol.

Carol:

Hi. You mentioned a recipe for getting rid of those cement ants or whatever, that you could do a home brew or whatever. What would that consist of?

Mike:

Mike.

Mike Londry:

Yeah. One part Borax, to two part juice is a great recipe. Any liquid bait that you can buy from the hardware store as well. They’re not that expensive. Is actually really good as well. So try the Borax. You could even go three to four parts to one at this time of the year because right now they’re just waking up, they’re really weak. And if you give them a commercial grade product… Like we don’t actually use commercial grade bates this early in the year, because what’s going to happen is you’ll just kill that ant, and they won’t take it back and share it with the rest of their friends.

Mike:

What kind of juice?

Mike Londry:

Oh, anything. Apple juice, orange juice, anything sweet.

Mike:

Okay. Mike, we could fill the whole show with you because we got lots more calls, but we’ve run out of time. But we’ll just have to have you back, simple as that.

Mike Londry:

Great. Thanks, Mike.

Mike:

Okay, Mike. Thanks for coming on. It’s Mike Londry there from Westside Pest Control. Thanks a lot for all your calls on that one. Here’s what we’ll do right now. Take a quick break at the bottom of the hour.