Rat Infest Autos in Puget Sound Area

Auto mechanics all over the Puget Sound Region are finding a huge increase in damage due to rodents. They chew through wiring and other electronic harnesses, hoses and upholstery resulting in hundreds to thousands of dollars in damage. This photo was shared by Gary Garvin and shows a dead rat stuck under a Honda. Cascade provides rat and rodent control in the Greater Seattle area, including the Eastside (Kirkland, etc) and Everett. Cascade also provides rat/rodent control in Oak Harbor, WA. For more information see

Cost of Pest Control at busy Airports?

With all the jets going back and forth, and the enormous amount of people coming and going, we mostly notice the rush, the security and the schedules of Arrivals and Departures. But with all those people come food--restaurants as well as the food services to replenish the airliners for their passengers. And there is the waste: waste food and cooking debris...and also all the waste products that come off the airplanes. There is usually an on-going rat or mouse population around airports that, hopefully, you don't have to see. Then you add all the places that jets travel and the possibility of transiting parasites, insects and particularly bed bugs in all that luggage! What does it cost? Well, Los Angeles' airport, LAX, has just caught up with the pest control budgets employed by other major airports and it will be $750,000 per years to protect the airport from runaway pest infestations. Part of the cost will insure that there is a pest control technician on site 24 hours/day, 365 days a year! Our own SeaTac has a similar budget and has had long-term experience with rat problems.

For more information about rats, rat control or rodent control. For information about rodent exclusion and preventing rats. here we discuss how to block out rats, to create a rodent-proof barrier. For information about why rats and mice are so successful. Here we discuss the abilities of rats and mice to climb, gnaw, chew, jump, swim and burrow their way into a home or business. Don Leland

Rats Used to Detect Land-Mines & TB

Rats, those pesky rats! For most of us that's all they are, pests that destroy things, spread their filth and spread bacteria and other disease pathogens. However, rats are also being used to save lives. Specially trained rats are being used to sniff out land-mines.

These rats are a particular species of giant rat from Tanzania. They are trained to sniff out land-mines which, if not detected, keep many thousands of acres of land unsafe and uninhabitable. They are also trained to sniff out TB--tuberculosis, which is still widespread in Africa.

Although these rats are a different species than what we have here in the greater Seattle area, this usage of their larger cousins underscores the acute abilities that all rats have. When we are treating for rat infestations we are up against some very powerful "noses" that leave these challenging pests at an advantage, often suspect of any new smells...so they are wary of traps and baits. Don Leland

Influx of Rodents on Mercer Island

While we at Cascade always keep customer details confidential, we do have a responsibility to inform our clients--and potential clients--when there trends occur. There are several cities, or areas (groups of cities) where we have received an increase in calls for rat infestations. And our Cascade technicians have also gotten calls from our established clients for renewed rodent activity. One of the predominant locations where we've had such an increase is Mercer Island. Mercer Island is known for it's fine homes and an abundance of tree and waterfront. It is perhaps the amount of waterfront that lends itself to rat infestation on Mercer Island. Also, Mercer Island has a number of ravines and "green belts"--wooded areas--that can harbor rodents. Add all that to the very basic fact that rodents follow residential development as these rodents--old-world rats and mice--are commensal, meaning they "live with humans," and Mercer Island is set up for rat problems.

Our experience is that residents of Mercer Island are very cooperative, and they are usually understanding that homes with complex roof structures and other features can sometimes create vulnerable spots on a home where rodents can gain access. The larger and more complex the home, the more challenging the rat control issue can be. Cascade Pest Control is aware of the issue and ready to respond. We are devoted to responding to and resolving tough rat infestation problems as they crop up on Mercer Island. Don Leland

Cascade's Video Approach Headlines Industry Newsletter

Cascade Pest Control was honored by the leading industry newsletter, Pest Control Technology. This is an honor as PCT is the nations leading source for pest control news and information. Pest Control Technology found that Cascade's efforts (thank you, Scott Bouwens) were exemplary in our approach to help the public understand the problem of rodent infestations, especially rats. The video demonstrates how many points there are where rats can enter a house structure and what professional pest control can do to control rats, including exclusion efforts. Technician performing rodent inspection for rats and/or mice. Don Leland

Rats, Mice: What is a Rodent?

We throw around these terms but a "rodent" is a particular animal that seems to have plagued humanity for eons. But what is a rodent? Rodents are mammals, so they are covered by hair, give birth to living young, the young are nourished on milk secreted by mammary glands, and besides molars with only an upper and lower pair of enlarged chisel-like teeth, rodents lack canine teeth. Rats and mice have 4 toed front feet and 5-toed hind feet. They both have skinny, almost naked tails. What's amazing is that rodents 2 pair of incisor teeth are enameled on the front only, the working of the upper pair against the lower ones wears down the large upper ones resulting in a sharpened edge. Rodents have the highest mammalian reproductive capacity. That's just a start when it comes to what constitutes "rodents" and what they can do. Call Cascade Pest Control is you suspect you have any problems with rats or mice...today. Rodents may eat or contaminate up to 20% of the world's human food supply! Don Leland