Even The Owner of a Pest Control Company - Rats!

Yes, even an owner of Cascade Pest Control can have persistent rat problems. Here I am holding my crawlspace access door, obviously gnawed on by rats. I had heard--late at night--a chewing sound under the house. Being well versed in pest control I did a thorough inspection of the house. I found 6 access points on the roof that, thankfully, rodents--rats, mice or squirrels--hadn't yet found. Then came the crawlspace. I did notice that the crawl access door didn't fit well and their were rat "grease marks" or "rubbings" aright around a gap in the crawlspace access door. It is a 9 year old home and I'd never found rodent droppings in the crawlspace before...but now they were here. They'd found a gap in the crawlspace access door, had created a maze of tunnels in the subfloor insulation--which compromises my subfloor insulation, and gnawing on some wood in the subfloor support area. At first I thought I'd sealed the door. But eventually I had to go the whole route, the way we at Cascade recommend and with the combination of specially placed baits and traps they are just about all gone. And I learned that "hardy board" is NOT rodent proof! And, much to my chagrin, my technicians already knew it. Last but not least is ongoing rodent control to periodically check for activity and new entry points. Also establishing a perimeter defense with bait/trap stations is important. But, just the same, it can and does happen to everyone, even the owner of the pest control company!

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

Cascade Pest Control web site update

We have added new pages on insect and spider pests and also made it easier to find the information you need about pest control in the greater Seattle area. Our specialty is rodent control--including crawl space clean up and rat decontamination. We also have 30 years experience in controling carpenter ants and other pests. We were the first company to win over a dozen environmental awards and continue to be a grean pest control leader for Seattle, King county and Snohomish county. For more information see www.CascadePest.com

Maintenance Service Stressed in Rodent Control

At the December 13 pest control meeting held at Univar various pest control experts concluded that a maintenance service and rodent exclusion work (closing up access points... a.k.a. "rat-proofing"). Eric of Whitworth Pest Control presented a short slide show presenting rodent biology and behavior. A concern was raised that some companies--not licensed pest control companies--do the clean up and/or decontamination work from rodents, but do not do the rodent control, leaving the clients with the ongoing rodent infestation.


(Notes from Alan Brown, Cascade Pest Control )