Could That Be a Roof Rat?

By Chris Williams on December 21, 2015

Roof Rats or Black Rats Are Occasional Coastal Pests It would be unusual for you to have a roof rat, but not impossible. Our main rat here in most of the Northeast is the brown rat or Norway rat. Roof rats (also called black rats) are found primarily in coastal regions and usually in warmer…

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Where Do Ticks Go in the Winter?

By Chris Williams on December 18, 2015

Many of us think, or at least hope, that ticks die off after the first hard frost. Unfortunately, that’s not so. In fact, the adult blacklegged (deer) ticks that spread Lyme disease begin their prime feeding activity just about the time of the first frost. That’s because their main host animals are deer and deer…

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Food Mites – Occasional Pests of Packaged Foods

By Chris Williams on December 17, 2015

It is definitely not bird nesting season here in the Northeast. Bird mites feed mostly on the young birds in the nest and they migrate to new locations when the young birds fledge and leave the nest. Bird mites are primarily a spring and early summer problem. If what you’re seeing are indeed mites (and…

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Home-Invading Seed Bugs Can Damage Plumbing

By Chris Williams on December 16, 2015

One of our common fall-invading insects is the western conifer seed bug. It’s a tree-feeding insect that likes to move into homes when the weather gets cool in the fall. Once inside, the bugs go into hiding in wall voids or cracks and crevices and may not be seen again until spring. Most of us…

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Take Steps to Keep Ticks Out of Your Yard

By Chris Williams on December 15, 2015

I believe I can help. We always say that avoiding tick habitat is the best way to avoid tick bites and the risk of Lyme and other tick diseases. However, in so many regions tick habitat is our very own yards. Ticks are especially plentiful in edge areas where woods meet open spaces. That’s because…

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