Northwest Pest Digest

There is so much information on horticulture, gardening and nursery websites that it can be daunting to dig through. Soil pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium, and a whole aisle of brightly colored pesticide products on the shelf at the hardware store, it is tempting to just start buying bottles for the heck of it.

Many gardeners scorn bugs eating vegetable plants. Garden pests can be devastating if you’re like me and you love vegetables, plants & trees.

Humans love feeding birds. Sometimes we find ourselves asking how to keep rats away from bird feeders. Putting out sunflower, millet, and other seeds is certain to attract adorable songbird visitors. Seeds contain perfectly proportioned packets of fats, carbohydrates, protein and nutrients. Nature designed seeds to give the plant everything needed to germinate and survive.

You may have noticed convoys of Portland pest control trucks patrolling the highways and backroads of the metro area. Or maybe you’ve recently had to call one yourself. Pest control is something most of us have grown up with. But what is the definition of pest? One species that’s a pest to one may not be to another. For Portland pest control, our two main urban “pest” species are rats and ants. Why do we define rats and ants as pests?

Frustrated with ants that never go away? After the fifth trip to the hardware store for ant control baits & sprays, you might ask yourself: “What pesticides do pest control companies use?” This article will summarize a few chemicals and how they’re best utilized. I’ll also make some recommendations for pollinator safety.

Zebra mussels, wild boars, and Burmese phythons are famous examples invasive animal pests. In the Everglades wildlife biologists report the pythons have slurped up to ninety-five percent of the small mammals there. And thats just in twenty five years of pythons being escaped in the Everglade ecosystem.

If you’re in Portland, sugar ant control in the springtime can be a struggle. Kitchen windowsills, sinks & showers are their favorite haunts. Sugar ants aka odorous house ants are tiny pests that get into food and crawl over people & pets. This article will walk you through the integrated pest management approach on how to get rid of sugar ants.

There is so much information on horticulture, gardening and nursery websites that it can be daunting to dig through. Soil pH, Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium, and a whole aisle of brightly colored pesticide products on the shelf at the hardware store, it is tempting to just start buying bottles for the heck of it.

In Portland spider habitat is abundant. Outdoors, they’re an important part of the food chain. Indoors, their presence is not appreciated. With the right information we can begin to rethink some of our fears and misunderstandings about spiders. This article will help us make the right decisions for pollinators & wildlife. Let’s look at a few techniques on how to make peace with the spiders around your home.

The ancient Sumerians are usually referenced for the first recorded pest control using sulfur compounds to control insects & mites. The most detailed sources say that sulfur dust was actually rubbed on the body to control insects & chigger mites. I searched around curious to learn more, but didn’t find an original source to confirm this. The original statement was almost implying it was first used as agricultural use of a pesticide.