Every year, as the rain starts to ease up and temperatures climb, we get a surge of calls from homeowners across Washington and Oregon noticing the same thing:
- Ants in the kitchen.
- Wasps checking out the eaves.
- Rodents looking for a way out after a long winter nesting in the attic.
Spring infestations aren’t random. They follow predictable patterns, and knowing what’s coming makes it a lot easier to keep your home protected.
Here’s what we see most often this time of year, and how our team at Insight Pest Solutions treats each one.
Ants: The #1 Spring Pest Call We Receive
When the ground warms up, ant colonies wake up hungry and start foraging. This often leads them straight to your kitchen.
In the Northwest, odorous house ants and pavement ants are the biggest culprits. They’re small, they find every crack, and a few scouts can turn into a trail of hundreds within days.
Our approach: We don’t just treat what you can see. Our technicians identify the species and then track the workers back to their colony. From there, we apply targeted ant control so the treatment reaches the queen. (No queen, no colony.) We also treat your home’s foundation perimeter to stop new scouts from finding their way inside.
Wasps and Yellow Jackets: Early Nests Are Easier to Handle
Spring is when queen wasps emerge and start building nests. This means that any nest you spot in April or early May should be small and manageable. If you wait until July to take care of the problem, you’ll be dealing with hundreds of workers protecting a much larger home.
Our approach: Our technicians use protective gear to safely eliminate active nests and apply a residual product to the area that discourages rebuilding. During regular quarterly visits, we always do a full eave sweep and de-web around your home so nests don’t have a chance to grow undetected.
Spiders: Following the Food Supply
Spiders don’t actually come out more in spring, but the bugs they hunt do. More insects around your home means more spiders moving in to feast. In Western Washington and Oregon, we see wolf spiders and hobo spiders become more active as the temperatures rise.
Our approach: We treat entry points and common harborage areas as part of our perimeter service. Reducing the overall insect population around your home goes a long way toward keeping spiders out.
Rodents: Looking for an Exit
Mice and rats that spent winter nesting in attics, crawlspaces, and wall voids move around more in the spring. You might hear more rodent activity or notice fresh droppings near entry points.
Our approach: Our rodent pest control services include a crawlspace check and exterior bait station monitoring with every visit, because catching rodent activity early is far less costly than dealing with a full infestation.
The Best Spring Pest Control Is Proactive
By the time you see spring pests inside your home, they’ve usually been active for a while. Seasonal, proactive treatments create a barrier around your home before the activity starts, so you’re not reacting to invading insects; you’re preventing an infestation.
If it’s been a while since your last service, or you’re seeing early signs of activity, give us a call. Our Insight team serves communities across Washington and Oregon, and we’re happy to take a look.
