» Ants

Ants Invading Clients Bathroom Video

webmaster — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:07:34 +0000

Bathroom Carpenter Ant training video

This is an excellent training video. This video was filmed in Beaverton Oregon by Nature First Pest Control to show the relationship between Carpenter ants and minor moisture leaks in a home.

We have the knowledge and the skills to provide you the best natural pest control and extermination in Portland Oregon and the surrounding areas.

Nature First Pest Control Inc. Your natural, Child and Pet friendly, organic, residential and commercial, Ant, Rat, Mouse, Spider, Squirrel, Yellow Jacket, Hornet, Termite, Silverfish, Flea, Pest Control, extermination, and Green practices experts. Serving Portland, Beaverton, Tualatin, Tigard, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Milwaukie, Gresham, Hillsboro, Canby, Oregon City, Forrest Grove, Portland, and all of Washington and Multnomah counties.

Mating Flight Timing

webmaster — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:14:16 +0000

Here in Oregon almost all of the ant species and the two termite species rely on an exact combination of atmospheric conditions to time their mating flights. In Beaverton, Tigard, and Tualatin these flights are earlier than in Hillsboro or the West Hills of Portland. Even 500 ft. of elevation changes the frost dates and the insect activity cycles.

The ant colonies produce winged reproductives in the nests and nurture them until the time is right to do their mating flight. I have observed that the right conditions to include calm winds, strong sunlight to provide strong thermal updrafts, and relatively cool temps, again to help with the thermal updrafts.

In Beaverton, Tigard, and Tualatin these thermals can be generated by a dark roof or an asphalt paved cul de sac. The technicians at Nature First Pest Control often comment to me about the diferent activity levels of insects and rodents on different facing slopes that have differing amounts of sun exposure. For the termites and ants ongoing survival, timing is everything. Successful exterminators know about these natural cycles in their areas

High Wire Act

webmaster — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:26:54 +0000

Look up at your connecting wires to your house. If these wires touch a tree within 50 feet of your house, you may have a high wire act like this one. This is more of a super highway.

Click To Enlarge

These are a species of Carpenter ant that prefers to live in your attic or roof. You can spray the lawn around your house forever and never control these ants.

Most technicians miss seeing this ‘High Wire Act”

Nature First Pest Control

Your natural choice when looking for organic residential and commercial Pest Controls for Ants, Rodents, Wasps, Hornets, Spiders, Grain Beetles, Bats, and more. We need no ‘long term contracts’ to be the elimination experts. Serving Portland, Beaverton, Tualatin, Tigard, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Milwaukie, Gresham, Hillsboro, Canby, Oregon City Forrest Grove, Portland, and all of Washington and Multnoma counties.

Telephone

503-579-3680

Look to the Southwest in the North Wet

webmaster — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:15:08 +0000

I was visiting with a client the other day here in Portland. He had a carpenter ant problem by his back door. The large ants were appearing regularly inside the house when the sun came out. I was puzzled by their presence in this location. There were none of the usual contributing factors like vegetation, trees touching, or bark dust too high. This was a concrete stoop and sidewalk connecting to the back door. I dropped to my hands and knees and noticed a gap behind the step next to the house. I then realized that this area had a south west exposure. This meant that this area receives a lot of driving rain. Bingo!!

We have added a video to this post to show you the type of damage Randy is talking about. Click the link below to see the rest of the post and the video.

The rain was being slammed up and under the juncture of the siding and the concrete step. And where there is wet wood, there are (or will be) ants. The homeowner tip of the day is to carefully check the caulking around windows and doors especially on the wet ‘south west’ side of the house.

Garbage Dump, carpenter ant style

webmaster — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:54:39 +0000

This is what a typical pile of ‘frass’ looks like.

(click the pic for larger image)

A frass is the ant colonys’ garbage dump and it contains some sawdust. It also contains ant pieces as well as ant cocoon pieces and egg case parts (the white chunks). Many salesmen wouldn’t know what this is. These ‘experts’ often point to some sawdust left from construction and tell the homeowner their house is being destroyed.

We are your natural choice when looking for organic residential and commercial Pest Controls for Ants, Rodents, Wasps, Hornets, Spiders, Grain Beetles, Bats, and more. We need no ‘long term contracts’ to be the elimination experts. Serving Portland, Beaverton, Tualatin, Tigard, Sherwood, Wilsonville, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Milwaukie, Gresham, Hillsboro, Canby, Oregon City Forrest Grove, Portland, and all of Washington and Multnomah counties.

Give Us A Call At 503-579-3680

Bait and Spray, Not!

webmaster — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:11:58 +0000

I am continually educating home owners about the futility of using of the commercially available ant bait stations, or ‘ant traps’ as they are called. I have yet to find a ‘trap’ for sale in stores that works here in the Pacific North Wet. IMHO, these were designed to be marketed and used in California and are unsuitable here. And to make matters worse, the homeowner is usually using some kind of spray near the stations. The spray could be a soap, window cleaner, or flower oils. If the station ever had any chance of working, forget it, these sprays ruin them.

We offer advanced bait technologies not available in stores. When combined with the right environment modifications and minimal exterior sprays, we can guarantee our results. Our knowledge of the ant species in this marine sub climate is critical to our success with ants.

Telephone
503-579-3680
Mailing address
12625 SW Katherine St., Tigard, OR 97223
Electronic mail
General Information and Customer Support:
Email: Click here To Email

Carpenter Ants

webmaster — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:22:56 +0000

What We do and What to Expect

A little background on Carpenter ants is in order.

First, they do not eat wood. They hollow out sound wood and introduce moisture into the wood, if the moisture is not already there. This hollowing you can see in the video below.

Wood Damaged by Carpenter Ants

The first condition we look for and ask about is moisture, even small amounts, in the walls, roof or floor. All species of ants in a structure will set up their colonies in or very near a moist spot.

Unlike other smaller species, Carpenter Ants have one Queen in the colony. She can live over 10 years and if she dies, the entire colony eventually dies.Here in this part of Oregon we deal primarily with four sub species. For three of them the treatment is essentially the same.

On our first visit to the house we often find conditions that make a successful treatment difficult. Moisture problems can be caused by bad caulking, leaky windows and roofs, trees and brush touching the house as well as the adjoining decking and fencing.

Other areas of concern are; electric and telephone wires running from the house and into the trees. Bark dust and dirt touching the siding. Old stumps and rail road ties near the house. It is very important that the homeowner and technician discuss these conditions and remedy them when practical.

Ants are cold blooded. When the temperature falls, they become inactive. They need over 55 degree temps on the ground to forage actively. While it is important to get treatment started as soon as possible, the speed of the colony kill is very much weather related.

All of the carpenter ant colonies produce winged reproductive’s. These large winged ants usually stay in a “staging area” away from the main colony. They are waiting to do their mating flight and they sometimes get confused by the warmth of your house and emerge prematurely inside rather than outside. These ants do not eat or forage while waiting for the right flight conditions. Therefore they have not come into contact with the products we have treated your home with. The best solution for these winged nuisances is to vacuum them up. There aren’t very many of them and the vacuum kills them very well.

You should expect to see ants along the foundation for a few days after we have sprayed, this is a good thing. Because the spray is non repellant, ants will freely walk on it and track the active ingredient back into the colony where it will kill many more ants through the ‘domino’ effect. The second reason to see ants after the initial treatment is that there are still ants emerging from pupae or cocoons. They haven’t had any contact yet with any active ingredients and will often wander about looking for the rest of the colony. The rest of the colony is dead, and these wanderers soon die also.

Call us back for more treatment if you see strong ant activity entering the house two weeks or more after the treatment.

We could put toxic products on the interior surfaces of your home but prefer not to.

The best solution for these winged nuisances is to vacuum them up. There aren’t very many of them and the vacuum kills them very well.

Questions are always welcome. Call us at 503-579-3680.