Spring Pests of the Pacific Northwest

Besides bringing lots of rain in the Pacific Northwest, spring is a time where plants start to bloom and pests start to emerge. Some of the common pests you’ll see in this area are ants busying themselves in or around your home, wasps building nests, box elder bugs on your eaves and window screens and even the dreaded bed bug. As much as we love the idea of sunshine coming our way in the spring season, we don’t like the idea of pesky visitors in our comfort spaces.

The Usual Spring Pests Culprits

Ants actually hibernate in the winter months so springtime is a busy season for them as they are in desperate need of a food source. The most common ants you’ll see in or around your home are the Odorous ant and the Carpenter ant.

Odorous ants, also known as sugar ants, are more annoying than anything. They come into your home in search of food, foraging until they find what they are looking for and then signaling to other worker ants that they have found something. This is why you may start out seeing just a few and then before you know it, many ants are marching through your home.

Carpenter ants especially like the spring because their wood sources for building nests are moist and more easily chewed through. Rotting wood is a carpenter ants most preferable home source. This is where they will camp and build their nests to multiply their colonies. They are the most active at night and likely to be seen around dusk before homeowners head inside. Their diet is similar to that of the odorous ant, feeding on protein and sugar sources. Unlike the odorous ant, carpenter ants are much bigger in size and are often seen traveling alone.

Wasps are infamous for springtime and summer activity. Often seen as being aggressive, they almost instantly induce fear in those who assume they will get stung if they cross their path. What most people don’t know is that these pests are more concerned with their instinctual jobs than worrying about humans. The only time they will become aggressive is if they feel threatened or feel the need to protect their home. Spring is the time that wasps busy themselves constructing their homes for future offspring. These nests will later fall apart come late summer, so they are not likely to be a bother until the hotter months arrive of which they will then turn to seek after food.

Boxelder bugs are another nuisance that homeowners find annoying in the spring months. These bugs are known to congregate in large numbers, sometimes covering whole tree trunks or portions of your homes exterior. They are a blackish brown with bright red-orange markings on their backs and produce a foul odor, especially when clustered together in large groupings. These springtime pests are not dangerous but they can leave behind reddish stains from fecal material which can ruin materials such as those found in patio furniture.

Bed bugs should receive an award for being the world’s greatest hitchhikers. These pesky bugs often get into homes because they have traveled from a hotel room, a college dorm space or even a laptop computer that someone in your home carried with them on their trip. The activity of these pests can happen all throughout the year but it is the human activity in the spring and summer months that seem to affect the rise in bed bug infestations. Obviously as humans we do not hibernate but we surely seem to stay inside more until the sun begins to reemerge. This brings us to traveling more often and giving these pests more opportunity to travel from one place to another.

In conclusion, if you find any of these spring pests of the Pacific Northwest in or around your home you’ll want to call your pest expert so they can take care of your needs and help bring your home back to its relaxing and comfortable space.