Fall Pests in Minnesota

It’s time to start talking about the Fall Pests in Minnesota.

It’s fall in Minnesota, which means two things. Kids are heading back to school, and outdoor pests are starting to head inside homes for the winter. There is an abundance of different pests that become more active in the fall, and once it starts to get a little chilly at night, they know it’s time for them to start moving inside for the winter. There are a handful of Minnesota fall pests that BOGO services for, including boxelder bugs, Asian lady beetles, stink bugs, voles, and mice. We will review the science behind these fall pests and their behaviors.

Boxelders are the most common insect to see in abundance in the fall. Boxelders at this time of year can be found on the south side of homes and crawling along on boxelder trees. These are the trees that release helicopter seeds. If you have a tree in your yard or one of your neighbors does, don’t be surprised to see boxelder bugs around your property. They eat the helicopter seeds for food. The beginning of fall is the perfect time to treat homes for them because they are starting to migrate into more sheltered places to overwinter. They most commonly try to hide underneath the siding, cracks along windows, door frames, and fascia boards, which is why lots of people start noticing them inside during the winter. But once they are already spotted inside, it is too late to treat. BOGO pest control recommends treating for them in September.

Asian lady beetles are also a common fall insect and are seen inside during the winter. Asian lady beetles are commonly misidentified as ladybugs, but these beetles are an invasive species that came over to the U.S. from countries such as China, Russia, Korea, and Japan. They were first brought to the U.S. to help farmers protect their crops against harmful plant pests such as aphids, scales, and other soft-bodied arthropods. In the fall, the beetles start migrating away from outdoor fields and gardens to more protected areas to spend the winter. You will see the largest amount of activity during the afternoon, and they are attracted to illuminated surfaces. Like the boxelder bugs, the Asian lady beetle also tends to congregate on the south side of buildings where it is the sunniest. They also find their way inside the same way as the boxelder bug. Under the siding and cracks around doors and windows. BOGO Pest Control’s fall treatment for box elders will also help in eradicating the Asian lady beetle.

Another invasive species found in Minnesota is the stink bug, also known as the brown marmorated stink bug, aka BMSB. Stink bugs, just like the Asian lady beetle, also came to the U.S. from Asia. They have become more prevalent in Minnesota just in the last few years. The very first sighting in Minnesota was recorded in 2010. Just like the rest of the pests mentioned before, stink bugs are attracted to the warmest areas of the home, and in the fall, they search for areas to enter the home to overwinter. One unique behavior of the stink bug is that many of them tend to find their way inside through chimneys. Some recommendations to keep them out would be to install a Termination Cap Cover to help keep the stink bugs out. Another great way to keep them out is to call an exterminator like BOGO Pest Control to come to spray the chimney and the home so that when the stink bugs land on the home, they will die from the product after about 30 minutes.

A commonly misidentified fall pest is the vole. Here at BOGO, we get many calls from concerned customers saying they have been seeing mice running across their lawns during the day while they are outside. But as soon as the customer reveals that these sightings are happening during the day and only outside, we know right away that they aren’t seeing mice, they are seeing vols. Mice are nocturnal, so they are more active at night, unlike voles. Vols are active all day and night. Another easy way to identify a vol is to look at the tail. Vols have much shorter tails than mice and have fur on their tails as well. Vols also live outside all year long and aren’t interested in going inside. They’re only interested in wreaking havoc on your lawn. They tunnel under the snow in the winter, and chew on the roots of grass, on the bulbs of flowers, and bark around trees. Vols love living in areas with heavy ground cover. Inside long grasses, retaining walls, and also near ponds and river banks. To prevent voles from destroying your lawn during the winter, we recommend having BOGO Pest Control come in the fall to place bait stations along the perimeter of your lawn. These stations will be filled with poison bait blocks that the vols will eat and die from before they can eat any more grass in the lawn or plants. It’s important to note that the vols will only eat enough poison to kill a vol, so the poison in the vol’s system won’t be enough to kill any larger predators. A few recommendations that we give our customers to keep vols from making themselves feel at home are to trim back any bushes and other low-hanging shrubs so that they aren’t touching the ground. It’s also helpful to continue keeping your grass cut low, especially in the fall, on your last time mowing to cut the grass lower than usual, and to pick up any leaves and sticks that could also be used as areas for voles to keep warm during the winter. BOGO’s outdoor rodent management plan consists of us coming every month or every 2 months (depending on the amount of activity) to refill the stations as needed. To continue managing the population, we check them all year long, including in the winter.

Last but not least, the fall pest that wreaks the most havoc out of all the pests listed is the mouse. Mice during the fall season are also looking to go into homes for warmth. There are multiple types of mice in Minnesota, but only a few are commonly found inside homes. The most common mouse to find inside homes is the house mouse. One way to identify it is to look to see if it has large ears, a thin tail, and pink feet. The next most common mouse is the eastern and white-footed deer mouse. The eastern deer mouse is easily identifiable by its large black eyes, gray or brown fur, and white feet. You can tell the difference between a white-footed deer mouse by the white fur on its belly and its reddish-brown fur or gray fur on top. Most mice, once they are inside the homes, will build their nests in the hollow foundation walls, attics, and basements, and spend most of their time out of sight of humans.

What BOGO Pest Control has to offer for mouse prevention is very unique in the pest control industry. We offer a full exterior exclusion service. What this consists of is, first, a very thorough inspection of the property. Our team will look for any major entry points around the property and take photos of the entry points that will be sent to the customer in an email that will include a quote for the exclusion. The tech will also mention if any limitations block their view of the foundation, rendering the possibility of missing an entry point. If the customer wants us to seal the house, a tech will come to the property to seal all of the entry points around the house, as well as set up snap traps in any unfinished areas in the home. However, the technician will not just seal the entry points in the photos but will also spend a couple of hours looking for any other possible entry points that could have been missed during the inspection. If any entry points are missed, depending on the home’s limitations, BOGO Pest Control either offers a full 2-year warranty or a limited visit 2-year warranty. If there are limitations, such as a porch we can not get under, we will offer limited free visits within two years. The warranty will kick in 30 days after the seal-up is completed. The reason for this is that there will most likely be mice trapped inside the home after everything is sealed from the outside. It will take about 30 days to trap the mice stuck inside. BOGO Pest Control does not use a contract to come every month to fix the mouse issue; we want to make the mouse problem go away for good with one service.

BOGO Pest Control should be your one-stop shop for all the fall pests in the Twin Cities and outer suburbs. We will spray to keep the insects from moving inside over the winter, and our exclusion service for mice is bar none the best mouse service you will find in Minnesota.