Common Pests in Long Lake, Minnesota

Mice

Ants

Wasps

Spiders

Boxelder Bugs

Stink Bugs

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If you have questions, concerns, or want to schedule an appointment

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Areas near water and woods will see an increase in mouse activity. In the winter, mice start to spend more time indoors to keep warm. But they do not spend 100% of their time inside. Even in the winter, mice will still be moving in and out of a home. They never stop hoarding and foraging for food. They hide their food inside the walls, attic, or foundation. Their main diet consists of seeds and nuts found outside. It’s only a myth that mice like cheese. Mice do not eat cheese!

Our mouse seal-up service is focused on being a one-and-done service. This means we do not offer any contracts or quarterly services to solve a home’s mouse problem. We use construction-grade materials that permanently seal the entry points. After the seal-up, it takes 30 days to trap any mice still inside the home. We supply our customers with snap traps and show them how to use them and where to place them. 

Mouse Identification

Pavement ants can be found inside and outside homes in Long Lake, Minnesota. They are attracted to sandy soil and sand used during construction. Their nests have circular piles of sand marking the entrances to their nests. Their nests are often found under cement stoops, sidewalks, driveways, patios, and curbs. In the winter, they can also build nests inside. Their nests can stay active under cement slabs, foundations, and heated floors. 

We provide ant services for homes all year round. In the winter, we focus on treating the interior of the home and in spring and summer, we treat the exterior. When inside, we use a foam product that goes inside the cracks that the ants are crawling out of. On the exterior, we treat the home with a water-based product. Both products keep the ants alive long enough to carry them back inside their nests to spread to the queen. After 30 days, 100% of the ant colony should be exterminated. Each winter service comes with an exterior spring treatment. 

Ant Identification

One of the most common wasps to find in Long Lake, Minnesota, is the paper wasp. These wasps are one of the largest in Minnesota. These wasps build unique-looking nests that are circular or oval-shaped. Their hexagonal cells that hold their eggs and larvae are visible from the outside. Each one of their nests can house 30-70 wasps by the end of summer.

Our Wasp Services are based on prevention and extermination. Our preventative service focuses on spraying the exterior of the home in areas where wasps may land or build their nests. The product we use during this service kills the wasps on contact before they can start building a new nest. We will also knock down any dead or active nests if we see any. Our extermination service uses a different product that doesn’t kill the wasps right away. The product is designed to let the worker wasps carry it back inside their nests to spread through the rest of the colony.

Wasp Identification 

Spiders, like many other pests, are attracted to water. There are a variety of insects for them to eat that live close to bodies of water. One of these insects is jokingly known as the Minnesota state bird…the mosquito.  This also correlates to homes that have spiders living inside. It’s common for spiders to occupy a home that is also dealing with another insect issue. Spiders, like any other animal, are drawn to live in places that supply them with the most food.

Homes that are near bodies of water such as lakes, marshes, and ponds will attract more spiders. The services we provide are only able to keep spiders off the home for 1.5-2 months. After this time has passed the product we spray on the exterior of the home will lose its effect. This is why homes near water need to receive repeated treatments to keep the spiders off the home more effectively.

Read Our Blog: “We Love Living Near Woods and Water and so do Spiders!”

Boxelder Bugs are commonly found outside homes in Long Lake in the fall. In the fall, these bugs start looking for homes and buildings to overwinter inside. As they make their way inside the walls, foundation, and attic, most of them go dormant to conserve energy until spring. When homeowners find them moving around inside in the winter, it is on a day when the sun warms up the siding, windows, and roof. This triggers the insects to wake up from their dormant state. 

More and more homeowners around Long Lake are dealing with stink bugs. These bugs are invasive and don’t have a predator to control their population. Many bugs find their way inside to overwinter through soffits, chimneys, and vents. While inside (like boxelder bugs), they do not lay eggs or mate in the winter. Their mating season starts in spring and goes into the summer. It’s common to find them mating and laying eggs in apple orchards, corn fields, grape vineyards, and gardens.

The best time to treat stink bugs and boxelder bugs effectively is in the fall. It’s in the fall when these bugs start swarming homes in search of places to overwinter. We treat around the siding, foundation, soffits, and chimneys (if possible). We coat the home with a barrier that, once it’s dry, will kill any insect that lands on it. The product we use stays effective for up to 2 months. If we treat later in the fall, once the bugs are already visible on the home, there is a good chance a population of stink bugs and boxelder bugs has already got inside.

Read Our Blog: “Minnesota Fall Pests”

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To protect your home from insects join our Insect Protection Plan (IPP) 

If you have questions, concerns, or want to schedule an appointment

Call Us Today! 952-404-BOGO (2646)

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