Serving Middlesex County since 1984

Learn more about our pest control services or check out a few highlights about Natick below.

Check out our podcast on a pest control project we did in Natick MA

Below is the transcript of the podcast if you prefer to read it:

John Maher: Hi, I’m John Maher and I’m here today with Zach Ciras, Quality Manager with Colonial Pest Control. Today our topic is pest control in Natick, Massachusetts. Welcome Zach.

Zach Ciras: Hey John.

Pest Control in Natick, Massachusetts

John: So Zach, are there any sort of general things about pest control in Natick that you’ve noticed over the years of going to that town?

Zach: Oh yeah, absolutely. Natick’s a great small community. They’ve got a lot going on. A lot of families live in Natick. You have a lot of single family homes, detached. One acre yards is a typical sized yard, I’d say in Natick. With that, we do see a lot of families dealing with family pests. So a pest is a pest because of what it does, not because of what it is. So what bothers small families in Natick, we see a lot of mice in homes, we see a good amount of termites, actually. The style of construction in different parts of Natick and surrounding Framingham, more of the slab homes or a thinner slab and the timeframe in which they were built leads to a lot of termites. We do see a lot of wasp activity as well in Natick.

So when the family’s out on the back porch trying to barbecue on a nice warm summer day, sometimes they’ll get an unwelcome visitor trying to join them for dinner in the form of yellowjackets or bald-faced hornets.

Pest Control Services

John: Right. Okay. So what are some examples of some pest control services in Natick that you’ve done and how did they go?

Sure. Let’s start with mice. Mice are pretty common. Fairly wooded area, it’s a good mix, Natick is for suburban. You get a little bit more of an urban feel closer to the shopping centers, but you do have a lot of wooded areas, a lot of hiding places that rodents love to be in. So a typical single family house in Natick, four walls, big rectangle. We love those houses, they’re easy to diagnose. Selfishly, we like the boring rectangles.

So one house in particular that I’m thinking of, a nice young family just moved over from India and working in the biotech industry in the area and they had mice coming into the basement. It was a mostly finished basement, but there were enough openings for the mice to get from the wall voids into the living areas and they were starting to see a few droppings in the kitchen and a little bit of rustling up in the attic as well.

So we went out, diagnosed where I think the entry points were coming in. It was actually all four corners and a little bit in the garage. The garage door weatherstripping was wearing out a bit and the mice found that they started chewing on that. Pretty straightforward case where we could go out. We used an interior coagulant rodenticide bait on the inside, tamper resistant cases. Nice and out of the reach of the kids, out of sight, out of mind. Let the bait do its thing, eliminate the existing population.

And then went around the outside to the corners, took some copper mesh, some expanding foam, some different materials, and closed up all those four corners really well. Did a thorough inspection around the rest of the foundation. And with the garage door, the weatherstripping, it’s a fairly common thing that we see so I actually carry a roll of tin on my truck. So I can cut that, bend that, fold that and actually clamp that right on to the old worn down weatherstripping and have a good two or three inch barrier where it’s tin so the mice will not be able to chew through that.

We were able to take care of their mouse problem and in the meantime, talking to the family about what else they’ve been seeing. They see a few ants now and then. When the kids drop a crumb, they see little ants go marching one by one over to the crumbs. And they do see a lot of wasps on the back deck actually. Unfinished back deck, you could actually see where the wasps historically had been nesting and pulling material from the dry wood and actually building a new nest from that.

So for longterm control for these guys, we took care of the mice, that was the big issue. But years and years later we were still going back twice a year, doing an extra spray service, preventing more problems from coming in. And they do have the warranty for the mice with the maintenance program too. So if anything comes up, the mice find another way in, they have yellowjackets on the back, they see ants, anything like that, they’re fully covered. So we see them twice a year and if anything comes up, they give us a call, we’ll see them another time or two.

John: That’s great. So you said that one of the most common ways that mice can get into the house is underneath the garage door, because there’s often a little gap there. And then once they’re into the garage, then it’s kind of easy sailing into the house from there often.

Zach: Yeah. I tend to think of a house as just one big box. And if there’s any penetration, any break along the outer envelope of that box, then once you’re in, you’re in. So a lot of people try to think, oh they’re just in the garage. They’re just in the basement. But really, once they’re in the outer envelope, the entire periphery of the house leads to where they’re not supposed to be. Once they’re in the basement, they’re going to find their way up. They might chew on some wires in the meantime. They might go in the attic and ruin some insulation. They’ll find their way to the kitchen or the bathroom and leave droppings around. So it’s really the whole outer envelope of the house as a primary perimeter. If we can keep them out of the house entirely, the garage and everything included, then we’ll be in good shape. Because once they’re in, they’re kind of in.

John: Right. And whether it’s Natick or another town, do you often find that when you get called out for a job like that, like they’re having a mice problem, then you start to notice some other things? Like you said, there’s ants and wasps as well. Does that often happen that you find other problems once you go out?

Zach: Oh absolutely. Yeah, we’re living in nature. We build our houses and surround it with flowers and the trees are still growing 50 feet from the house. There’s life out there. There’s life we love outside of the house, outside of the bounds of that outer envelope. There’s life that we love inside that bound of the envelope. But we like to have that good strong barrier in between. But we do find that just by living in an area with a lot of life, flowers, bees and wasps, ants, they all serve their purposes. So once we’re out there on site, it’s easy to look around and see there’s an old pine tree that has a little rot in the bottom. You have carpenter ants breeding in there.

That’s fine for them if they’re 100 feet from the house, but as soon as they start to rebuild their family and expand, they’re going to look for another place to live, they’ll start marching towards the house. And we do see a lot of that, whether we’re up for ants or mice or bees and wasps or anything like that, everything kind of follows that same cycle. Life begets life, I say.

John: Right. All right, well that’s really great information, Zach. Thanks again for speaking with me today about pest control in Natick, Massachusetts.

Zach: My pleasure, John. Thanks.

John: And for more information, you can visit the Colonial Pest Control website at colonialpest.com or call 1-800-525-8084. That’s 1-800-525-8084.

A bit of background on Natick MA

Natick may be located only 15 miles from the big city life in Boston but to the local residents it is a small family town with its own specific pest control problems. The city has an estimated population of 33,000 and is centered around Downtown Natick. With the two major streets named Main Street and Central Street, the small town next to the big city obviously maintains its family-friendly neighborhood atmosphere. The majority of the housing developments were built back in the 1940s and 1950s, which gives the town a classic style but also means that the structural integrity of the buildings is beginning to weaken. With pests running rampant in the Northeast, old buildings are the most susceptible to infestations.

Although Boston is just around the corner, Natick still has that small town feel and needs to have a local pest control service to understand and treat their specific issues. Colonial Pest Control has experienced exterminators located in Natick who understand the city’s unique issues and are trained to treat them quickly and effectively. There aren’t any other pest control companies that can provide the level of quality service and that understand your specific community.

When it comes to pests and rodents, not all cities are equal. One of the main benefits of having an exterminator with knowledge of the local pests is that they are trained to safely and efficiently remove the pests that are most common to your region. Natick suffers from pests such as termites, hornets and wasps, carpenter ants, bats, and squirrels, which all require a specific expertise to properly and safely remove them from your home. While there are staple pests and rodents that plague the Northeast every year, there are other pests such as snakes, moles, silverfish, cockroaches, and rats that also need a professional exterminator in order to be eliminated.

Common Pests in Natick, MA

Termites Damage Control – Termites will eat away at your home’s old wood, and if they are not taken care of promptly, can completely destroy entire rooms, walls, roofs, and more. Termites will eat the wood from the inside out so many people don’t actually notice the damage until it is too late. There are tell-tale signs of a termite infestation that you can look for. First, if you see any small mud shelter tubes from the ground to your wall then you know they have already began eating away at your wood structure. Another good sign is if you see small winged termites called “swarmers” flying around indoors. The swarmers usually come out between February and April. If you see them, call Colonial Pest Control immediately to save your structure from any more

Carpenter Ants – Similar to termites, carpenter ants will quickly bore into the wood in your home and ruin the structural integrity. They try to create a nest inside your home and quickly become a nuisance that is almost impossible to control without professional extermination. Carpenter ants are the number one wood destroying pest in the area and should be dealt with immediately. Keep an eye out for sawdust-like material near small entrances into your structure to know if you have a carpenter ant problem.

Hornets and Wasps – There are some pests that are actually good for the local area like bees, hornets, and wasps, but they are definitely a nuisance when they move in too close to home. While they are not harmful to your home’s structure, they can pose a threat to the residents because of their ability to sting, bite, and cause allergic reactions for some people. Some people attempt to get rid of these pests on their own just to find out that it is dangerous and difficult. Save yourself the hassle of multiple stings and call a professional exterminator who can safely remove a hive without posing any danger to your family.

Bat Removal – A lot of people actually enjoy having bats living nearby their home because they are “free exterminators” for your mosquito and bug problems. But bats pose a great threat to your home and family once they make their way inside places like your garage and attic. Bats are known to harbor multiple diseases and they leave toxic feces that you do not want to be touching or even breathing in. While you can’t legally kill the bats, a pest control professional from Colonial can help safely remove them from your property and transport them far enough away where they will not find their way back in.

Call us at 1-800-525-8084 right now for a FREE quote!