What is it About Woolly Bears?

By Chris Williams on October 24, 2016

Everybody loves the woolly bear, or wooly worm, or fuzzy bear. Whatever you call this fluffy-looking, rust and black caterpillar, it has a place in weather folklore. People believe, or pretend to believe, that the band pattern on a woolly bear can predict the severity of the coming winter. The wider the black bands on…

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Squirrels Are Unwelcome Winter Guests in Attics

By Chris Williams on October 19, 2016

We know we have gray squirrels in our yard because we’ve seen them and their nests in trees. But suddenly we seem to have one (or more!) occupying our attic. My son saw a squirrel enter around the attic vent. Why are they moving inside and how do we keep them out? T. W., Brighton,…

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How We Used to Kill Bed Bugs Back in the Day

By Chris Williams on October 12, 2016

There is documentation to show that bed bugs have pestered us since ancient times. For most of us, bed bugs were extinct pests that our great-grandparents battled. In the early 1900s , it was a rare American indeed who had never been bitten by or at least seen a bed bug. Bed bugs were pretty…

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What Are Caterpillars Doing in My Kitchen?

By Chris Williams on October 10, 2016

I keep finding these white worms crawling on my kitchen walls. I thought they were fly maggots but they look more like little caterpillars, about a half inch long. I can’t imagine what they’re doing in the kitchen. Could they be coming in from outside? P. D., Sandown, NH Whether or not they could be…

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Oriental Cockroaches Can Migrate Indoors in Fall

By Chris Williams on October 6, 2016

All of a sudden we’re finding these big dark bugs in our basement. I thought they were black beetles but after looking on the Internet, I think they’re cockroaches! Isn’t it kind of late in the season for cockroaches to appear? D. W., Roslindale, MA If your pests are indeed cockroaches, they’re probably oriental cockroaches.…

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