Blooming Spring, Booming Bugs

At Fox Pest Control we love celebrating one of our favorite days of the year, March 20th, the First Day of Spring! As the world turns colorful again, we are blooming with anticipation to serve our customers.

With things warming up we see more signs of those dangerous pests like termites, ants, carpenter ants, and spiders.

Here are some signs of spring pests:

Termites

• Mud Tubes/Mud Tunnels –Termites use these cylinder-shaped pathways to travel along exposed areas while foraging for food. These might look like branches of dried mud attached to the side of poles, house foundations, metal fences, and other places.
• Swarmers – Swarmers are winged termites that a well-established colony produces once or twice every year. They can be easily mistaken for winged ants, but if you see swarmers in your home it’s a sure sign a colony is close by.
• Wood Damage – Since termites eat wood from the inside out, damage is difficult to detect. It might show as bubbling wallpaper or hollow and weakened wood.
• Frass – Frass is termite droppings, which look like tiny wood grains or sawdust. They are sometimes found near a hole in the wood where the termites dump their droppings.

Ants

• Large Mounds in the Yard – They can be bare dirt or sand, or they can be covered in growing, healthy grass.
• Ant Trails – Ants will travel long distances for food. Ant trails may disappear after the food source is gone.
• Piles of ants – in grass, sand, or even cracks in brick or cement

Carpenter Ants

• Sightings – Large ants crawling inside your home or other building, especially if they’re coming out of holes in the walls, ceilings, baseboards, cabinets, or other home features.
• Wood Damage – Piles of fallen wood shavings, especially if they’re near an ant hole inside the building.
• Noise – Scratching or rustling sounds coming from inside the walls.

Spiders

• Webs – Not all spiders make webs, but most of those found inside will make cobwebs in low-traffic areas. Basements, crawl spaces, attic spaces, storage containers, cardboard boxes, window frames and window wells, outdoor light fixtures, and similar areas are excellent candidates for spider activity.
• Sightings – Besides webs, the main sign of spiders is to find one crawling around. The only reason spiders are found inside or near a home is because of their food — insects and other spiders.

Spring also brings some beneficial bugs like bees, ladybugs, and butterflies. 

Did you know that bees are crucial to human survival? “They pollinate 1 in 3 bites of food we eat and are essential to the health and prosperity of countless ecosystems.”

Ladybugs are actually beetles. Wow! And they help us out quite a bit. They eat many bugs that eat important plants and destroy crops. So their lunch often saves ours. 

We all love seeing a butterfly gently flapping its wings. In fact, watching them is good for our mental health. But butterflies are more than just beautiful. They also pollinate garden plants and are indicators of healthy environments. 

To celebrate these favorite beneficial bugs we made a fun craft project you can do with your kids at home. Simply download this printable, watch the video below, follow the instructions, and enjoy making your own blooming flowers.

Blooming Flower Craft Project for Kids

Click HERE to download and print the PDF

Fox Pest wants to give everyone a beautiful, pest-free spring. Call us at (855) 953-1976 or email us to find out how we can rid your home of the bugs you don’t want, so you can enjoy the ones you do.

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