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As winter loosens its grip and March brings unpredictable swings of thaw and warmth, Capitol Hill homeowners should be thinking about pest prevention now rather than later. The first mild days of spring stimulate insects and rodents to become more active: ants begin scouting for food, termites and carpenter bees start nesting and tunneling, and…

February often feels like the quietest month for pests: lawns are dormant, garden insects are scarce, and the outdoor buzz of summer seems a long way off. But appearances are deceiving. Many pests shift their activity indoors as temperatures drop, and late winter is a critical time when rodents, cockroaches, ants, bed bugs, and even…

As winter loosens its grip, February becomes a pivotal month for preparing homes against the pest pressures that arrive with warming temperatures. Many insects and rodents use the cooler months to shelter inside walls, attics, and crawl spaces, conserving energy until cues like increasing daylight and rising outdoor temperatures signal it’s time to become active…

Late winter in Seattle — the soggy, cool weeks before spring’s full thaw — feels like a natural pause. Daylight lengthens, bulbs push through the soil, and for many homeowners it seems like the city’s animal and insect problems have gone quiet for the season. That sense of relief, however, has led to a long…

February sits in a sweet spot on the calendar for home and property inspections: winter’s worst weather has usually already stressed roofs, pipes, and systems, but the full spring thaw — when hidden damage often becomes more obvious and contractors get swamped — hasn’t arrived yet. Inspections in February catch problems while they’re still manageable,…

Successful pest trapping in February depends as much on the weather and seasonal biology as it does on trap design. Because February falls in late winter for much of the Northern Hemisphere, many pest species are in diapause, concealed in overwintering sites, or limiting activity to brief warm periods. At the same time, February often…

Rats are a familiar nuisance in many buildings, yet their year-round hiding places — especially wall voids — can seem mysterious until spring returns. Understanding why rats choose these narrow, hidden cavities for months at a time requires looking at their biology, behavior, and the microclimate that human structures create. Wall voids offer stable temperatures,…

Late winter around Puget Sound is a deceptively active time for pests. The region’s mild, wet winters and the protection of coastal topography mean that many insects and small mammals avoid the deep dormancy seen farther inland and instead seek out warm, dry refuges inside or near homes. As temperatures fluctuate and the first sunnier…

Cold weather is one of the most important natural checks on pest populations because temperature strongly governs the physiological processes that drive growth, development and reproduction. For many invertebrate pests — insects, mites, nematodes — and for some pathogens and vertebrate pests, low temperatures slow metabolic rates, reduce feeding and movement, and interfere with the…

In Seattle, seeing mice scurrying through a house or hearing them in the walls well into February is a common — and frustrating — surprise for many residents. Unlike regions with harsh, bone-chilling winters that put wildlife into torpor or push them into deep hibernation, the Pacific Northwest’s mild, wet winter climate and the city’s…