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Moles are familiar — if furtive — inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest’s lawns, forests and meadows: small, cylindrical-bodied insectivores adapted to a life spent almost entirely underground. Because they spend so much time out of sight and are difficult to follow, estimates of their natural lifespan are necessarily approximate. Broadly speaking, most moles in the…

Moles are familiar — if furtive — inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest’s lawns, forests and meadows: small, cylindrical-bodied insectivores adapted to a life spent almost entirely underground. Because they spend so much time out of sight and are difficult to follow, estimates of their natural lifespan are necessarily approximate. Broadly speaking, most moles in the…

Few things are as maddening to a homeowner as spending time and money to rid a yard of moles—only to see fresh ridges and volcanoes reappear days or weeks later. Because mole activity is underground and often out of sight, it’s easy to assume a single baiting effort should be decisive. In reality, moles are…

Seattle’s famously wet, worm-rich soils make lawns especially attractive to moles, and those raised ridges and random sinkholes can quickly turn a tidy yard into a frustrating landscape problem. Baiting is one of the options homeowners consider for quick reduction of mole activity, but it’s not a decision to make impulsively. Before you put any…

Moles are a common and often misunderstood nuisance in lawns and gardens — their tunneling can ruin turf, damage roots and irrigation, and create uneven ground that’s both unsightly and hazardous. When it comes to controlling moles, two of the most discussed approaches are toxic baits (usually insecticide- or rodenticide-based formulations designed to be eaten…

Spring brings longer days, warmer temperatures and the comforting return of plants and songbirds—but it also kicks off the active season for many tiny arthropods that suddenly become visible indoors. If you’ve noticed minute red, brown, or translucent specks crawling along window sills, walls, houseplants, bedding or your pets, you’re not alone. These aren’t dust…

People often use the terms “house mites” and “dust mites” interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. “Dust mites” refers specifically to a few species of microscopic arachnids (most commonly Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and D. farinae) that thrive on the microscopic flakes of human skin found in bedding, upholstered furniture, and carpets. “House mites” is a broader,…

Mites are tiny relatives of spiders that live almost everywhere — in homes, on people and pets, and in plants and stored foods. Because many species are microscopic, infestations often begin quietly and go unnoticed until symptoms become obvious. Yet early detection matters: left unchecked, mites can cause persistent itching and skin rashes, trigger or…

The future of pest control for Pacific Northwest homeowners will be shaped by forces both local and global: a temperate, wet climate that favors many pest species; growing urbanization and changing land use that bring humans and wildlife into closer contact; and a warming climate that alters pest ranges and life cycles. For residents of…

Pest outbreaks—whether in row crops, orchards, forests, or stored grain—cause major economic losses, threaten food security, and disrupt ecosystems. Traditional monitoring methods (field scouting, trap inspection, and manual surveys) are labor-intensive, slow, and often reactive: farmers and land managers spot trouble only after populations have grown. That gap is where a new generation of technologies,…