Uncategorized

The narrow cobblestone streets and gaslit facades of Beacon Hill transform into something out of a postcard during the holidays: wreaths on carved fanlights, porch garlands draped along stoops, and the warm glow of string lights reflected in brick and ironwork. These festive touches highlight the neighborhood’s historic charm, but they can also create inviting…

As winter tightens its grip on Crown Hill, many residents turn to their garages for extra storage, holiday prep, and shelter from rain and cold. Those same garages, however, become attractive havens for rats seeking warmth, food, and nesting sites. What might start with a few droppings or chewed cardboard can quickly escalate into property…

As winter tightens its grip on Hazelwood, a neighborhood of Renton where damp, mild Pacific Northwest winters are the norm, many homeowners find that pest activity doesn’t disappear — it simply moves indoors. Cold temperatures and increased rainfall drive rodents, overwintering insects and opportunistic wildlife to seek the warmth, food and sheltered harborage of homes….

Queen Anne homes — with their sweeping turrets, turned newel posts, intricate balustrades and tall, narrow stairwells — are architectural time capsules. Those stairwells combine vertical space, multiple sheltered niches, and a mix of materials (painted wood, plaster, leaded-glass windows, and shadowed cornices) that create a string of microhabitats from the basement to the attic….

December brings more than holiday lights to Columbia City — it also brings a spike in rodent activity as mice and rats seek warmth, food and shelter from cooling temperatures. In an urban neighborhood made up of older Craftsman bungalows, duplexes and low-rise apartment buildings, the combination of aging building envelopes, shared utility chases and…

Winter in Maple Leaf communities brings beauty and chill — and a hidden risk under many homes: moist, poorly controlled crawl spaces that invite ant activity and can lead to costly damage. While ants are a normal part of the outdoor ecosystem, certain species — most notably carpenter ants — seek out damp or decaying…

The holiday travel season brings joy, family reunions and packed suitcases — and it also raises the risk of bed bug encounters for residents of dense urban neighborhoods like Belltown. With increased hotel occupancy, short‑term rentals and lots of foot traffic through apartments and high‑rise buildings, bed bugs can hitch a ride home on clothing,…

The holidays bring cheer, company, and an expanded array of treats — but they also bring the highest risk of pantry pests. Flour moths, weevils, ants and the occasional opportunistic rodent are drawn to the increased food traffic, new packages and forgotten tins tucked away for seasonal baking. Madrona Pantry Organization focuses on stopping holiday…

West Seattle’s steep ridgelines, pockets of remnant forest, and network of urban neighborhoods create a distinctive landscape that strongly shapes how small mammals respond to winter stress. In the Pacific Northwest’s generally mild but wet winters, rodents — native species like voles, deer mice, and Douglas squirrels, as well as commensal rats and house mice…

Ballard’s tree-lined streets and inventory of early-20th-century Craftsman homes give the neighborhood much of its character — but those same architectural features that make these houses charming also make their attics prime real estate for rodents when temperatures drop. As autumn turns to winter and outdoor food sources shrink, mice, rats, squirrels and the occasional…