Good Riddance Critters

Friday Fact: they're not "hanging around." They're peaking

Here's something most people don't know: a wasp colony reaches its largest size and its most defensive state in late summer and early fall — not spring or midsummer. As long as there's no hard frost, the colony hasn't died off, workers are still foraging aggressively for sugar, and nests keep growing. That's exactly what's happening in Toronto right now, with no frost yet and a warm week ahead.

This season alone, we've found hives built into tree trunks, nests packed into shed rafters and pergola beams, and colonies working their way into eaves and rooflines — sometimes more than one on a single property. Whether it's a dive-bomb near your table or just an uncomfortable hover you can't ignore, an active nest nearby doesn't get better on its own this time of year. It gets bigger.

Tonight begins Sukkot, and for the next seven days many of you will be eating and gathering outdoors in the sukkah — exactly the kind of open-air space an active colony can turn stressful fast. If wasps, hornets, or anything flying is making that harder than it should be, don't wait it out. Call us.

חג סוכות שמח — Chag Sukkot Sameach. Sukkot is called Z'man Simchateinu, "the time of our joy" — wishing all my customers celebrating this week a season that's actually joyful, indoors and out.

Call David at 416-480-9373

MONDAY MYTH-BUSTER: Mouse Edition

Myth: "The droppings look old, so it's probably an old, resolved problem."

This week's job started exactly this way — droppings found in a quieter, less-used part of a basement in an older home, with the homeowner unsure if it meant anything current. It's a completely reasonable assumption. It's also one you can't actually make by eye.

Here's the reality: fresh and old droppings can look very similar, especially in a dim basement corner. And quiet, undisturbed parts of a home are exactly where mice prefer to be — not because activity is winding down, but because that's where they feel safest to nest and breed undisturbed. "I don't see them often" often means "I'm not usually in the room they're using," not "it's not happening."

In this case: droppings in the basement led to confirmed live activity on camera within days, and a mouse in the kitchen by Sunday night. That's not a rare escalation. That's the normal timeline when early signs get read as old news.

More Wednesday on exactly what we look for during an inspection — and why droppings are just one piece of the picture.

Think you have mice in your home? Call David at 416-480-9373 or email [email protected]

Myth: "Squirrels are just an everyday nuisance — annoying, but not actually a problem."

Here's what most people don't think about: a squirrel's front teeth never stop growing. Never. To keep them from overgrowing, squirrels have to gnaw on something, constantly — and fascia boards, soffits, and roof edges are exactly the kind of soft, chewable material they target. That's not just an annoyance. It's structural.

Once they've chewed a way in, it doesn't stay minor for long. Inside an attic, that same chewing habit turns toward electrical wiring — which is a real fire risk, not a hypothetical one. Add in insulation damage, water intrusion through the new opening, and the mess a nest leaves behind, and "just a squirrel" turns into a real repair bill fast.

We're heading to a job this week where squirrels have been working on the roofline of a three-story building. More on that Wednesday.

If you're hearing scratching, scampering, or seeing chew marks on your roofline — don't wait for it to look serious. It already is.

Call 416-480-9373 or email [email protected].

Friday Fact: one hive? Not even close.

This week's call started simple — wasps near a front door, coming out of a gap in the brick. Typical spot, typical first look. We treated it thoroughly, the way we always do, and came back a day or two later to check with a scope, like we always do.

The homeowner said they were still seeing wasps. A lot of them.

We went back. What we found wasn't one hive that didn't get treated properly — it was several more we hadn't seen yet, tucked into the eaves, the bay window, and the apex of the roof. Multiple separate colonies, one house.

And here's the part that really drives the point home: some of these wasps had already chewed through drywall into a bedroom. We set up a camera inside to track down exactly where they were getting in — an opening so small it's genuinely hard to even photograph, but we found it.

This is why "I saw a hive, I treated it, done" isn't always the full story. What a homeowner sees is often just the one they happened to notice.

See wasps, call us at 416-480-9373 or email [email protected].

🚨 MONDAY MYTH-BUSTER: Wasp Edition 🐝

Myth: "I killed the wasps and sealed the hole — problem solved."

Customers called and reported on a scary wasp problem: a gap on an exterior wall, wasps going in and out, and a homeowner who sprayed something into the hole and sealed it up right after. Within days — wasps inside the house. Some dead, some very much alive.

Here's what actually happens: a spray or store-bought poison rarely kills an entire colony in one shot. It kills some, weakens others, and the survivors panic. Wasps have chewing mouthparts built for stripping wood fibre to build their nests — drywall paper and gypsum board is not much of a match for a determined, trapped insect looking for a way out. When you seal the only exit while the colony is still alive inside your wall, you're not ending the problem. You're rerouting it — straight into your living space.

The gap wasn't the problem. The colony was. Sealing has to come after the colony is fully gone, not instead of dealing with it.

If you've got wasps going in and out of a gap in your wall, please don't seal it yourself before the colony is actually addressed. Give us a call first.

📞 416-480-9373 or [email protected]