'I'm going seven days a week': Southern Alberta pest control companies swamped with calls during hot, dry summer
Last summer was a busy one for Pamela MacLeod, a pest control specialist with nearly 15 years of experience, but this year is on another level.
"I was doing a lot last year. There was definitely an increase, but this year, I would say double," she said.
"I'm going seven days a week right now. Even this long weekend, I thought I'd take a day off, but nope. That's not happening."
Spiders seem to be more abundant compared to previous years but the real issue most people are facing has to do with ants and grasshoppers who thrive in the warm conditions.
When it comes to grasshoppers, local garden centres are being inundated with questions from people trying to find a way to keep their gardens safe from the hungry insects.
"Unfortunately for grasshoppers, there isn't much for pesticide spray," said Green Haven Garden Centre horticulturist Dustin Napper.
"But, you can use cultural controls such as crop covers or knitting over the plants just to keep the grasshoppers off as the pass through."
For ants, the dry weather this summer means handfuls of Lethbridge residents are seeing droves of ants venturing into their home in search of something to drink.
"It's because of water. There's just no water for them. We're really lacking it for our insects and our wildlife," said MacLeod.
Even if they don't get into the house, lawn care professionals are seeing the number of ant colonies in residential yards skyrocket.
"I definitely have been running over a lot of ant hills when I'm mowing. This year is definitely worse," said owner and operator of Welcome Home Property Care Suzette Peters.
"It makes the watering super inconsistent. These ant hills will dry out the whole area around them and it just becomes nasty little patches."
But this year, pest control companies are dealing with more than just insect-related calls.
MacLeod is also getting lots of calls for mice, which she said is incredibly rare for this time of year.
"Mice are showing up in people's homes in July for the same reasons. There's just not enough water," she said.
"All of these insects and rodents are suffering it seems. I even noticed that for gophers, I have not seen the same population that I usually see. They're staying closer to the river, and not around the farms."
Macleod says the bulk of the calls are from people living in newly developed neighbourhoods of west Lethbridge which for her, doesn't come as a surprise.
"People have to remember, that used to be [the rodents'] home. So when they say that these rodents have moved into their home... No, you've moved into their home. So they're just moving back in."
With the weather expected to remain toasty for the foreseeable future, pest control companies are buckling in for a couple more months of what has already been one of, if not the busiest summer on record.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.