davis_square | Entries tagged with pest control

qualitygig.livejournal.com

I love suspense, and you've all waited patiently, albeit with bated breath, for an update . . .

This all started a few days back. I was walking home from something I can't remember what in Davis Square when I suddenly noticed that there were posters stapled to nearly every tree (and pole) in my immediate neighborhood. Literally, virtually every tree had a poster stapled to it, if not two! It was insane.

They were all for a start-up (using that term very loosely as I work in the start-up arena and would never consider doing something so stupid as this) call Scoop 'N' Scoot Ice Cream that offers a speedy ice cream delivery service, apparently to any or all posters in the area. Well, as they offered an 'Order by Text/Call' service, I immediately sent them a text of what I thought of their redecoration of my beautiful neighborhood . . . and this is what transpired.

( Read more... )

dahdahdahdancer.livejournal.com

I've lived in Somerville for years and this is the first time I've encountered snakes in my yard. They are Brown Snakes, according to my internet research. Is anyone else in the area entertaining slithery visitors? How might I encourage them to move on?

Current Mood: scared

mzrowan.livejournal.com

Just got an email with a link to Cambridge's new iReport app. You can use it to report a missed trash or recycling pickup, a rodent sighting, graffiti, unshoveled sidewalks (a source of past ranting here!), potholes, or problems with street/park lights. If you have an iPhone or Android phone you can download the mobile version.

Note: I have no affiliation with the city of Cambridge. I get these updates because I'm signed up for the trash/recycling newsletter. If you'd like to get them too, email recycle@cambridgema.gov.

laughlast.livejournal.com

I've never posted to a site like this before but it was recommended and I could use some help, so here I am.

I live in the top floor unit of a three-unit house and for the last few months, squirrels have been working their way into the walls and crawl spaces around my apartment (there is no attic space in the house - my apartment is directly under the roof so the squirrels are between the rooms of my apartment and the most slanted part of the roof, if that makes sense). I have reported this to my landlords several times and they have been minimally responsive. I have looked at my lease and there is nothing that speaks to their responsiveness to complaints and/or what constitutes disturbances about which I could withhold rent...etc.

In the last week or so, the squirrel activity has increased significantly and yesterday, one squirrel made it into my apartment...a thrilling experience a la National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Obviously, I contacted my landlords immediately by phone and email and asked them to call but I only got an email several hours later. One of them came to my apartment today while I was not home to take a look and I have not heard anything about what was found or what will be done. In general, I have, as mentioned, found them sluggish to respond and rather rude and this squirrel issue has persisted for a few months.

So...I have two questions:

1. Any suggestions of how to handle squirrel invasions?
2. Does anyone have suggestions or know Somerville housing (rental) laws that might be relevant to this situation? Can I withhold rent if the issue continues?

Any feedback is welcome! Thanks so much.

Current Location: Davis Square

thetathx1138.livejournal.com

I need to seed my lawn with nematodes to knock off some fleas that might be hiding back there. Anybody know where I could find some?

schpahky.livejournal.com

ETA: I am asking about our legal rights as tenants, though we much appreciate the pest control recommendations too. Thanks!

For the last month or so, we've had squirrels in the walls and ceiling. The landlords finally sent someone to patch the hole under the eaves when the squirrels were out, though it took weeks for the guy to come. We're not sure if the hold-up was him or the landlords.

Two days later, after a lot of angry chattering outside and lots of chewing sounds, the squirrels came back. We called the landlords again, and they sent a second guy. The first guy was a general handyman. This second guy was something like the brother's sister-in-law's friend. The landlord didn't have his phone number and the guy didn't have ours. Apparently the message had to go down the chain of relatives. We sat home all Saturday waiting and he never came.

Yesterday, he finally came and patched up the hole again. He said squirrels went out in the day and now they couldn't come back in.

Well, an hour after he left we hear frantic scrabbling in the walls and near the hole. Turns out a squirrel WAS still home and couldn't get out.
( The saga continues... )

kmac912.livejournal.com

For the past few weeks I've been seeing a gang of four large racoons hanging around at night. They've gone through our trash twice (annoying, but not alarming) but this morning I saw them in the yard as I was leaving for work around 9:15 am. Isn't that bad? I thought racoons were nocturnal and I shouldn't be seeing them that early. I called animal control, but just got a voice mail and left a message- no callback yet. The recording said to call the Somerville police if I was having an "animal emergency" but I'm not sure just seeing them rose to that level. Even if they aren't sick I really don't want them hanging around, but ESPECIALLY not if they ARE sick. Anybody have any suggestions/advice? Is it normal to see them in the daylight?

hikermtnbiker.livejournal.com

I have some unwanted house guests living in my chimney. Not sure what they are but they have to go.

Any recommendations on local pest control companies who are good with removals like this?

chenoameg.livejournal.com

Mockingbird available on Highland Ave near Lexington Park. Signature song is a mellifluous rendition of "The Car Alarm Song". Top performance hours from midnight to four am.

Must catch and pickup yourself; doing so probably violates some local ordinances.

Serious suggestions on how to discourage said bird from midnight singing also welcome.

cl0udy.livejournal.com

I think I have bedbugs. Can anyone recommend a pest control place that services the Somervile area and is good at dealing with bedbugs?

( Read more )

plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com

Maybe I'm the last to see this since it has apparently been on Youtube since last fall. But I looked and didn't see it here under the video or pest control tags. Just posting because it couldn't be cuter. (If it's a repeat, I'll delete)

donotforsake.livejournal.com

Is anyone else having a problem with little oval shaped bugs (hard shell, can fly)? They are everywhere in our kitchen and getting into food. Vigilant cleaning is not seeming to help the situation - they've been around for about 2 months - though seems to be getting worse - now they are flying and landing on us too. Wondering if it's a seasonal thing, or if anyone knows what they are.

kjc.livejournal.com

Insect pests of New England

On Wednesday, June 9th, the Somerville Garden Club will sponsor a short course by horticulturalist Debra Elson, on the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) and other pests. The meeting is 7-9pm, 167 Holland St., second floor. The public is invited; the space is accessible.

The Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) has a well-deserved reputation for being an aggressive, voracious pest. A video, "Lurking in the Trees," about the ALB crisis in Worcester, MA, will be shown. Elson will address the importance of vigilance about this beetle, as well as steps for containing the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, Winter Moth, Eastern Tent Caterpillar, and Gypsy Moth Caterpillar.

Elson is a horticulturalist with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). She attended Green School, a comprehensive certificate program offered by UMass Amherst, and has done extensive research on insect pests of New England Forests. She has worked in nurseries and as a designer, and belongs to the Lexington Field and Garden Club and the Beth Shalom Garden Club.

Somerville Garden Club meetings begin with announcements and a roundtable of garden questions, feature an educational program, and conclude with a raffle of garden items and plants. The meetings are at 167 Holland St., 2nd floor, 7-9pm and are free & open to the public.

For more information, please visit http://www.somervillegardenclub.org

nvidia99999.livejournal.com

Somerville battling rat problem

All business-owners like foot traffic ... except when the feet come four at a time.

Several popular restaurants on Beacon Street are dealing with hordes more ravening than ravenous: rats. At the May 13 Board of Aldermen meeting, Alderwoman Maryann Heuston ordered inspectional services to deal with a "severe rodent problem" by Miller and Sacramento streets.

www.boston.com/yourtown/news/somerville/2010/05/by_danielle_dreilinger_globe_c_42.html

lilithchilde.livejournal.com

Ever since we moved into our apartment in mid-October, my roommate and I have been sharing space with a hive of honeybees. The hive appears to be at least partially outside the building (near our living room window), and in the fall we barely noticed them. Our landlords assured us that they'd deal with them in the winter, when the bees were hibernating, but they've been in no hurry to do so.

Ever since the cold weather hit, agitated bees have been making their way inside. It's not a healthy situation for anyone involved (humans or insects), as you might imagine. Our landlords have finally informed us that they intend to have the hive exterminated. We weren't sure about the legality of this, given the threatened status of honeybees in recent years, but apparently they've cleared it with the city.

My roommate and I are concerned, and are hoping to at least investigate alternative options - preferably, removal by a beekeeper. Can anyone recommend local keepers or services who we might be able to contact for information/price quotes? Thanks so much!

chickflick1979.livejournal.com

Hi, I searched through the other pest control tagged posts, but I didn't see anything related to moving out of an infested apartment.

My apartment was sprayed twice for bed bugs, though the other people in the building were not (it's my landlord and his family, and he hasn't done anything - I'm looking into getting my money back from him, too). After 2 sprays, I'm still getting bitten. Meanwhile, I decided to move out, because I thought it was all taken care of, but I wanted to get out of here.

So, does anyone know of a good way to move out of my apartment without taking the bugs with me? I've been looking for companies who will fumigate my items in a truck, or spray the furniture, et al, on my way out. If anybody knows of a good pest control company who might do something like that, please let me know. Or if you have advice on what the procedure should be while moving out, please let me know.

Thanks.

findingthegirl.livejournal.com

We recently had a bedbug infestation in our apartment.* Now that they're gone, our landlord has presented us with an exterminator bill for over four hundred dollars, saying it's our fault. According to this PDF and this press release from the City of Somerville website, this is a tax-deductible expense that is the landlord's responsibility- at least that's how I read it. Does anyone have any experience with this? Should we be calling the Board of Health and asking them to intervene? I mean, the bugs appear to be gone, but we really don't want to pay if it's not in fact our responsibility.

Thanks for any help you can give!

*We have no idea how we got them. We never bring anything off the street, haven't been to any hotels since we moved in June, and both our previous apartments were bedbug free. The current theory is that they were in the UHaul we rented and hitched a ride.

nvidia99999.livejournal.com

Any recommendations for companies that inspect houses for points of entry for squirrels and fix them (plus, catch squirrels that may already be in)? A while back, someone recommended Best Pest. I found this company called "Boston Bat Removal" that also takes care of squirrels. Has anyone used them?

Current Mood: aggravated

in-parentheses.livejournal.com

I came home from a 12-hour day at work to find that the 4 or 5 flies that were in my house when I left this morning had multiplied and freaking taken over. There are easily 50 flies in my kitchen and dining room; possibly more like 100. Not fruit flies, flies.

So I turn to the wisdom of you, internet. Has this happened to you? What did you do? Is there any way to figure out where the hell they all came from? My roommate and I are very clean, I swear -- we take the garbage out, we keep all our food wrapped, the compost lives outside...

I bought hanging sticky traps, but I don't think they're going to cut it. UV traps are $50 a pop, so I want to know they're going to be awesome before I spend the money. (Or maybe you have one I could borrow?) I don't want to spray insecticide in my kitchen if there's any other way. Is there any non-toxic spray I could use?

Please, please help. I'm so grossed out right now I can't even tell you.

kjc.livejournal.com

Hello to all the folks who stopped by the Somerville Garden Club table today at ArtBeat! It was lovely meeting you all!

I wanted to remind people that we're getting down to the deadline for nominating gardens for the 2010 Somerville Garden Tour. More information here: http://www.somervillegardenclub.org/

Direct link to the nomination form: http://www.somervillegardenclub.org/docs/SGC_Nomination_Form.pdf

Nominations are due by July 21, 2009.

This year, we're focusing more on edible gardens, including fruit trees and berry bushes as well as the standard vegetable plot.

You don't need to know the person you're nominating! You can nominate anyone whose garden you appreciate or admire. You don't even need to know their names, just write the address on the form. And we're not going to be exclusively presenting edible gardens - feel free to nominate ornamental gardens as well!

We have a CD of pictures taken by a variety of photographers (who went through their hundreds of pictures and winnowed the results down to a few really gorgeous shots for each site) of the 2008 Somerville Garden Tour. If your garden was on the tour, the CD is free. It's $5 for everyone else. The CDs are available at our meeting (along with free copies of our fabulous newsletter, $5 SGC tote bags of unbleached cotton, and whatever other goodies people bring in to give away).

Also, if you're looking for an organic way to get rid of fruit flies, I wrote up a recipe here: http://kjc007.livejournal.com/185110.html (and a friend commented with an alternative recipe).

Notes on handling pantry moths here: http://kjc007.livejournal.com/185405.html (not completely organic, as we've used diluted bleach in the past for handling the lil buggers)

And organic suggestions for dealing with slugs & snails here: http://kjc007.livejournal.com/185632.html

We'll be launching a new website soon, at which point I'll probably put these posts up over there as well.

The SGC meets on the second Wednesday of every month 7:00–9:00 p.m. at the Tufts Administration Building (TAB), 167 Holland St., second floor. The meetings are free, open to the public, and are wheelchair accessible. Most meetings begin with a roundtable discussion of seasonal gardening issues, followed by a speaker, and ending with a raffle.

Profile

The Davis Square Community

April 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Base style: Lefty by sarken
Theme: City Spring by forthwritten

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated May. 31st, 2025 02:12 am

The Davis Square Community

Entries tagged with pest control

Navigation

Posters Stapled to Trees UPDATE

snakes in the yard

iReport app for Cambridge

Squirrels!!

Nematodes?

squirrel/landlord question

Raccoons!

Pest control

FREE: Nocturnal Song Bird

Bedbugs

Somerville Rodent Task Force - Tips for Rodent Prevention

small oval-shaped bugs

Presentation: Insect pests of New England

Boston Globe: Welcome to rat town...

honeybee removal?

Have bed bugs, am moving - recs or advice?

bedbug question

Pest control companies in the area (squirrels)

Fly infestation

Somerville Garden Club