This year has been nearly a record-breaking year for pest control services throughout California, but especially so here in the greater Sacramento area. Andrew Sutherland, Ph.D., an urban integrated pest management (IPM) advisor in the San Francisco Bay Area says that it’s not so much an increase in the number of pests, as this has likely gone down in the drought, but rather an increase in our coming into contact with these pests.
“This is…the first year we’ve seen dramatic changes made by residents due to mandated water-use restrictions. Areas with frequent irrigation and lush landscapes aren’t available this year so nuisance pests like outdoor cockroaches, ants, and crickets are migrating from dry areas to seek moisture,” Sutherland says. It’s this search for moisture that it leading so many pests to seek water in people’s homes, businesses, garages, and landscapes.
Cockroaches, especially oriental cockroaches, are often the most common Northern California pest to seek out water indoors. As irrigation control boxes, leaky hosebibs, and French drain systems are systematically shut down or repaired, these once-prolific sources of water leave cockroaches with no other alternative to water but to make their ways into houses. In these instances, a few cockroaches can quickly reproduce into a whole city of roaches, and it may be time to seek out your friendly Sacramento exterminator, Specialized Pest Patrol.