Pest Control in Ben Lomond, CA

Pest pressure in Ben Lomond

Ben Lomond is a small redwood community along the San Lorenzo River in the forested valley north of Santa Cruz. Deep shade, damp ground and surrounding forest drive roof rats, wildlife, ants, silverfish and yellow jackets, and the many older cabins carry dampwood and drywood termite risk. Creek-side lots stay moist year-round.

• Redwood community along the San Lorenzo River
• Deep shade and damp ground favor rodents, ants and moisture pests
• Older cabins carry dampwood and drywood termite risk

Ben Lomond homes and local pest pressure

Ben Lomond sits deep in the San Lorenzo Valley along the river, and this is true mountain-forest living — homes tucked under tall redwoods on shaded, often steep lots, many of them old summer cabins that were built light and later lived in year-round. The deep shade means the ground almost never fully dries, and that damp sets the pest table. Roof rats and wood rats work the canopy and the woodpiles straight into attics and crawlspaces, and the surrounding forest keeps raccoons, skunks and squirrels pressing against houses for dry dens. Argentine ants and silverfish thrive in the humid, shaded rooms of these older cabins. The biggest structural concern is wood-damaging insects: cabins framed in redwood and sitting close to damp ground see dampwood termites in the wet beams and posts, subterranean termites from the soil, and drywood termites in the dry framing — a lot of old wood in constant moisture is exactly what they want. River-side lots stay moist even through summer.

Pest control around Ben Lomond

We come over Highway 17 and up Highway 9 to reach Ben Lomond, in the string of valley towns with Boulder Creek above and Felton and Brookdale nearby, Scotts Valley and Mount Hermon just over the ridges. The work here is consistent canyon work: rodent and wildlife exclusion on forest-backed cabins, termite inspections on old damp wood, and ant and silverfish treatments in humid rooms. Lots are steep and wooded with decks, foundations and crawlspaces built into slopes, so finding every gap a rat or raccoon uses takes a careful crawl of the structure.