Pest Control in Parkland, Florida

Parkland is about as far northwest as Broward County goes. The city runs from State Road 7 out to the edge of the Everglades, and its north line is the Palm Beach County line. Many of the neighborhoods here are built around water: lakes behind the houses, canals along back fences, golf course ponds. Add a lot of irrigated grass and big planted beds, and you get steady pest pressure twelve months a year.

This line takes calls about all of it. Termites in spring, mosquitoes once the rainy season starts, ghost ants in the kitchen whenever they please, and roof rats running the palm fronds at night. You tell us what's happening, and we put you in touch with a licensed pest company, separate from this line, that covers Parkland and the nearby cities. They come out, look, and give you a price.

Subterranean Termites

Asian and Formosan subterranean termites that build mud tubes, swarm in spring and work their way up from the soil.

Drywood Termites & Tenting

Termites that live inside dry wood with no soil contact, leave piles of pellets and sometimes need the whole house tented.

Ant Control

Ghost ants, white-footed ants and fire ants, the ones that trail across counters and pop up in fresh sod.

Roach Control

Big outdoor roaches that wander in at night, and small German roaches that breed in kitchens.

Mosquito Control

Yard treatment and breeding site cleanup for the rainy season mosquitoes that come with lakes and bromeliads.

Rat & Mouse Control

Roof rats that climb palms and fruit trees into attics, plus the occasional house mouse in the garage.

Lawn & Shrub Pests

Chinch bugs in St. Augustine lawns, whiteflies and scale on hedges and palms, and the sooty mold that follows.

Spiders & Wasps

Brown widows under outdoor furniture and in the pool cage, plus wasp nests on eaves and screens.

Bed Bug Treatment

Inspection and treatment for bed bugs brought home from trips, camps, dorms and secondhand furniture.

Parkland started small. The city's own history says cattle farmer Bruce B. Blount bought Everglades land in northwest Broward in the 1950s, sold it off as BBB Ranches, and the city was incorporated in 1963 with fewer than 100 residents. The big subdivisions came later. Heron Bay and Parkland Isles went up in the mid 1990s and early 2000s, and the lake communities in the northwest corner, like Watercrest and Parkland Bay, are newer than that.

Newer doesn't mean pest-proof. Plenty of Parkland homes are Mediterranean style with tile roofs, and pests use the same openings on most of them: gaps where the tile meets the fascia, the space under a garage door, the spot where the AC line set goes through the wall, and the screen on a pool cage that has a tear in the corner. Roof rats use the tile. Ghost ants use everything.

Then there's the water. The rainy season in South Florida runs from about May 15 to October 15, according to the National Weather Service in Miami, and most of the year's rain falls in that window. Every bromeliad, clogged gutter and kid's toy in the yard can hold enough water for mosquitoes. Lakes, canals and golf course ponds add more.

Older parts of town have their own issues. Pine Tree Estates is mostly custom homes on an acre or more, with barns, workshops, big trees and plenty of places for rats to settle. Mature oaks and palms near the roofline give roof rats a highway onto the house.

• Tile roofs: gaps at the eave and fascia that roof rats squeeze into
• Lakes, canals and retention ponds right behind the back fence
• Screened pool cages with tears, gaps under the screen door and lots of night lighting
• Thick hedges and palms that hold whiteflies, ants and rats
• St. Augustine lawns in full sun, where chinch bugs do the most damage

1. One number covers the house and the yard. Termites, roaches, rats, mosquitoes, spiders, bed bugs and the bugs eating your hedge. You don't have to figure out which kind of company to call first.
2. You talk to a person. During business hours, somebody answers. Say what you're seeing and what neighborhood you're in. That's most of the call.
3. The price comes from someone who has seen the house. We don't quote over the phone. The provider gives you a number after the inspection, and you decide from there. How this works has the details.
4. Termite type gets sorted out first. Drywood and subterranean termites are handled in different ways. A good inspector identifies which one you have before talking about treatment. That's straight from UF's termite researchers.

• Termite Swarm Season in Parkland: What the Wings Mean
• Rainy Season Mosquitoes: A Parkland Yard Checklist
• Whiteflies and Sooty Mold on Parkland Hedges and Palms
• Roof Rats, Palms and Fruit Trees: A Parkland Yard Guide
• Lanai and Pool Cage Pests in Parkland