Pest Control in Biola, CA

Biola is a small unincorporated vineyard community on the flat ground northwest of Fresno, and its signature pest is the California ground squirrel. The vineyard rows and the earthen canal and ditch banks that water them are ideal burrowing ground — loose, workable soil with cover overhead — and the squirrels honeycomb them. The trouble starts when those burrow systems reach the homes: squirrels dig under porches, slabs, sheds and foundations for the same easy soil, and the tunneling can undermine concrete, crack slabs and open voids that let in more pests. Their burrows also pock yards and collapse underfoot, a real hazard on rural lots.

House mice work the same vineyards and the sheds and feed areas of these properties, moving toward the homes as the vines are worked and cover is lost. Irrigated yards and the vineyard ground feed large Argentine ant colonies that trail indoors through the hot months, and the garages, woodpiles and block walls common here shelter black widows. Because Biola’s lots are rural and often back directly onto vines or a canal bank, the pressure is steady and comes from the land itself. The ground-squirrel work in particular has to address the burrow systems around the structure, not just the animals seen in the yard, or the tunneling simply continues under the house.