Pest Control in Monroe, Connecticut

Monroe borders the White Hills section of Shelton on Shelton's northwest side. Much of the town is wooded, with houses on larger lots along winding roads between ridges, wetlands and brooks. Stepney and Upper Stepney hold the older village centers, and the north end drops down to Lake Zoar on the Housatonic.

Most houses are colonials, raised ranches and capes built from the postwar years on, plus older farmhouses near Stepney and lake houses near Zoar. Many have walk-out basements, wood decks facing the woods and mulch beds along the foundation. Add deer in nearly every backyard and long runs of old stone wall through the trees, and you have the Monroe list: ticks, carpenter ants and fall mice.

Long edges and a lot of deer

When a yard is mostly woods with a lawn in the middle, there's a great deal of edge for ticks, and Webb Mountain Park and the other open space bring deer right through. Tick control on wooded lots focuses on that edge and on the shady beds. The old stone walls hold the mice and chipmunks that young ticks feed on, so keeping a strip of wood chips between lawn and woods and moving the bird feeder away from the house both help.

Newer homes get carpenter ants as often as old ones. Decks, wood trim near mulch and trees hanging over the roofline give them an easy path, and a carpenter ant exterminator will usually check nearby trees and stumps for the parent colony. Termites show up some springs as well, so a termite inspection before you finish a basement is worth asking about. If ticks are your main worry, read our deer tick guide.

Lake Zoar places closed up for the winter

Homes on the Zoar side of town add moisture to everything. Lakeside decks, docks and cottages with damp crawl spaces draw carpenter ants and mosquitoes, and a seasonal place closed up for the winter makes a fine shelter for mice. Docks and boathouses are worth a look as well, since carpenter ants like the damp boards and paper wasps like the eaves. Tell us if the home is seasonal so a visit can be timed before you close it in the fall. Mouse exclusion for walk-out basements and garages is the usual fall request for year-round homes too. Across the lake are the rural roads of Oxford.

Around Monroe: Webb Mountain Park · Wolfe Park · Stepney and Upper Stepney · Lake Zoar shoreline · Route 111 and Route 25 (ZIP 06468)

Also serving Downtown Shelton, Huntington, White Hills, Derby, Ansonia, Seymour, Trumbull, Stratford, Oxford.