Pest and Mosquito Control in Ojus, FL, for Lake and River Homes

Ojus is one of the oldest named communities in northeast Miami-Dade. Settlers farmed along the Oleta River in the 1890s, and in 1897 the area took its name from a Seminole word meaning "plenty." It was briefly an incorporated town before dissolving in 1935. Today it's an unincorporated neighborhood bordered by I-95 on the west and Biscayne Boulevard just inside Aventura on the east, with West Dixie Highway and Miami Gardens Drive near its old center.

It's also a neighborhood of water. Many of the lakes were dug as rock pits in the early 1900s to supply road-building material, and the Oleta River drains the east side. Homes sit on lakefront lots, along canals and on tree-shaded streets near Highland Oaks Park and Greynolds Park. We serve all of Ojus, including Highland Lakes, plus nearby Sky Lake. Ojus shares the 33179, 33180 and 33160 ZIP codes with neighboring areas, and we serve every address in all three. Pro-Spray is a family-run, Licensed & Insured company with 30+ years in business, and we plan every visit around the water, the old trees and the age of the house in front of us.

Mosquito control in Ojus: lakes, the Oleta River and Greynolds Park

Between the rock-pit lakes, the canals, the Oleta River and the wooded trails and wetlands of Greynolds Park, this corner of Miami-Dade gives mosquitoes all the shade and moisture they want. They don't need the lake to breed, though. The ones biting you on the patio usually hatched in small water close to the house: bromeliad cups, plant saucers, buckets, kids' toys, boat covers, kayak hulls and clogged gutters. The Asian tiger mosquito breeds in containers that small and bites during the day.

Our monthly service is a professional mosquito barrier spray treatment. Here's what it covers:

• Resting spots, treated from land. Adult mosquitoes spend the day in still shade: under decks and stairs, behind AC units, along fence lines and around the edges of pool cages and lanais. A technician treats those spots with a backpack fogger, with extra time on lakefront and riverside yards. We never spray into or toward the lake, a canal or the river. The backpack fogger is for outdoor work only. We never use it indoors.
• Larvicide where water can't be emptied. Bromeliad cups, drains and containers that stay put get larvicide so larvae can't develop. We don't treat ponds with fish.
• Larval traps on monthly plans. Monthly mosquito plans add larval traps placed in the shade near resting spots. They use a growth regulator, like birth control for insects, to help stop larvae from becoming biting adults.
• A walk-through with you. Before we leave, we point out what to dump, cover or flush before the next visit.

We recommend monthly service, especially in the rainy season, and we can adjust the schedule to your property. Every heavy rain refills containers around the yard, and when storms raise the lakes and the river, more mosquitoes usually show up about a week later. For a party by the water, we also do one-time event sprays. Mosquito plans are covered by our Bug Free Guarantee: If pests come back between visits, so do we, at no extra cost. More in mosquito control and bromeliads and mosquitoes.

Between visits, flip kayaks and canoes hull-down, keep boat covers tight so rain runs off, flush bromeliad cups with a hose, clear gutters under big trees, and empty and scrub birdbaths at least once a week, every few days in summer heat.

Palmetto bugs, drains and storage

Shady yards under big trees collect damp leaf litter, which is prime habitat for the American cockroach, known locally as the palmetto bug. It also lives in storm drains and tree holes. After heavy rain, it comes in under doors, through gaps at the garage door and up floor drains, especially in older homes with slow drains and dry traps. Garages and sheds packed with boxes, holiday decorations and fishing gear give palmetto bugs, spiders and mice more places to hide.

Rake a clear strip along the foundation, pull mulch back from the walls, keep drain stoppers in at night and swap cardboard for plastic bins with lids. We treat the exterior, the entry points, garage and shed perimeters, and the indoor spots where they show up.

Small, fuzzy flies resting on the bathroom wall are usually drain flies, which breed in the film inside drains. Scrubbing the drain with a brush and running hot water fixes most of them, and drain treatments as needed are included in the $125 quarterly plan at no extra cost.

Fleas, spiders and wasps

Highland Oaks Park is a neighborhood favorite for sports and dog walks, and dogs bring cat fleas home from parks and walks. Raccoons and opossums that travel along the lakes and the river leave flea eggs in shady resting spots, too. We treat inside the home and the shaded yard areas where fleas develop, and pets need a vet-approved flea product at the same time. After a walk on the wooded Greynolds Park trails, check kids and dogs for ticks, especially behind the ears and between the toes.

Lights by the lake draw insects at night, and spiders follow them to eaves, pool cages and screens. Brown widows are common under patio furniture and around pool equipment, and paper wasps build open nests under eaves and in rolled-up shutters. We treat spider hiding spots and remove wasp nests around the home.

Pests we see most in Ojus

Mosquitoes and no-see-ums near the lakes and river, roof rats in mature trees, palmetto bugs from leaf litter and drains, white-footed and fire ants, German roaches in townhomes and condos, and fleas from pets and wildlife.

Services in Ojus

• Pest control for roaches, ants and spiders
• Mosquito control
• Rodent control
• Bed bug treatment
• Commercial pest control
• Plans and pricing

Nearby, we also serve Aventura, Ives Estates, Golden Beach and North Miami Beach.