Kodiak Pest & Lawn offers premium residential and commercial pest control, weed control, lawn fertilization, and core lawn aeration services. Serving the Big Horn Basin, including Powell, Cody, Greybull, Basin, Worland, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
“Ninety Percent of asking questions is about listening to answers”
-Lee Child
Are the chemicals safe?
Not for insects they’re not. We use modern, top-of-the-line chemicals, most of which are very mild for vertebrate animals. Most belong to the synthetic pyrethroid family and carry the lowest toxicity signal word of CAUTION. You will find this signal word on most household cleaning items. All of our chemicals are registered and approved by the EPA and will be listed on the invoice for any application we render. You can also find more information about individual chemicals we use on our chemicals page. So are they safe? They are generally as safe with some common sense precautions taken, like not touching the chemical while it’s wet, or ingesting it. Just like most things that come in a spray bottle.
How long will it take to eliminate the pests?
Two treatments are generally needed to break the reproductive cycle of pests, which typically puts an end to the infestation. Some seasonal pests (elm seed bugs, grasshoppers, pyramid ants, etc.) can take longer to eliminate depending on environmental situations, the timing of the season, and level of the current infestation. It is rare though, that a structural pest problem can’t be solved within two applications.
Do you fix sprinkler heads?
We do not fix sprinkler heads, mow, or edge. Our lawn care services are strictly limited to chemical treatments.
why is there blue stuff everywhere after my lawn care service?
We use blue dye when we do lawn treatments and spray for weeds so that we can easily tell where we’ve been so that things don’t get missed or double sprayed. This dye will disappear within about a week to 10 days. It is common for the dye to rub off on the soles of shoes and dog paws for a few days after the application and should not be a cause for alarm. The dye is water-based and will wash right off.
how do the pesticides work?
Almost all of the pesticides we use for insects and arachnids are nerve agents, that are ingested when the pest grooms itself, or are absorbed through its cuticle. Depending on the chemical load a pest picks up it can take anywhere from a few seconds to days to die.
The first line of defense of most pesticides is repellency. The chemical is designed to be detected by target pests and subsequently avoided, so they turn around a go away from the treated site. Pests that disregard the repellency or decide the best way around is through will pick up a lethal dose of chemical within inches of travel and die sometime later. Depending on the size of the pest, the thickness of its cuticle, and its overall health that bug may still make it inside the structure, but rest assured any bugs you see inside or outside after treatment are dead bugs walking. With the presence of consistently active pesticide barriers around your home pests cannot survive long there.
Is Kodiak a franchise
No, we are not. We are 100% homegrown, independent, built from scratch here in the Big Horn Basin.
Are there automatic communications that you send to customers?
Yes, we pride ourselves on good communication with our customers and we utilize automatic tools to make routine communications, such as service reminders, follow ups, and feedback requests. These messages are received on an “opt in” basis when services begin. The official terms and conditions of these communications are below.
“I understand that Kodiak Pest & Lawn may send occasional text messages or emails for appointment reminders and promotions. By providing your number you consent to receive messages from this company, to opt-out reply STOP at any moment. Standard carrier Msg & Data rates may apply.”
Do I have to leave my house when you spray?
All children, elderly, or infirm people should be out of the house or treated area when we make the application until the chemical is dry. This typically takes 1-1.5 hours. Usually, it is not necessary to treat the interior homes outside of the 1st service, but when we do, we ask that everyone be out of the house for the application. Pets can be put in a bathroom, garage, or outside while we treat the interior of the home and then let out once we finish.
How can I tell if I have Bed Bugs?
The best way to tell if you have bed bugs is to get a visual of them. They are not microscopic, and can easily be seen with the naked eye, you just need to know where to look and we can help with that. Bed bug bites manifest in various degrees or sometimes not at all, as they are an allergic reaction to the bug’s saliva. The best way to determine if you have bed bugs is to have an inspection done.
How long do the chemicals last?
Our residual chemicals will last 45-60 days outside and up to 90 days inside. That being said this is a generalization and depends greatly on the type of surface the chemical has been applied to, how much direct sunlight, and how much moisture the target area receives. If a hard surface like concrete is sprayed and receives little sunlight and moisture the chemical may remain much longer than 60 days. Other chemicals designed for knockdown or particular pests, or for targeting a pest’s growth process may have a very short life span or a much longer one. Knockdown chemicals generally have a very short residual effect, as low as 10 secs or as long as 2 weeks. Insect growth regulators may last for as long as 290 days.
Do you guarantee your services?
Yes! For our Unlimited Pest Control Service, and Gardener’s Pest Control Service we offer a guarantee on all structural pests (above ground-dwelling pests that invade structures by crawling into them from the outside) inside of the designated service area. We don’t offer a guarantee against flying insects though because we cannot control where a pest will fly, or if it will make contact with our pesticide barriers. We can prevent wasps from nesting on the home, business, or other structures, so will guarantee against wasp nests. Our general two-shot treatments come with a 30-day warranty. One-shot treatments do not break the reproductive cycle and so they do not come with any sort of guarantee and we rarely recommend them because of this.
For lawn care and weed control, we don’t have control over many crucial factors to having a healthy lawn or ensuring that herbicides have adequate time and conditions to reach their max efficacy. For example, pre-emergent herbicides must have at least half an inch of water within two weeks of the application to activate and be effective. We don’t control our customer’s irrigation schedule or the weather, so the efficacy of the application isn’t fully under our control. Post-emergent herbicides usually need at least 2-4 hours to be rain fast, and again we do our best to watch the weather and predict rain, but without being in control of when a customer irrigates we can’t fully control if a post-emergent application will have the opportunity to achieve maximum efficacy. Weeds also need to be actively growing for most post-emergent herbicides to work. The growth of a weed is mostly dependent on the weather, which we just can’t control. So for these and other factors, we have very limited guarantees on weed control and lawn care applications.
That all being said, we do stand behind our work and believe in our chemicals and methods. If weeds are showing no signs of damage within 10 days of an application we will come back to re-treat for free.
All in all, with lawn care it’s important to understand that many factors beyond fertilization and weed treatments are key to a healthy lawn. Proper watering, consistent and proper mowing, soil health, having the right kind of turf for the activity level, sun exposure, and weather all play a major role in turf health.
How often do you have to spray?
That all depends on your tolerance level and what you want to accomplish. Some people never want to see bugs or mice, in the house or the yard and don’t want anything to do with the elimination process. If you fall into that camp you absolutely should consider getting on our Unlimited Pest Control Service plan. We start by treating two months in a row and then we maintain layers of active barriers around the property every couple of months. This plan comes with the assurance that if you see covered pests anywhere inside the house, garage, or outdoor living space, you can call us and get as much service as often as you need.
Others just want to keep bugs and mice out of the house and don’t mind if they’re out in the yard, or maybe even want some bugs out in the yard. For those folks, we created the Gardener’s Pest Control Service plan. It’s just like Unlimited, except that its coverage is limited to just the house and garage.
Others don’t mind seeing bugs here or there and just want some help to ensure that things don’t get out too out of hand. If this describes you, you will be super happy with a 2 shot treatment, you can think of this as an annual pest cleansing. We give ‘em the ol’ one-two punch and knock the pests out for the better part of the season. 2 shots are a little more upfront, but cheaper in the long run if all you need is a couple of treatments.
Why exactly do you spray in winter?
In winter our primary focus is on rodents and preventing bugs that picked bad overwintering spots from enjoying the warmth of your home. Lots of people believe that all the bugs die in the winter, and some do, but many don’t, and obviously entire species don’t at all as they return each year. The bugs that “die” in winter are not active because they are either in egg or pupa form and don’t emerge until the weather warms up. Others like wasps, spiders, crickets, scorpions, earwigs, and many others find a sheltered place to rest for the winter and enter a kind of hibernation-like state and may even appear dead. When temperatures rise they wake up and move around and look for food and warmth. Similarly, colonial species like ants and bees spend winter underground or in a sheltered hive and survive off of resources gathered the previous spring, fall, and summer. Pavement ants remain semi-active throughout winter often invading homes from under and even above ground in the middle of winter in search of food and water.
Mice and pack rats are very active during winter and when you’re on one of our regular maintenance plans we are working to prevent them from making your home theirs in the winter months.
We also break our service fees down to an even distribution throughout the year to make them easier to budget for, but also to improve our cash flow in the slower part of the year so that we can continue to employ our people and keep food on their tables. Having solid employees enables us to provide the high-quality consistent service that we’ve become known for.