Southwest Suburbs Pest Control & Wildlife Removal

Pest Control Across Southwest Suburbs

The southwest suburbs span two counties. In southwest Cook County, close-in towns such as Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park, Burbank, Bridgeview, Chicago Ridge, Worth and Alsip are packed with postwar brick ranches, Georgians and bungalows. Farther out, Orland Park, Tinley Park, Palos Heights, Palos Hills and Palos Park sit beside the Palos forest preserves, the largest concentration of Cook County preserve land. Lemont, Willow Springs and Blue Island are older river towns. Across the line in Will County, Joliet, Lockport and Crest Hill grew along the Des Plaines River and the historic Illinois and Michigan Canal, while Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Plainfield, Homer Glen, New Lenox, Mokena and Frankfort expanded rapidly onto farmland in recent decades. Bluffs, canals, limestone, cornfields and big stretches of woods all shape which pests show up at the door.

Palos Forest Preserves and the Sag Valley

The wooded ridges and sloughs of the Palos preserves, cut by the Cal-Sag Channel and the Des Plaines River valley, surround homes in Palos Park, Palos Hills, Willow Springs, Lemont and parts of Orland Park. This is some of the best wildlife habitat in the metro area. Raccoons den in hollow trees and then move into attics and chimneys. Opossums and skunks travel the ravines and settle under decks and sheds. Big brown bats roost in woodland and find their way into older homes. Garter snakes and brown snakes are common in rocky yards, and while harmless, they surprise many homeowners. Deer mice from the woods invade garages in the fall. Wildlife specialists here spend a lot of time on humane exclusion, chimney caps and deck screening.

Postwar Brick Homes Near the City Line

Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park, Burbank, Hometown, Chicago Ridge and Bridgeview were largely built out in the 1940s through 1960s, with brick ranches, raised ranches and bungalows on modest lots. Many have alleys or detached garages that Norway rats use as cover, and aging concrete stoops and garage slabs offer burrow sites. Basements with block foundations and glass-block windows let mice in through small gaps as the mortar wears. Pavement ants surface through expansion joints in driveways, and German cockroaches can travel between units in the area's apartment buildings and condo complexes. Eastern subterranean termites are present here too. Local exterminators familiar with these neighborhoods tend to focus on foundation sealing, garage door sweeps and exterior bait programs.

Will County Growth, the I&M Canal and New Construction

Plainfield, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Homer Glen, New Lenox, Mokena and Frankfort have seen large subdivisions replace farm fields, and Joliet has grown far to the west. Freshly graded land disturbs field mice and moles, which then move into the nearest lawns and garages. The DuPage River through Plainfield and the Des Plaines River and I&M Canal corridor through Lockport and Joliet provide cover for raccoons, rats and skunks. Older Joliet and Lockport neighborhoods have limestone foundations and Victorian-era frame homes where squirrels, bats and carpenter ants are common. Wolf spiders, house crickets and earwigs push in from surrounding turf in late summer. A licensed local pro can tailor service to whichever end of this range your home falls on.