Pest Control in Dinuba, CA

Dinuba is a Tulare County farm city in the heart of grape and tree-fruit country, and it is the headquarters of the Alta Irrigation District — the system of canals, ditches and laterals that carries Kings River water through the surrounding vineyards and orchards. That irrigation network is the key to its pest profile. The canals, ditches and the flood-irrigated fields they feed create the standing and slow-moving water mosquitoes breed in, often within sight of homes, so Dinuba carries a real mosquito season through the warm months — the same stretch that lines up with the Central Valley’s peak West Nile virus activity. Backyard sources, from the irrigation itself to neglected pools and clogged drains, add to the pressure close to the house.

The vineyards and orchards drive the rest. Irrigated ground and the crops themselves feed large Argentine ant colonies that trail indoors through the hot, dry summers looking for moisture, and when the grapes and tree fruit are harvested and the ground is worked, field mice and rats lose their cover and move toward the homes and farm shops at the edge of town. Black widows settle into the garages, block walls and woodpiles common on Dinuba lots, and the older homes near the historic downtown carry the termite and rodent risks of aging wood-frame construction.