Pest Control in Woodhaven, Queens
Woodhaven is a working- and middle-class neighborhood on the southern edge of Forest Park, between Glendale, Richmond Hill and Ozone Park. Jamaica Avenue, under the elevated J and Z trains, is its main shopping street, with a mix of longtime family businesses and newer restaurants and markets. The housing stock includes blocks of detached Victorian and Colonial Revival houses, as well as attached rowhouses farther south. The community is diverse, including Latin American, Guyanese, South Asian, Polish and Irish families. Woodhaven Boulevard, a wide, busy artery, cuts through the neighborhood, and the historic Forest Park Carousel is a local favorite. The J train provides a direct ride into lower Manhattan.
About Woodhaven
Woodhaven was established in the 1830s and grew around the Union Course racetrack, which opened in 1821 and drew huge crowds for horse races. Later, the Lalance and Grosjean company built a large enamelware and tinware factory here, employing many residents. Developers carved up surrounding farmland into house lots in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the elevated train along Jamaica Avenue helped attract families from Brooklyn looking for more space.
Common Pest Problems in Woodhaven
Woodhaven's older detached and attached homes create steady opportunities for mice and rats. Many houses have deep basements, porches and backyards with sheds, which provide places for rodents to nest and move indoors in cold weather. Frame construction and old porches also make subterranean termites a concern, especially where wood is in contact with soil or where downspouts drain against the foundation. The commercial strip along Jamaica Avenue supports rats and German cockroaches around restaurants and apartments over stores.
Forest Park's woods on the neighborhood's northern edge give raccoons and squirrels an easy route into backyards. Raccoons forage in garbage cans and sometimes den under porches and in garages, while squirrels nest in tall street trees and chew into attic vents and roof trim. Rats also use the park's edges and the old rail right-of-way nearby as travel corridors, making good sanitation and exclusion important for homes close to the park.