THE FENCED BACK YARD
Why the dog's own back yard is the reservoir
In a subdivision laid out in the 1970s and 80s, the dog has one fenced patch it uses hundreds of times a summer, and it wears a route: along the fence, around the shade tree, into the cool dirt by the gate. Eggs drop off the animal wherever it rests, so a Watauga back yard concentrates the entire life cycle into a few hundred square feet.
Those few hundred square feet are also the shadiest ground on the property. Forty-year-old canopy keeps them damp, and larvae need that, because they dry out and die in the hot open part of a lawn. Add a clogged gutter dripping on the same strip and it stays moist right through August.
Ticks work the fence line. They climb whatever grows tallest at the edge and grab whatever passes, which is the same route the dog walks, so on many lots here the flea ground and the tick ground are the same ten feet.
SUBURBAN LOT PRICING
What a 1970s Watauga lot runs per visit
Subdivision lots from that era are consistent in size, which makes the price easy to predict in this town: most homes come in at $59.95 a visit, smaller lots at $49.95, and larger or corner parcels at $69.95. Billing is per visit across the April to September schedule.
Nobody signs anything. There is no startup fee and no cancellation fee, and the figure reaches you before you agree, so if a summer bill is not what you expected, that means we quoted it wrong and you should ask us why.
7,000 sq ft or less
$49.95 a visit
The smaller interior lots
7,001 to 12,000 sq ft
$59.95 a visit
Most homes built here in the 70s and 80s
12,001 to 17,000 sq ft
$69.95 a visit
Corner lots and the deeper back yards
Extra visit between treatments
Free
Warrantied until the next scheduled one
Every number on this page comes from our published price list. Watauga homes get the same table as everyone else; the instant quote reads your square footage and lot size and hands you your own line.
WHERE IT FALLS SHORT
What a full season outdoors will not buy you
It will not empty the house. Once fleas are established in carpet and bedding they have everything they need indoors, and a spotless yard changes nothing for them. Wash the pet bedding hot, vacuum the resting spots thoroughly and empty the canister outdoors, then let your vet handle the animal. One interior treatment is included if it comes to that.
It will not outrun an untreated pet either. If the dog goes out and comes back carrying adults, the season program keeps thinning the yard while you keep seeing fleas, which is the most common reason a Watauga household decides the treatment is not working.
And it is the wrong purchase for a house with no animals and no bites. Open Bermuda in full sun is hostile ground for flea larvae without any help from us. If that describes your lot and something is still biting on the patio, the likelier culprit is mosquitoes.
MOSQUITO ONLY OR ALL THREE
Is a mosquito-only service enough on a shaded lot?
It is a fair question, because the two overlap. A mosquito service targets the resting vegetation where adults wait out the day, and some of that ground is also flea and tick habitat, so you would see a little incidental benefit.
The difference is where the material goes. Fleas and ticks live in the turf and the soil surface rather than in shrubbery at head height, so clearing them takes a whole-lawn application rather than a foliage pass. On this program all three are covered by the same visit at the same price, which is why there is no mosquito-only version of it.
STARTING OUT IN WATAUGA
The first appointment on a Watauga property
Following the dog's route
We ask where the animal spends its time and walk that line, because the worn strip along the fence and the cool patch under the tree are usually where the eggs and larvae sit. It tells us where the heavy work goes before anything comes out of the truck.
The whole lawn, front and back
Treatment covers all the turf rather than the shaded parts alone, plus a band around the foundation. Skipping the sunny front simply leaves the population somewhere to drift back from.
Damp spots we will point out
Anywhere a gutter drips, a downspout dumps or a low corner stays soft gets flagged. Fixing those costs nothing and takes pressure off the treatment, which counts for more on an older shaded lot than on an open one.
