Pest control in Portland, Maine, follows what a nor'easter leaves wet. Carpenter ants move into sills and porches on Munjoy Hill, the East End, and the West End when wind-driven rain keeps the wood damp and the freeze does not dry it. Mice use the gaps in close-set peninsula houses all winter. Rats show up at alleys, bulkheads, and the working waterfront edges more than they do on a dry North Deering lot. Say the animal, the neighborhood, and whether the activity surged after a storm.
Squirrels in a West End eave sound large at dawn. Pavement ants trace basement slabs. Drain flies point at a waste line in a damp cellar. Powderpost dust in an old timber is not an ant. Do not bring a southern termite story to Casco Bay and expect it to fit. Describe wings, dust, or droppings. If the path is a party wall, the hole may be outside your rooms. Cluster flies in a sunny attic are yet another call, common in these older roofs.
Spraying ants and ignoring the wet sill brings them back, and the wet sill may be the roof the storm just opened. Mention the leak. Trapping mice while a bulkhead and a dryer vent stay open brings them back, and snow or debris against the house after a blow hides those gaps. Trash day on a tight street refills the alley. Pets, children, and a kitchen that must stay open change the method. A shared wall means one unit may not be able to finish the job.
Spring swarms and midwinter scratching are different visits. Evidence is easy to point at when you can see the droppings and the soft wood together. You do not need to catch anything. You need the room and the entry. If the ants arrived with the water stain, say both in the same call so the drying and the insects are not treated as strangers.
Give the neighborhood and the building. Note when it started relative to the last coastal storm, if that is the pattern. Point to the gap or the damp. Call the number on this page.