South Orange is greener and less dense than East Orange, and the pest problems shift accordingly. The large Victorian and early-1900s homes here have deep porches, complex rooflines, and mature trees close to the structure, which means gutters that overflow, roof valleys that leak, and porch columns standing on damp ground. Carpenter ants find that wood. They do not eat it, they excavate smooth galleries through anything water has already softened, and in a big old house that damage can go unnoticed for years.
Eastern subterranean termites are the other structural concern, and New Jersey sits in heavy pressure. They work from the soil up through foundation cracks, mortar joints, and plumbing penetrations, or build mud tubes up the exposed wall. Damp basements make it easier.
The rest is familiar: mice through old foundations in fall, cellar spiders in the joist bays, yellowjackets in soffits by late summer, and Asian tiger mosquitoes breeding in gutters, planter saucers, and anything holding a week of rain. An experienced local exterminator covers South Orange.
Around South Orange
- South Orange Village
- Seton Hall University
- South Mountain Reservation
- Meadowland Park
- South Orange station