It’s bug season!

The return of spring means the return of bugs to Southern Colorado.

There is some good news: Our extreme weather could slow down the pest population.

But the same culprits will be back, and you need to be ready.

When they moved into their house nearly a decade ago, the Rath family had a big bug problem.

Heather Rath said, “We had a huge spider overrun problem.”

She called Michael Diaz of Independent Pest Control. He said, “(It had) spider webs and spiders all over (the wall).”

With consistent – and persistent – treatment from Diaz, the spider problem is gone.

Rath said, “We had brown recluses and…black widows I think. But not anymore.”

But their worries aren’t over, even though there is still snow in the mountains.

The ground that the bugs live in is becoming warmer as the temperatures warm up as well.

That means the bugs will become more active and some of them could wind up in your home.

It adds up to busy times for exterminators like Diaz.

“It’ll start picking up around May. We’ll start getting a lot more (calls) about ants,” he said.

And with the return of the ants comes the return of the spiders.

Diaz said, “The more insects we get, the more spiders because they’re doing their job of pest control too. But we control them.”

He has a strategy to make sure the homes he treats stay as bug-free as possible.

“I try to get inside and outside because the best defense is a good offense,” he said.

While the Raths haven’t had any creepy-crawly visitors yet, they’re ready.

Diaz says bees will be the next insects on the move.

He says they usually come out in May when the flowers blossom.