Pest and critter control at camp:

Riverview Bible Camp and the Ponderosa Lodge is nestled between the mighty Pend Oreille river and the Colville national forest. As a camp and conference center means we are also in the housing industry meaning we have thousands of guests visiting us each year. Both elements mean that we experience from time to time certain pests and critters. This letter is to inform you of what you may experience at camp and what we do proactivity and reactively to address any pests or critters that may visit us from time to time. We invest approximately $12,000 a year to protect our campers from pests and critters.

Bears: From time to time we may have a bear sighting. We have never had a camper harmed. The few times we have had a sighting it was in the spring before the berries had ripened. The noise of our campers tends to scare them off. We also are very proactive about our garbage. Every night we take all the garbage off of our campus and secure it in a locked down dumpster. This process has made bears sightings almost nonexistent. If you do sight a bear during your visit, please inform a Riverview staff at once.

Ants: Ants are everywhere as people know. Every spring we set 4 indoor/outdoor ant traps around every facility. We do this again about mid-summer and then once more in the fall. The biggest attractant to ants is when campers bring snacks into their cabins. If your cabin has ant’s please report this to a Riverview staff and we will set traps and take care of them for you

Bed Bugs: These pests occur in every single place of the housing industry, hotel/motel, B&B, camps, group homes and any place people travel to with luggage and bedding. They can live for 400 days without eating so they travel a lot and most people have no idea they have them. We have a contract with Prime Pest Control. They inspect every single housing unit on both camps once a month and then regardless of what they find they apply two sprays. The first is a “kills on contact spray for anything they see or may even have missed in their inspections. The second spray is a 60-day residual spray in case someone brings them to us between the dates of their inspections and sprays. Riverview staff has also been trained in detection and checks for them the day of departure of every group. Riverview also has its own professional heat treatment that we use if Prime detects a problem.

Wasps and Mosquitos: Every spring Riverview treats all Ponds and standing water with a product that kills mosquitos before they can even form. We spray our bushes with a treatment as well. We set out 10 large Mosquito/bug zappers throughout the entire campus. For wasps we set out between 30-50 traps every spring and summer. We have a staff check for nests about every 3 days throughout the summer as well killing any nests they find. If you spot a nest, we asked that you do not disturb it and report it to a Riverview staff at once.

Mice: Riverview sets about 30 traps and rebaits these traps every 2-3 days. Mice are attracted to the snacks people bring into their cabins. We are very proactive towards mice all year. If you experience a mouse in a cabin or facility, please report it to a camp staff at once.

Bats: We like bats as they eat lots of mosquitos. We have built several bat homes throughout the campus to hopefully attract them away from any facilities. They will at times try and make a home in a facility so if you happen to spot on please contact a Riverview staff and we will take care of it.

The heart of Riverview is to serve our guests as best as possible. This means trying to protect from any pest or animal that may disrupt your stay. Thank you.