Downes Pest & Wildlife

A homeowner who took a Facebook recommendation in 2022 wrote that Tara Downes — the owner of this small company — came over herself, fixed the problem and settled their nerves. Downes Pest & Wildlife is a family business run by Mike and Tara Downes out of Duxbury, covering the South Shore, and BBB puts it at 47 years in business with an A+ rating. The work runs from everyday pest control into wildlife. The company describes IPM-based pest, termite and mosquito/tick service alongside wildlife management, and lists Massachusetts pesticide commercial certification for general pest and termites, a state trapper certification and Problem Animal Control agent status, plus NWCOA credentials as a certified wildlife control operator, in bat standards and as a bird barrier installer. Reviewers write about the two of them by name. In a June 2025 review, a homeowner said Tara came out to their step-father's house and eradicated a carpenter ant nest that had plagued the family for years. A November 2025 reviewer called the pair professional and thorough and said everything was taken care of quickly. A May 2026 reviewer, back with them again, said working with Tara and Mike is spot on every time, and a 2023 reviewer wrote after several years as a customer. One 2022 review gives a sense of the harder end of the work: a family in a 1950s house in a woodland setting had put up with spiders, house centipedes and other bugs for over ten years, and called when mice started claiming the attic. A good call for a South Shore homeowner whose problem crosses from insects into animals in the house, and who would rather deal with the owners directly. Ask what the treatment covers for your particular pest or animal and whether follow-up visits are included in the price.