If you find that you are being subjected to a pest invasion, there are a few methods that you can try before reaching for the bottle of pest...
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This Christmas, many homes will have more than "even a mouse" stirring in them. But local pest control companies say the average person can deter bugs and rodents from spreading disease, eating food and damaging a home.
It is common for homeowners to see wandering insects during the colder months – and not just because the bugs are seeking warm shelter. People stay inside more and notice things that may have been there prior to the winter.
Pests can be classified into three categories:
Ants, cockroaches and Indian meal moths are included under the umbrella of food insects and are somewhat easier to deal with once the infested food is removed from the home. These are insects that actually live in our stored foods that we have kept a little too long in the house. Some of these food-stored-product pests can actually be in things like decorative items, like ears of corn that were used for Halloween.
When it comes to rats and mice, the best preventative measure is to inspect the home's perimeter and seal up cracks or crevices that would allow a rodent access. Because rodents are good climbers, it pays to look for crevices in the second story too. If they can get their head through it, they can get their body through it.
The best time to caulk up those cracks is before the weather gets bad, so it might already be too late to prevent rodents from inviting themselves in this year. However, we would recommend using traps to kill vermin already in the home.
The last group – overwintering insects – range from ladybirds and cluster flies to wasps and hornets. These species tend to lie dormant within the home until the warmth disturbs them into action.
Properly sealing a home before the winter can thwart an invasion. It's much more difficult to kill insects with pesticide now because their metabolism lowers in the winter. As an alternative, homeowners can use vacuum cleaners to suck up insects when they're visible in the winter.
Certain everyday products can make the critters back off, so before going on the search for pest control products and services, you may want to try putting a small amount of the following products any where that the insects are coming in from.
If these methods fail to work and you're still keen to treat the problem yourself, we would urge homeowners to buy pyrethrin-based sprays. These are more eco-friendly than other common pesticides because Pyrethrin comes from the chrysanthemum flower.
This particular spray type can take care of creepy crawlies like centipedes, millipedes, pill bugs and spiders. You can do a good job just spraying around the baseboards in your basement. Pyrethrin works best when it kills on contact. It is ideal in its use to kill large numbers of insects quickly when you don't want them to escape.
Of course, if you don't want to treat a pest invasion yourself, there are numerous local pest control companies available who will ensure that this winter, you will be pest-free!