3 Ways You Might Be Creating Pest Problems In Your Home

Home & Garden Articles

Sometimes when people notice bugs and spiders crawling around their house, their first instinct is to blame the last exterminator that treated the area. Instead of trying to figure out what they can do to fix the issue, many people make angry calls to their pest control professional, demanding an additional treatment. However, if you have bug problems, you might be part of the reason that they keep showing up. Here are three ways that you might be creating pest control issues in your home, and what you can do to resolve the problem.  

1: Not Sealing Up Exterior Holes

If you hear mice running under your bed at night or dancing around inside of your walls, it can be extremely disconcerting. You might worry about serious health conditions tied to mice such as Hantavirus and the overall sanitation of your home.  However, before you call your exterminator and ask them to set a round of traps, it is important to seal off the entryways that rodents are using in the first place.

Believe it or not, mice can squeeze their tiny bodies through a hole as small as ¼ inch wide. The warm allure of your cozy place in the autumn or the smell of food laying out on your counters could prompt motivated mice to squish through that little crack in your wall, and gain easy access to your entire home. Unfortunately, once a few mice have made their way inside, they might decide to set up shop and make your place their permanent breeding ground.

To keep mice out of your house, it is important to go through your entire place and seal any holes leading to the outside. Look for holes around incoming cables and plumbing, underneath your doors, or around exterior vent lines. You can fill these holes easily with canned spray foam, which is easy to apply and expands to fill areas.

Once your home is sealed, professional exterminators can bait and trap the rodents to remove them from your space.

2: Forgetting About The Food Chain

To effectively treat the pest problems in your home, it is important to understand the food chain. Sometimes people make the mistake of getting frustrated with one pest while ignoring another, which can cause problems down the road. Because many pests eat other pests, a comprehensive approach to pest control is important. Ants might eat the food that you left out on your floor, spiders might eat those ants, and mice might decide to make those spiders their dinner.

When you work with your exterminator to treat your home, make sure that you mention every single type of bug that you have seen in your space. Remember that even though one pest might be more troubling than another, pest infestations can be more complicated than you might think. To rid your home of annoying pests, exterminators, like those from Ace Walco & Sons Termite & Pest Control, will most likely target every level of the food chain, so that you don't end up dealing with problems in the future.

3: Letting Landscaping Run Wild

People love to create luxurious garden retreats outside, but sometimes folks don't realize that their pretty backyard might be causing some of their pest problems. Here are a few issues that a little landscaping can cause.

  • Ivy: Although ivy-covered houses are beautiful and nostalgic, they can also keep moisture and bugs close against the surface of your home. Mice can use vines like little highways to climb into exterior cracks, and termites can find a safe haven in the shady, moist area that ivy can create. To keep your home pest-free, never let ivy to grow on the exterior of your house. 
  • Shrubs: Those tall bushes might be covering up your ugly foundation, but they can also create a great home for spiders and make it easy for them to find their way into your place. To make those shrubs less appealing, keep them well pruned.
  • Tall Grass: Do you have a problem with crickets and grasshoppers? Those tall grasses surrounding your home might be part of the problem. Keep grasses under control by trimming them regularly and mixing in other types of plants.

In addition to keeping bugs away from your house, well-maintained landscaping will also allow your exterminator to spray the exterior effectively to create a chemical barrier for pests.

Understanding the things that you can do to create a pest-free environment will help future exterminators to be more successful, so that you can sleep a little easier at night. 

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28 October 2014