While Alabama is still in the coldest parts of our ‘winter’, pests may not be as active as they are during spring and summer months (They can still be a nuisance during winter, though. For tips on winter pest control read our post, Winter Pest Control).
Homeowners, however, should not wait until spring rolls around to take preventative measures to keep pests out of their homes.
Here are some ways that you can prepare your home for warmer weather pests:
Remove Wood or Brush From Your Home’s Exterior
A pile of any type of organic material–wood, food scraps, grass, etc.–can provide a haven for critters around your home.
These piles provide two things for bugs, shelter and a food source.
So, if you have collected fallen leaves, limbs, or brush and left them somewhere near your home, be sure to get rid of these piles.
Be Vigilant When Spring Cleaning
Make sure to remove any exposed food products.
Often our pantries can become a hiding place for bugs that love to snack on
half-eaten Pop Tarts, opened bags of sugar, or spilled oatmeal packets. Without a proper, regular clean, these exposed foods can go unnoticed for years.
This provides a delicious food source for pests like cockroaches, termites on which to live and multiply.
Clean your floors well.
Bugs like dust mites and bed bugs can live in carpets and they are especially difficult to spot if you never clean your floors.
Not only do carpet floors need to be cleaned, but hardwood and tile floors also need some attention.
The baseboards and corners of hard surface floors need particular attention when cleaning. These dark spaces often collect food and grime which provide another great food source for bugs in your home and are frequently located at the entry point of bugs into your living space.
Seal interior and exterior cracks.
Our houses are particularly designed to keep those within the walls and under the roof safe from weather. This protection extends to all within our home: family, guests, animals, and pests.
Pests are always looking for the best access point into your home. If, when you are doing your seasonal cleaning, you assure that they can’t get into your home by sealing off the crevices in your home, then you will effectively put a barrier between them and your home’s interior.
Put Up Pet Food at Night
If you have dogs, cats or any other pets inside your home, be sure to put away their food each night.
Because these pet bowls are low to the ground and usually positioned in the corners of rooms, pests have easy access to them.
Not only are they easily accessible, but pet food provides an immense amount of nutrients for these pests.
Maintain Your Yard
As rains fall and temperature heats up, your yard will begin to grow. If you let the grass around your home get too unruly, you’ll have a higher likelihood of pests like ants, fleas, chipmunks, wasps, and hornets.
So, be sure to keep your grass cut and your flower beds weeded.
Sometimes homeowners can take all of these precautionary steps to repel warm weather pests, yet the pests still find a way to invade your home.
If you are at a loss of how to get rid of pests in your home, contact S&S Termite and Pest Control in Opelika and Auburn, AL.
