There are few worse feelings than realizing your home has an infestation of pests. Whether you find droppings, see nibble marks on your wires, or actually catch one of the critters themselves. Once you have rats, cockroaches, or a termite colony that is eating itself through your foundations, it can be very difficult to get rid of them. It is far more effective to take preventative measures to stop pests from ever coming into your home in the first place. Pests can be incredibly sneaky with the different ways they can get into your house so you have to make sure you have every avenue covered.
To help everyone who is trying to keep the critters out, here are some useful tips and tricks to keep your home pest-free.
1. Call the Exterminators
Often the most effective way to keep your home pest free is to call in the exterminators if you have spotted the signs of pests. This does not mean you have to contact them every time you a bee flies in through your window, but if you notice any telltale signs of a big infestation like frequent droppings or more than one cockroach during the day time, it may be worth having a pest control expert come and deal with the problem before it escalates. They will be able to assess the problem and advise as to the best course of action to take. It may be that there is no infestation but it is always best to know for sure.
2. Plug Up the Holes
Having pests inside your home is harmful to its structural integrity. For bigger, pests like rats and mice, it can be relatively easy to find the holes through which they are gaining access to your home. These tend to be where pipes come through the walls or gaps in old floorboards or under skirting boards. It can be more difficult, however, to locate the access points of smaller pests like ants, but you can follow the trails to find where they are getting in. As ants usually make their nests under the ground outside, once you have plugged up their way into your house, you will be free of the problem.
3. Never Leave Food Out
The main reason why pests come into any home is to find an easy meal. It is really important that you never leave food out because this can attract everything from mice to cockroaches to ants. Food can also be a good way to know if you have an infestation. Look out for nibble marks on fruit in your fruit bowl because this is a common sign that you have mice or rats in your house. Always keep your food in the refrigerator or in tightly sealed containers so that pests cannot smell it or gain access to it.
4. Clean Thoroughly and Regularly
While making sure that you never leave food out will go a long way to stopping bigger pests from coming into your home, just the traces of food can be an all you can eat buffet for smaller pests. Cockroaches and ants thrive wherever there are crumbs, grains of salt and sugar, or even dirty dishes left in the sink. It is absolutely vital that you clean your home regularly, and pay special attention to any rooms where food is prepared or eaten.
5. Set Traps
Finally, if it is clear that there are pests in your home, one way to get rid of them is to set traps. There are different traps for different pests, with some people preferring lethal traps for bigger pests like mice, and others preferring to catch and release. While poison is good for bugs like cockroaches, it is not ideal for rats and mice because they may end up dying somewhere you can’t see them like behind a radiator, and the stench when they start to decompose will be terrible.
Nobody wants to share their house with a colony of ants or a family of mice, but once they get in, they quickly make themselves at home. The best way to avoid this is to take effective preventative measures to make your house inhospitable for them. If you do find yourself with a pest problem and your own traps and poisons don’t work, it is usually advisable to call in professional exterminators to comprehensively deal with the issue.