Pest Control Tips

When the weather starts to change, the unwanted pest guests start to look for new places to call home — but, these are guests that we don’t really want to invite in.

Here are a variety of ways we can manage these unwanted pest guests and keep them from taking up long-term residence near us and our families:

• Proactively set out mouse traps in your garage, shed, and/or basement (when applicable). Make sure that you begin to place mouse traps now — live traps, bait stations, glue boards or your classic “snap traps” in these pesky pest spots. Setting the traps after you have a sighting means that you have already invited them in to get established. Make sure to set them up now, while the weather is still relatively warm, to catch them immediately.
• Make sure to keep the lawn trimmed and any long growth away from your home. This makes pests feel comfortable and gives them easier access to enter. Also, trim back any shrubs, bushes or landscaping plants so they aren’t touching the house or becoming overgrown. Rodents especially like when plants, bushes and trees grow big and natural — it makes them feel safe and comfortable.
• Glue traps work great when the weather is warm or for indoor uses — but, when the weather cools off, they don’t really work at all. This is because the cold weather makes the glue harden and solidify. Use these during the summer or indoors to be effective at catching pests.
• Glue traps also catch bugs, such as spiders, centipedes, and beetles indoors (or outdoors when the weather is warm).
• Consider buying a container of crawling and ground insect “home defense” granules and applying them during late summer or early fall. These granules last for up to 3 months and will keep crawling insects from establishing in your home or garage. Treat around the perimeter of the property and follow the instructions for safe application.
• Walk the perimeter of your home and check the exposed foundation for any cracks or damage. If damage isn’t severe, you can patch the spots using simple fillers available from your local home improvement store. If there is major damage, consult a professional foundation repair company to come inspect the damage.
• Rodents often enter your home where the basement joins with the attached garage through any small gaps between the walls, floor and foundation. If you have an unfinished basement, it may be wise to seal around the area where both parts of your home meet.
• Check the seals around your garage door, shed doors, and home doors for any spaces, gaps or cracks. If you see light coming through, pests can enter. Depending on the location and the type of issues, you may want to call a professional home improvement company to fix them.