It’s important to understand that pests are seasonal. This will help you implement the right measures to protect your home from different pests that threaten its structural integrity and the health of your loved ones. Most pests will disappear during the winter. However, some will not be visible, but they will still be active in their hiding places. For instance, termites are not visible during the winter months, but they can still damage your home even if you can’t see them.
Raccoon Control
Raccoons are active almost all year round. They are only absent during the winter months when they will be asleep in their dens. It’s therefore important to ensure that your home is properly prepared for raccoon seasons. While these animals will not normally injure people, they can be quite dangerous if you corner or threaten them. They might look cute, but they are still wild animals, and you must treat them accordingly.
When it comes to raccoon control, the first thing you must do is ensure that there is no food left lying around in the yard. If you make the mistake of dumping leftovers outside, they will come out at night in search of food. This means you mustn’t leave garbage bags lying on the ground as well. Instead, keep your garbage bags inside the building. If you don’t have somewhere enclosed to keep your garbage bags, make sure you use garbage cans that you can secure with rubber straps or hooks. Raccoons will tip over any unsecured garbage cans and spread garbage all over the place as they search for food. You must also remember to clean the garbage cans with bleach to do away with odors that can attract raccoons.
If you have any poultry in your yard, it’s advisable to cover doors and windows tightly. You must also fence the area with poultry housing using mesh wire fences. When it comes to raccoons, the ultimate control tactic would be to install an electrical component to your yard fence. This will effectively keep them out.
If you keep having a raccoon problem, you must hire a professional pest control company. They will be able to trap them for you. You mustn’t attempt to use poison to kill raccoons as this is illegal. There are also several regulations in place when it comes to the removal of raccoons, so you must avoid doing things the DIY route. For instance, you cannot remove a mother until the pups are old enough to survive without her.
Raccoons can cause a great deal of damage when they try to enter your home or building via the attic, crawl spaces, or chimneys. In some instances, they will go as far as damaging shingles and fascia boards so they can get in. The damage they cause is quite costly to repair. They will cause even more havoc if they manage to get inside the home. To avoid them gaining access to your home’s interior, ensure that you line all possible access points with heavy wire screening. If there are any trees near your building, prune the limbs to prevent them from climbing and ending up on the rooftop.
Wasp Extermination
Like raccoons, wasps are not active during winter, and they will start disappearing around late fall. Wasps can cause several problems at home, which is why you must ensure that your home is wasp-proof. The moment you spot a wasp nest near your house or anywhere in your yard, you must quickly call the local pest control guys. These insects have a very painful sting, and many people end up in the ER because of wasp stings each year. Most people don’t realize the danger these insects present. Some children and pets are allergic to a wasp sting, which is why you must quickly eliminate them from your property.
Unfortunately, the problems caused by wasps are not only limited to their nasty stings. If you ignore the wasp nest, it can start causing some wood damage. While this damage will likely not be too serious, you must still inspect the area once the nest has been eliminated. Wasp nests can grow, and they will start absorbing moisture. This moisture will then penetrate the sounding wooden surfaces, and it can contribute to the development of damp. Fortunately, if you manage to spot and remove the nest quickly, all you will need to do is clean off the residue left off by the nest.
The Importance of Removing a Wasp Nest
While wasps will not cause serious property damage, they can render parts of your yard inaccessible. These insects can deliver an extremely painful and potentially dangerous sting to those with allergies. If there is an entire colony nesting in your yard, they will eventually end up stinging you, your children, and your pets. Imagine not being able to access your garden shed, loft or garage because you are afraid of being stung. This is why you must contact your local nest removal specialist to deal with this issue as soon as possible.
Squirrel Control
Squirrels usually remain active all year round, except during winter. This means you have to make sure that your home is squirrel-proofed all year round. Though they may seem small and cute, squirrels are a nightmare for homeowners. As they are busy trying to find a warm nesting place for winter, they end up chewing their way into houses. In the process, they damage roofs and vents. The real trouble begins when squirrels manage to get inside your house. This is why you must never ignore a squirrel problem.
Squirrels usually get into the house through the roof venting. Apart from the problems they will cause once inside, these entry points also leave your home vulnerable to insects. They will also damage your roof by chewing holes in it. If this happens towards winter, these holes will be an entry point for snow and water. This means you can end up with interior water damage that can be quite costly to repair, not to mention the cost of repairing the fascia, trim, and wooden gable vents that they usually like to attack.
Squirrels and Interior Damage
If squirrels manage to get inside your house, you can expect nothing short of a nightmare. They will chew through all your cardboard boxes and destroy the items stored within. They will also chew wooden beams, electrical wiring(creating a fire hazard), and cherished belongings. Apart from destroying all these items, they will urinate and defecate in your house. As you might expect, urine and feces can carry diseases like salmonella, leptospirosis, and tularemia. They can also leave fleas, ticks, and mites, which will spread all over your home in search of hosts.
Because of the damage they cause, it’s crucial to implement squirrel control measures. The first step should be to ensure that there is no squirrel food on your property. This means you must hide or relocate their food, which includes fallen nuts, acorns, and berries. You must also keep trash cans closed. Another way to keep them away is to get a dog. Dogs enjoy chasing squirrels, and this usually scares them away. Some experts also recommend using deer repellent.
If you suspect that squirrels are already causing damage, you must also get your home inspected by a licensed squirrel removal technician. They will remove squirrels from your home in a humane manner. They will also spot areas on the exterior that serve as entry points.
To prevent the problem from recurring, professionals will squirrel-proof your home. If the squirrels have managed to gain entry into your home, it’s necessary to ensure that any contaminated insulation is removed. Treatment should also be administered to do away with bad odors and parasites before insulating the attic space.
Termite Control
Unfortunately, unlike other pests, there is no termite season. These little pests are active all year round. Most people assume that termites are only active during the months when they are most visible (March to November). However, this is not through. While they are notably less visible during winter, they will remain active, meaning they can cause damage at any time. It is, therefore, crucial to ensure your home is always termite-proof.
Termite Proofing Your Home
There are several ways to make your property less attractive or even unavailable to termites. The first step should be to get your home inspected for leaks regularly. Subterranean termites need moisture to survive. Therefore, if you keep your home dry, they will not likely consider it a suitable habitat.
You must also regularly clean your gutters and pipes. These little creatures love to hide in warm and moist places that are out of sight. You must also fill in all cracks and crevices using caulk. Remember to target openings in your foundation where pipes get into the wall.
Termites love cellulose in wood. This is why you must never place firewood too close to your house. You must also avoid leaving tree stumps in your yard. Experts recommend using termite-resistant wood whenever you can. You must also be on the watch out when it comes to using mulch, as some types of mulch contain bits of wood. Instead, you must use mulch made from gravel or rubber.
One of the most effective ways of preventing termites from damaging your home is to get regular inspections. Termite colonies usually take around three to five years to mature. During that time, they will be destroying your wood, and this severely impacts your home’s structural integrity. To prevent this, get a professional to inspect your home. They should also carry out foundation inspections to check if there are signs of infestation. If there are any cracks, it’s advisable to find a contractor to do foundation repairs so the termites won’t gain easy access to your home. If you discover signs of a termite infestation, you must quickly call a termite control specialist so they can eliminate them from your home.
Rodents
Rodents are seasonal creatures. However, unlike other pests, rodent season is identified as the time when rodents start searching for a place to wait the winter out. This is when the weather starts being cooler. When it’s warm, rodents will breed continuously. This might not seem like an issue until you find out that mice can have up to 60 babies yearly. On the other hand, rats will only have 24. The other alarming thing is that mice only need three weeks to reach sexual maturity.
For you to efficiently control and prevent rodents from damaging your home, you need to figure out the rodent season in your area, depending on when you experience seasonal changes. During this period, hundreds of rats and mice will start seeing your home as a possible winter bunker. Unfortunately, they will not only damage your home as they do this, but they will also bring diseases.
As mice and rats are trying to find a way to get into your home, they will often chew wires and leave excrement along their main pathways. They will also drill holes into the walls and leave marks on the surfaces they travel to frequently. This pattern will only stop when it starts getting warmer, and the rodents start moving back outside.
Your focus should therefore be during the months when it starts getting colder. If you start detecting noises at night, there is a high chance it could be rodents. The clearest sign that they are already in your home is when you start finding droppings all over the place. You can also check in your attic and ceiling if you can’t see the drops anywhere else.
Most people think that hiring an exterminator to remove rats and mice is the best way to deal with rodents. However, this is just an indication that your home is not properly rodent-proofed. Rodent proofing your home is an essential task that you must focus on. This is because it prevents the rodents from getting into the house in the first place. This means you must find ways of preventing them from entering. Fortunately, exterminators can also inspect your home and identify possible points of entry.
Rodent proofing also involves finding ways to make your home less attractive to rats and mice. This means they will not find reason enough to enter and cause havoc. If your home is an environment that attracts rodents, they can come in and transmit diseases to your family and pets. Sooner or later, you will be taking trips to the vet or domestic animal medical care center. You must therefore consult a professional and have them rodent-proof your home.
These are some of the pests you must watch out for. When it comes to pests, you will find that preventing their infestation by investing in affordable pest control is better than trying to get rid of them. You must therefore understand which season each type of pest is active and find ways to keep them out. If it happens that pests find their way into your home, you must quickly call a residential pest control service to deal with the problem.