The need for effective pest control is unfortunately all too real for many homeowners. As temperatures start to drop it can become even more vital as many critters begin seeking places to stay warm and dry during the winter. Add in a readily available food supply and your home can start to look awfully appealing to various rodents and creepy crawlers. The problem is only going to get worse as the nights get colder and the outdoors become more inhospitable.
Obviously, no one wants to share their home with a bunch of freeloading pests. Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to help keep your home pest-free throughout the winter months and into the spring. There are also services available to help you evict even the most stubborn of unwanted invaders. Let’s take a look at some of your options.
Preventing Pests
One big thing that will help in controlling unwanted pests during the winter is a bit of preventative maintenance. Go through your home and look for signs of damage or other weak points that rodents, insects, and other critters might be able to use as an entry point. Once you’ve identified these potential entryways, block them off or fill them in to close those avenues off to any critter or creepy crawler that might want to use them.
If you think you’ve already got critters in the eaves of your home or other places, you can also take steps to get them out before they can bed down and have babies. Items such as excluders with one-ways doors can be installed over the holes or other areas where they’re getting in and out to feed. These covers allow bats, rats, and other pests to leave your home to go out and eat, but when they try to come back, they’ll find the way blocked and will have to locate a new place to live.
Baits, Traps, and Other Measures
If it seems like a pest infestation is already underway and simply closing off entry points doesn’t seem to be working, you may need to turn to more permanent measures to get rid of your pests. There are a variety of baits, traps, poisons, and other solutions to take care of pests that are already in the home. Some of these will kill the pests, while others allow you to capture them alive and take them elsewhere for release.
When using baits, poisons, and traps, it’s important to be safe about where you place them. If you have pets or small children, make sure that any such items are placed in inaccessible areas where your uninvited pests will have access but those who live in your home will not. You should also use care when choosing poisons or baits to make sure that pests can’t cause illness in your pets afterward if one of your pets find them. Desiccant-based baits and traps are usually the safest options in this regard.
Calling In Some Help
If you’ve tried everything else and nothing seems to be working, it may be time to call in some professional help. Exterminators and animal control professionals in your area not only have the equipment to help get rid of the pests in your home, but also have years of experience rooting out even the most dug-in of critters. They should be able to help with even the most frustrating of invasions, and even have resources to tackle uncommon occurrences such as groundhogs or other large pests taking an interest in your home or its foundation.
If you have questions you may contact me to see how I can help you.
Michelle Lohman, Associate Broker
Realty One Group
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