Even if you aren’t squeamish, you don’t want pests inside your home. They can cause lots of damage and aren’t good for your health.
It’s far easier to keep a problem from arising in the first place than to treat an infestation. Here are six preventive measures to keep pests out of your house.
Types of Home Pests
If you’re like many people, your thoughts first turn to insects when considering household pests. Make no mistake — nature’s smallest creatures can cause big problems. For example, cockroaches carry multiple diseases, including:
- E-coli
- Salmonella
- Plague
- Leprosy
- Dysentery
Bedbug infestations are notoriously hard to get rid of, and while they don’t spread disease, they can cover you in itchy bites. Mosquitos kill far more people than bears, tigers, sharks and other scary animals. Also, who wants flies buzzing around their food or laying eggs on the steak they set out to defrost?
However, bigger critters can also cause problems and aren’t as rare as you may think. For example, rats and mice are known to spread over 35 different diseases and can cause nasty bathroom scenes straight out of “The Amityville Horror.” Should they build a nest in your vent stack, you could wake up one morning to sewage overflowing your sinks and tubs with no one to blame but El Ratón.
Even your exterior isn’t safe, especially if you live near the woods. You might find your trash cans stinky, but they smell delicious to raccoons and javelina. It’s never fun to start your day by mucking up garbage a hungry critter ravaged during the night.
6 Preventive Measures to Keep Pests Out
Treating an infestation can mean turning to chemicals you don’t want around your pets and loved ones. The old cliche about an ounce of prevention holds, as keeping pests out in the first place is far easier than getting them to pack up their bags and go after they set up shop. Here’s what to do.
1. Seal It Up
The good news is some of the same preventive measures you use to keep pests out of your home also increase your energy efficiency, keeping more cash in your wallet each month. You should inspect your windows and doors at least twice yearly to see if you need to add weatherstripping or caulk.
Insects don’t need much space to enter and can indicate larger problems. For example, you might have foundation cracks if you often find creepy crawlies in your basement. Inspect your home’s exterior and declutter all those boxes stacked against each wall. Roaches and other pests find cardboard irresistible for nest-building — make your home a less appealing place for building theirs.
2. Clean It Up
Cardboard boxes aren’t the only things that draw pests to your home. If you regularly splash your morning coffee fixings without wiping them up, that black granite countertop in your kitchen might appear to crawl. Sugar ants need less space than the head of a pin to enter your home and can sniff out that spilled creamer from quite a distance.
Avoid leaving food sitting out — it protects your gut health and avoids drawing insects. Sweep or otherwise clean up crumbs and other messes immediately. Many bugs and wild animals have far more powerful sniffers than humans, and they aren’t above a little breaking and entering to nosh on their favorite treats.
3. Keep It Clear
Keep your home’s exterior tidy and clear away brush and debris where insects and other pests may hide. For example, a woodpile makes the perfect winter nest for rodents and spiders — stack yours in a separate location, not against your home’s walls. Keeping the bushes around your home trimmed back also deters human thieves, who use such foliage to block their attempts to pick the locks on your windows.
Furthermore, leaving pet food outdoors can draw unwanted visitors, like coyotes. If you feed your pets outdoors, bring in their bowls at day’s end. Finally, consider locking outdoor garbage bins to deter raccoons and other clever critters.
4. Manage Ingress and Egress
Even the tidiest humans can end up with a bedbug infestation. You might stay in a hotel right after another guest brought along some unwanted visitors, then go home and unpack without inspecting your luggage.
Launder your clothes on high heat upon returning from your next vacation. Additionally, inspect yourself and your pets when coming in from outdoors. A tick could hitch a ride on you or Fido when you go for a morning hike.
5. Stay High and Dry
You would perish quickly without access to water, and invasive home pests are no different. Even desert species like scorpions need a bit of the wet stuff to survive, even though they typically get a sufficient supply from their diets. Water draws all kinds of unwanted critters to your home.
Prevent this issue by cleaning up any freestanding water sources. Bring your pet bowls inside at night, keep your pool water clear or empty the contents, and construct a covered rainwater collection system that hooks to your gutter instead of relying on open barrels.
6. Guard Your Food
Weevils can decimate food you store in your kitchen cabinets, and so can other insects and rodents that get into your pantry.
Keep long-lasting dried foods like rice and cereal in sealed, reusable glass containers to prevent infestation. Large, rectangular versions are ideal for keeping your chips and pretzels fresher and bug-free.
Keeping Pests Out of Your Home
Household pests can spread diseases and damage your belongings. Prevention is far better than treating an infestation once it occurs. Use these tips to keep them out of your home and enjoy cleaner, critter-free living.
