Pest Control
Tips & Tricks

Reducing moisture around the home will help reduce the presence of pests in the home.  Since most pests thrive in areas where moisture is present, the homeowner would be well served to inspect the property and make necessary corrections. Changes may include — but are not limited to — cleaning out gutters, grading soil properly so that water moves away from the foundation, ventilating crawl spaces, and sealing cracks in the foundation.  Not only will such measures aid in pest prevention, but they will improve the health of the home in general.

Consider doing a nighttime light leak audit: Turn on all the lights in your home, step outside, inspect your home, and see if there are openings in the walls, masonry or elsewhere that are letting light through, then seal these with the right sealant for the surface it will be applied to.

If you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em. Finding larvae in your larder? Pests in your pantry? They might just be edible. Those mealworms in your cornmeal share your taste in food, so why not enjoy the extra protein? Most bugs taste like a combination of nuts and mushrooms. You could add them to a stir fry or toast them up crispy in your oven. Bug appetite!

Everyone wants a silver bullet, no one wants to have to invest elbow grease; but that’s the underlying trick to long-term pest suppression – making the environment inhospitable to the pest.  Clean up whatever is attracting them, and seal them out.  Prevent their access to food and they’ll starve.  Get rid of clutter and they won’t have a place to hide. Just about any pest we mention can be significantly reduced by these two measures – cleaning up and keeping them out.

Tip for residents: Clean-up, clear-up, seal-up, repeat.  Still have challenges?  Call the experts, and ask how you can partner with your pest management company to maintain your home pest-free.”

For the homeowner interested in creating their own genetically-modified assassin bugs for a ‘green’ approach to household pest problems, I suggest you keep in mind the cost of a new ceramic electrophoresis cooling tank, an array of scalable process chromatography columns, and a quality helium pulse regulator.  If that’s in your budget: Go for it!  Just start sequencing the DNA of various members of the Reduviidae family and off you go!  There’s nothing to it. On the other hand, if you have other uses for several million dollars, I’d just call a pest control professional.

When it comes to insects, we’re missing the boat by NOT eating them. They say that 80 percent of our world’s cultures eat insects. Insects are rich in protein, vitamins and minerals and other micronutrients. And they are plentiful. What’s not to like? Many of our most common pantry pests rice weevils, for example, or mealy moths or ants are perfectly edible. I’ll go one step further: if they are properly prepared, they can be downright delicious.

Slam the door on unwanted guests. Many of the same cold-weather preparations and preventive actions can be used to secure and seal off our homes from potential pests. Here are seven ways you can protect your house:
1. Caulk and seal all holes, cracks and crevices of your foundation, windows and doors.
2. Clean, organize and declutter cupboards, closets, and storage units.
3. Discard paper and cardboard boxes, as these attract pests.
4. Seal storage and food items in tight, secure plastic containers.
5. Check pipes and plumbing for leakage.
6. Leave firewood outside away from the house.
7. Place mesh screens on foundation or attic vents.

Don’t use over-the-counter total release aerosols (aka, Bug Bombs)!  EPA refuses to ban them because EPA doesn’t require efficacy to be proven, just that the products don’t harm people and their pets!