The Pacific Northwest is known for its warmer winters, but that does not mean that they still aren’t cold for pests who solely live outside. Unfortunately, the winter is a time when we find more unwanted visitors making their way into our homes, seeking shelter and warmth.
What can you do to keep a pest situation from occurring? Here are a few tips for winter pest protocol to keep pests out of your home:
Keep Food Sealed
All pests need food and the winter months make the search for food much harder. Both vegetation-based pests such as Carpenter Ants and food-based pests such as Sugar Ants will enter your home in search of food. Leaving any out makes it convenient for ant intruders to easily find food–as well as making it attractive for them to stick around for good.
Sealing up all food, cleaning up any crumbs, and making sure your garbage is sealed tight are ways to avoid tempting hungry pests.
Inspect Home For Openings and Close Them
The easiest way for an unwanted pest to enter your home isn’t the front door, but instead, cracks and openings in your home. If you have a window that isn’t sealed correctly or a crack in your attic, you are asking for pests to enter.
Inspecting your windows, doors, and structure of your home, and correcting accordingly, is a great way to prevent pests from entering.
Plan Ahead Based on Pest Seasonality
Having a plan for what kinds of pests will most likely be entering your home during the winter can help to create a better plan of action to stop an infestation from occurring.
Some pests may not even be in the area during the winter, or will come in smaller quantities if they do enter your home. Whereas, pests such as spiders (especially the Hobo spider) and mice and other rodents may become more of an increased risk in your home based on their needs and what a home offers in the winter for them.
Also, depending on the species, some may try to breed in your house during the cold winter, so you will need to plan accordingly for those instances as well. Knowing what to look for, recognizing signs of a specific pest infestation (before you visually see them), and knowing about the behavior and specific problems that each pest can cause can help you have a better grasp on pests during the winter.
Work With a Trusted Pest Controller
Having a trusted pest controller on hand can be the easiest and quickest way to deal with a winter pest infestation. With the cold weather, pests will simply continue to enter your home, regardless of any at-home management or products you may purchase as a quick fix.
A knowledgeable pest control technician will be able to tell you the pest you have in your home and will be able to set up a treatment plan that coincides with mating habits, typical infestation sizes, and seasonality.
Aspen Pest Control of Vancouver, WA understands how the winter can drive pests closer to your home. Giving us a call to pinpoint what pests you are currently dealing with during the coldest time of the year can ensure that come Spring, you will no longer have a problem. Call us today to find out more.
