Pests That Invade Your Home In Colder Weather And How To Control Them

One good thing about colder weather is that you'll finally get relief from mosquitoes. However, you'll still have plenty of pests trying to invade your home in search of warm and cozy shelter. One way to keep these pests at bay is to get regular pest control treatments and inspections through the fall and winter months. Here are some pests you should watch for and how you can prevent them from getting out of control:

Rodents

Mice and rats prefer to make nests in warm places out of the rain and snow. Your home is an ideal spot. Some rats, like roof rats, climb trees and enter through your attic. Other rats, like Norway rats, stay close to the ground and enter through your crawlspace or lower floors. One you have rodents, they will attract more of their kind by leaving their scent behind. Even if you kill off the rats you see, their odor can linger and mark your home as a good nesting spot to other rodents that pass by. You'll want to have your exterminator help keep mice and rats out of your home by sealing openings where they enter. Leaving traps set in the attic is another good approach so you can catch ones that wander inside and monitor for their presence.

Raccoons

Raccoons like warm nesting spaces too, and they can do a lot of damage to your roof trying to get inside your home. If you have a raccoon living in your attic, you'll want to call a professional to remove it right away before it destroys your insulation or tears up your attic. You can make your property less appealing to raccoons so they don't become interested in your house. Eliminate food and water sources. Seal your trashcan so the animals can't get inside it to get to the food. Also, don't leave pet food outside or raccoons might start hanging around.

Insects

There are very few insects that love cold weather. Roaches, spiders, earwigs, and various other insects will try to get inside your house where it is nice and warm. As more bugs make their homes inside your house, other bugs will be attracted to the abundant food source and your pest problem will multiply. You might see an increase in spiders in the winter because you have more roaches and other insects during that time that the spiders can dine on. Regular pest control treatments will keep insects out of your home. The treatments leave behind a residue that continues to kill the pests for weeks after the treatment. You'll then have another treatment before the insecticide wears off. This helps keep insect pests under control during all seasons of the year. Even though there may not be many bugs roaming around outside once temperatures get very cold, you can still carry them home in shopping bags and your luggage, therefore you always need to be on guard so insects don't have a chance to get out of control.

You can call a pest control company when you notice bugs in your home for an additional treatment, but one of the best ways to keep your home free from annoying pests is to get preventative treatments that kill off the stray bugs before they can multiply and take over your home.