You may have already seen traces of a mysterious forager, or heard the patter of tiny footsteps scurrying across your kitchen floor. It's migration time for a slew of creepy critters, and for many, the nearest building is their cozy winter destination of choice.
As temperatures drop, industrious species scamper, slither and chew their way into undefended homes. Some make secret nests to which they return each evening, while others establish thriving, permanent colonies within walls. These overwintering pests not only bring potential health risks, but can wreak serious damage to unprepared property.
Usually, though, they're just gross and need to go. Here's how to evict them.
Unwanted Guest: Mice
Resume: Winter's foremost home invader
How to uninvite them:
- Pest Proof your home looking for any access points into your house along the foundation; doors that don't shut correctly; places where cables and pipes go into the walls. You need to seal those all off.
- For rodents, plug holes with steel or copper mesh instead of easily penetrated spray-foam sealants.
- Garages are real hot spots. Many garage doors are skewed and don't sit tightly on the ground.
Unwanted Guest: Carpet Beetles
Resume: Graze on wool flooring, whose diet includes stored food or any animal product
How to uninvite them: Carpet beetles
- Carpet Beetles are to mice as roadies are to musicians, often touring together.
- The mice help themselves to an unsecured dog-food stash, then stockpile kibble inside home walls. There, beetles join the feast and begin to thrive.
- Carpet Beetles will begin to come out from under the baseboards by the hundreds.
- Store pet food and other edibles in in thick, airtight plastic containers.
Guest: Fruit flies
Resume: Tiny, annoying, and omnipresent.
How to uninvite them:
- First, get over the horror. You're not alone.
- Remove the source.
- Make your own fruit fly traps.
Guest: Ants
Resume: They want you to play "What kind of ant am I?"
How to uninvite them:
- Identify the type of ant.
- Do not spray, you can actually make the problem worse. For example, pharaoh ants. This species lives in your walls and sends out scouts for food. If the foragers don't return, the colony recognizes a threat, and divides as a defense. Now you have two colonies and more ants.
- Fix any water leaks or moisture issues.
- Make sure there are no crumbs or food sources available.
Guest: Spiders
Resume: A few spiders are good; infestation is a bona fide horror show.
How to uninvite them:
- Basement windows are popular entry points for these cringe-inducing interlopers, so pay close attention to any crack or opening.
- Look for moisture prone areas. Installing a dehumidifier will help.
- Remove any cobb webs.
Guest: Snakes
Resume: Low noise, high shudder factor
How to uninvite them:
- Snakes are notorious for slithering into homes in colder months.
- Reduce your risk of snake infiltration by keeping the perimeter of your home free of debris, especially nearby woodpiles.
- Not only do snakes seek shelter in outdoor clutter, many of their favorite meals do (rodents), as well.
Guest: Squirrels
Resume: Cute but destructive dog-torturers
How to uninvite them:
- Squirrels are born in the spring and summer, but as weather cools down they start looking for warm places to nest.
- There's no better place than your rafters. It's nice and warm, and they've got all kinds of material up there they can make beds out of.
- Contact a wildlife removal company to humanely remove the squirrels and seal the entry point to prevent re-entry.
Guest: Raccoons
Resume: Masked night stalkers
How to uninvite them:
- Raccoons can be aggressive, and they're very devious.
- These feisty, four-handed mischief-makers tend to hide in the chimney. When the fireplace isn't being used, keep the flue closed — that's how a variety of animals, including squirrels, birds and raccoons, enter a home.
- As winter rolls in, bang on your flue before opening it for the first time to give chimney dwellers a chance to get out.
- Never start a fire before opening a flue; you may get a living room filled with smoke and flaming-varmint chaos.
If your Clifton Park home requires pest control, it’s best to let an professional exterminator handle the infestation. Thomas Pest Services is your Clifton Park and surrounding area pest control experts offering multiple types of services to effectively control rodent, ant, spider, wildlife and pest infestations. Protect your home, family and heath by contacting us for a no charge consultation today!