If we were to say the words, "winter pests," what would come into your mind? Did you think of mice? Or, was it rats that jumped in first? These are good ones for sure. Rodents are definitely on the top of the list of winter invaders and definitely not creatures you want in your home. They are vectors for diseases, carriers of harmful bacteria found in dumpsters. And these creatures don't come in alone. You heard right. Rodents can bring parasites in with them, parasites that live in their fur, like mites and lice. And parasites that live in their bellies, like E. coli and Salmonella. But, before you leap to the conclusion that these are what we were referring to when we said, "The forgotten pest," allow us to clarify. While you're focusing on keeping rodents out of your home you are completely missing another overwintering pest that can pose an equal amount of threat to your family. What pest are we talking about? The less-than-lovable cockroach.
Are you familiar with what sleight of hand is? While you're looking at the hand the magician wants you to look at, he is secretly doing something with the other. This can happen with rodents and roaches. Here's how it works:
You are one step ahead of those rodents. You've done an inspection of your exterior walls. You've used a caulking gun to fill in rotted holes. You've filled downspouts with wire to keep those rodents from climbing up. You've cut branches back away from your roofline so they can't get over. Your house is an impenetrable fortress...to rodents. But cockroaches are an insect that can run across a wall at almost full speed. They laugh at your rodent defenses.
You've been reading online that there are ways to make rodents chose another house to infest. All you have to do is hide the food. You put all your paper and cardboard packaged pantry foods in hard plastic containers and you make sure to put your pet food away between meals—and all your floors and counters are clean. Those rodents don't have any morsels to feed on. But cockroaches have an amazingly versatile and disgusting variety of food they can eat that put those rodents to shame. They can live off of the filthy gunk that is stuck to the side of your oven, you know, where the food drips down when you try to move something from the pan to a plate. Yeah. They love that nasty sludge.
If you've taken the effort to keep rodents out of your home we applaud you. That is no easy task. But don't forget to remember the forgotten pest. If you want to exclude cockroaches from your home, you're going to need to do a lot more than fill in a few holes and hide the food.
When winter pests come to invade your home, give Thomas Pest Services a call. Our experts know how to properly monitor and inspect for pests, and are well versed in all modern control options available to seal pests out, even the forgotten ones.