We can offer several pest management tips you can take with you for future prevention. Clean and de-clutter roofs, gutters, and drain pipes. After a long summer, these areas can easily create harborage areas for insects and easy access to your home. Trim back trees and bushes away from all structures at least a foot or two away. Insects and rodents can use these plants as bridges and find entrances to your home.

Clear and de-clutter possible harborage areas like attics, basements, garages, perimeters, patios, and sheds. Throughout the summer we have been busy with landscaping, home improvement projects, and kids playing around leaving stuff all over the place, this creates easy harborage areas where insects and rodents can hide. Make sure all windows and doors are well sealed and weatherproofed and that screens are in good condition. Just like air-conditioning and heating can escape through windows and doors increasing electric bills, insects can use these openings to enter your home.

Repair any cracks or crevices found in any structure of the house. Sealing any cracks and crevices, especially around water, electrical, or heating pipes will reduce the access of insects into your home. Check your sprinkler system to make sure they are in good condition that water is equally spread among the yard and that no water is being sprinkled on the house structure. This will not only help keep a well-watered and green lawn but also minimize water damage and moisture buildup in the structure of the house that may attract mildew, mold, and other insects.

Thoroughly clean your home, especially in hard-to-reach areas like under furniture and behind appliances, under rugs, etc. Insects don’t like to be disturbed, especially spiders, making hard-to-reach and cluttered places ideal for them. Make sure trash bins have securely fit lids. This will keep rodents, insects, and wildlife from entering your garbage and making a mess of things. All recyclables and their bins must be rinsed and cleaned out before putting out for pickup. Dirty bins and food residue in recyclables can attract insects and rodents.

Organize your pantry get rid of expired items and make sure all open packages are kept in sealed containers. Sometimes products come from grocery stores infested with moths, beetles, or other insects. This will keep them from spreading into other areas of the home.