Copyright pestcontroljobs.org 2007 All rights reserved
Low Impact Pest Control
Making sure outdoor areas are not bug friendly is important as a front line preventive measure. Putting a 12-16 inch circle of pea gravel around the outside wall of your home will help keep many insects at bay away from, and out of, your house. Large bushes that touch the outer walls, vines, tall grass, fruit trees and bushes close to the house, all are havens for insects, rodents, skunks and other obnoxious pests that will be more than happy to take up sanctuary and feed from these sources while figuring out a way into your house and life.
Indoors, an obvious start for controlling pests is to seal gaps where they are entering. Spaces under doors, around windows, torn screens, and any other places where small gaps exist should be sealed. The temperature and humidity of your home plays a significant role in how comfortable your home is for certain pests and should be considered in an overall pest control plan.
One of the most common reasons for many pests, such as ants, roaches and rodents being indoors is a food source. Dog food bags left on the floor are fat mouse havens. Mice can quickly and efficiently chew through a bag of dog food, and a herd of the little critters can eat a pretty remarkable amount of it in one sitting. They will also carry some back to the nest for a midnight snack once they get done at the bag. Anybody that has ever had an infestation of mice knows that when you find the nesting area, its very common to find some of what they are feeding on stored there. Crumbs, open bags or boxes of food, or even invisible spots of honey, syrup, jelly or other sweet sticky substance will draw ants from what seems like miles away. One Cheerio lying on a counter can result in a hoard of ants being present when you walk in your kitchen. This is the basis of low impact pest control. Get rid of what they eat, and get rid of the pests.
In your home closets, crawl spaces, attics, garages, and storage buildings, if you provide a nesting area, you can be positive something will nest there. Leaving blankets, piles of clothes, old rags, bags of cotton, or any type of soft material on the ground will result in critters using it to nest in. If you leave your clothes in the floor for extended periods of time, you better check them thoroughly before putting them back on. In southern states, one of the most common and dangerous "stealth" insects is the brown recluse spider which can deliver a bite that can be anywhere from annoying to devastating in its effect on the human body. Other spiders and biting critters are inevitable if you leave nesting places for them in obvious places.
More low impact pest control
Indoors, an obvious start for controlling pests is to seal gaps where they are entering. Spaces under doors, around windows, torn screens, and any other places where small gaps exist should be sealed. The temperature and humidity of your home plays a significant role in how comfortable your home is for certain pests and should be considered in an overall pest control plan.
One of the most common reasons for many pests, such as ants, roaches and rodents being indoors is a food source. Dog food bags left on the floor are fat mouse havens. Mice can quickly and efficiently chew through a bag of dog food, and a herd of the little critters can eat a pretty remarkable amount of it in one sitting. They will also carry some back to the nest for a midnight snack once they get done at the bag. Anybody that has ever had an infestation of mice knows that when you find the nesting area, its very common to find some of what they are feeding on stored there. Crumbs, open bags or boxes of food, or even invisible spots of honey, syrup, jelly or other sweet sticky substance will draw ants from what seems like miles away. One Cheerio lying on a counter can result in a hoard of ants being present when you walk in your kitchen. This is the basis of low impact pest control. Get rid of what they eat, and get rid of the pests.
In your home closets, crawl spaces, attics, garages, and storage buildings, if you provide a nesting area, you can be positive something will nest there. Leaving blankets, piles of clothes, old rags, bags of cotton, or any type of soft material on the ground will result in critters using it to nest in. If you leave your clothes in the floor for extended periods of time, you better check them thoroughly before putting them back on. In southern states, one of the most common and dangerous "stealth" insects is the brown recluse spider which can deliver a bite that can be anywhere from annoying to devastating in its effect on the human body. Other spiders and biting critters are inevitable if you leave nesting places for them in obvious places.
More low impact pest control
For low impact pest control outdoors, Diatomaceous Earth is one of the most commonly used long term treatments for many insects. DE is a substance made from the skeletons of saltwater diatoms. It is also used in various forms for pool filtration, cat litter, thermal insulators and more. While feeling smooth to the human touch, for insects, the threatening substance actually has microscopic razor edges that cuts the waxy exoskeleton of insects causing dehydration and death of every tiny critter that comes in contact with it. A bonus of using DE outdoors is that it is mineral rich and beneficial for the soil making for healthier gardens and lawns.
Copyright pestcontroljobs.org 2007 All rights reserved