Do it Yourself Pest Control!

I share a house with eight other people. You have no clue how often I worry about pests. Ants, fleas, scabies, and even larger unwanted "guests" like mice, possums, neighborhood animals, and raccoons. I have made it a personal crusade of mine to remind our human house mates that if we are not careful, we will make our house an easy target for the unwanted creepy crawlers. From my head, to your eyes, here are my top 10 D.I.Y. pest inspection tips.

1. Check your pets often. You love them. You pet them. You feed them! Take a minute next time you're giving your dog or cat a treat, or a pat on the head, and check them for fleas!! Fleas are small little buggers, so if you have to, take your cat or dog into a well-lit area for a closer look.

2. Check for weak, broken, or damaged parts of wood. Termites LOVE wood. It's their main source of food. However checking for termites on exposed wood is hard, because these guys love to eat the inside of the wood outward. If any spots look weak, give them a quick tap, if the wood sounds like it's not very solid, you may have some little ones roaming around inside.

3. Keep your eye out for "flying ants." I'm not insect expert, but I know one thing. There's not a lot of ants out there with wings!! If you see a group or colony of "flying ants" get the spray can out QUICK!! don't let these things mate!

4. Look out for wings. If you've missed the flying ants, and start to find piles of wings, it may be too late to exterminate before they have infected your house. However, if you find these wings, you know for a fact you may have termites, and that they are entering their next growth stage.

5. If you're too scared, aren't ready, or just plain are not comfortable looking at the wood inside your home, or inside your basement, check loose wood outside. Tree stumps, scrap wood, and fence posts are great spots to check for signs of termite infection.

6. One dead give-a-way unwanted rodents leave you, is their feces. Sounds gross, doesn't it? Sometimes this give-a-way is hard to detect. I have found over the years, for whatever reason, the best place to check for this is underneath the kitchen sink. Most people keep a large amount of cleaners underneath their sink; this makes this area very hard to research. Clear the items from underneath your sink, and investigate.

7. Set traps. Think you may have an unwanted guest, but not too sure? Get specific, or go for a wide-range of traps. Set the traps and see what springs up. If you get a catch, you know you have a problem.

8. Check open spots, or "routes of entry" that leave your home vulnerable to pests. These openings include vents, pipes, drains, doors, and windows. Shut these vents up!! Close them, or add adhesive to exposed cracks.

9. One thing many people do not realize, is that a well-kept lawn discourages pests. Check your lawn for areas you could "trim up." large areas of grass or weeds serve to hide pests from your eye-sight, and also just make great, lofty, comfortable homes for the unwanted.

10. Check surrounding areas around your home. This is hard to control. There many be nothing you can do about it. Do you live by some messy people? Do your neighbors leave their garbage all over the place? Do they take care of their yards? Maybe YOUR not the problem!!

If all else fails, thank god there is professionals. But with enough hard work, you probably will not need to console them. Hopefully this list has helped you to sleep a little better. Or tight. Certainly now the bed bugs won't bite.

Sincerely,

Mike Wilson

Associated Content