Pests have a way of gaining entry to your house, causing you to feel at risk of an overrun. They find the smallest cracks and suddenly your home is infested. It can be frustrating whenever you see them or spot a tell-tale sign of their existence in your residence. In such a case, you know you have to deal with the problem, including using pest control services before you have bigger issues on your hands.
By watching out for the signs of common household pests, you can minimize the effort, time, and money it will take to control any potential invasion:
Termites
Termites are among the bugs that you will want to avoid seeing on your property because they can cause costly damage. If you do not eliminate them with the help of pest control services Brisbane, an infestation can bring your house down.
Termites need moisture to survive and are drawn towards wood, as it contains cellulose. Some termites like to stay in damp wood or thrive in the ground near the foundation of your home. For this, make sure your residence has no standing water or any lasting moisture in the crawlspaces, basement, and other low-to-the-ground areas.
So, if your property has water leakage, this can keep your walls, foundation, and yard wet, making it easy for termites to attack your house. Since moisture can easily aggravate the problem, the termites you see in your yard may just a few days for them to penetrate your household.
Spiders
While spiders are normally harmless, you do not want to see them getting comfortable in your home. Their number tends to increase between the end of summer and the start of fall because male insects search for a mate as they venture into residences.
You may see a spider on the corner of the walls, in the shower,in the garage, in closets and cabinets, and even under the pillows. In general, their favourite places are where they will not be disturbed or with light to zero traffic. They come inside your house through cracks and gaps between screens, vents, windows, doors, and other small openings.
If it seems that your house is infested with spiders, you will want to call pest control services. One reason that you need professional assistance is that the presence of numerous spiders at home may be an indication of other pests that spiders prey on.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches are common pests that you see in most residences. But, when they grow in numbers and become persistent in making your home their home too, you have a big problem. Aside from seeing them scurrying away in your presence, roaches also leave droppings, helping you to detect their existence.
Common bugs, including cockroaches, attack houses to look for food and water. The following are some of the things that roaches are after in your home:
- Leftover food in cans or containers
- Garbage
- Crumbs on the furniture, floor, or counters
- Standing water spots in your yard such as flowerpots, puddles, and birdbaths
- Dirty dishes in the sink or on the countertops
- Pet food on the floor
In addition, cockroaches thrive in humid weather. So, if you have leaky faucets and pipes in your kitchen, bathrooms, or laundry room, you are likely to see a cockroach at some point. Contact pest control services to prevent a cockroach infestation in your house.
Ants
Ants typically enter a residence to look for nesting habitat or food. Do not be surprised that the tiny food particles you forgot to clean can attract hordes of these ants. These pests are industrious enough to find any food left around your property.
Ants sometimes enter a home to look for water, particularly in dry months. In such a case, you may find ants in humid areas of your house such as in the bathrooms. Heavy rains can also force the ants to relocate to nearby structures, including your house.
There are several ways to get rid of ants such as calling professional pest control services. However, prevention is better than cure, so make sure not to place temptation in their way to avoid an ant infestation.
Rodents
There are many reasons rats and mice end up in your house. Their presence can easily contaminate your living spaces such as your pantry. You definitely do not want them around, as they reproduce rapidly, damage property, and carry infectious diseases.
Rodents are omnivorous, which makes them not at all picky about what they eat. They will eat any food or scraps they can find available in your house from your pantry to the trashcan. They will gnaw through almost everything such as electrical wiring, metal, plastic, etc., in order to gain access to the food supply.
Good thing though, the gnawing behavior of rats and mice is a giveaway of their existence, helping homeowners and pest control services to get rid of an infestation. Eliminating them is crucial because the feces and urine of rodents contain pathogens that may result in health risks, including allergic reactions. These problems only heighten as the rodent colony grows on your property.
Bed Bugs
Humans normallydo not see bed bugs due to their tiny sizes. Bed bugs are insects that have flattened bodies, making it easy for them to hide out of sight in tight spaces, for example, deep inside upholstered furniture items and headboards. Their wingless, flat bodies enable them to stay alive even when a person rolls over and smashes them while sleeping in the middle of the night.
Bed bugs prefer to stay hidden, and will only crawl out when they need to feed and there is a host (for a human blood meal) nearby. Note that these creepy crawlies are cautious when they attack and bite; they inject a mild anesthetic so they remain unnoticed while sucking blood. Also, bed bugs are not attracted to organic buildup matter or decay usually found in filthy areas. Instead, you can find them near their food source, which is human blood.
Regardless of what pests are invading your home right now, it can be tricky to handle an infestation on your own. It is important to let professional pest control services take care of the problem fast and efficiently.