Your home should be a safe haven for you and any other humans living with you. It’s a place for rest when you’re not out working or doing errands. Unfortunately, your home might get invaded by smaller beings you don’t want around. Here are four kinds of pests you should know about and how to manage them.
Ants
Ants are usually the household pest you’ll encounter most frequently. They’re social beings and often live in a colony of thousands. Common species include carpenter, black house, argentine, and garden ants. All ants find sweet fragrances alluring, and they’ll dine on everything from fat to meat. Clean up messes and food spills immediately to keep them at bay.
Flies
These can enter through doors and windows, but they can use other openings, too. They will also breed in places or things such as manure, garbage, and rotting food. They only need a few days to mature, so you can have a lot of them quickly. Annoying at best, they are disease spreaders at worst. Keep things clean, and create homemade fly traps to capture them.
Termites
Of all potential pests, these are one of the best reasons for professional pest control. They’re very destructive, costing the national economy billions in annual damage. They eat wood for food, so they are a serious threat to homes and businesses. There are DIY techniques you can use, but professional extermination is the only way to be sure.
Rats
These rodents can get into your home when you don’t even know it’s happening. They don’t need very big openings, and they can come in through cracks and holes in walls, flooring, and even your foundation. They can result in serious property damage, but they can also spread quite a few diseases. Possibilities include salmonellosis, murine typhus, trichinosis, and leptospirosis. They can even chew on insulation, walls, and flooring. If they chew on electrical cables, they might start a fire. Baiting them with food into traps is a great way to catch them. Also, seal holes with steel mesh they can’t chew through.
Try to clean your entire home once a week to avoid pests, and clean your kitchen more frequently than that. Taking steps to prevent pests is easier than trying to get rid of them, but there is always professional help available when you don’t know what you’re dealing with or it’s just too much to handle alone.