A full-scale household cockroach infestation is no fun at all.
These armored bugs can and will trample on your food, eat everything in their path, make those annoying sounds with their little dodgy legs as they’re making their way to your kitchen table and even scale walls and hang off ceilings.
They, together with a number of other dirty and unwanted domestic creatures, make for what you would call – a pest.
Whether it's plain ole cockroaches, a fire ant nest, a flying ant nest, or armies of mice, pests are not only annoying at sight but can also bring with them a proper hail of problems. Lower quality and potential health hazards are just some of the most prominent negative impacts they can have on your household.
Stepping on one or more of them also qualify as a major downer.
Well, as you probably already know, the saying goes ‘prevention is half the cure’, so what better way to ensure your household will be free from vermin other than ensuring they don’t come to inhabit it in the first place!
In this article, we’ll give you a couple of tips for making your house pest-proof. Indeed, conducting regular preventive pest controls can save you a lot of effort in the long run!
So, roll up your sleeves, and off we go!
How to Keep Various Pests at Bay
Take Good, Hard Look at Your Garbage Pails
Believe it or not, even rubbish cans need to be clean. Well, as clean as possible.
The thing is that garbage disposal units, no matter what their shape may be, can become infested with all sorts of vermin, bacteria, and pests if it’s not properly sealed.
Pretty much all pests are attracted by the smell of leftover food and these nasty creatures aren’t picky, either. As soon as they smell a piece of rotten salami just sitting there in your garbage can, they’re going to charge it and help themselves to it.
To prevent this, make sure all of your garbage cans are properly sealed and clean from the outside.
Declutter
This one’s similar to trash.
Although cluttered areas, in general, don’t really seem stinky and dirty at first, they can quickly assume those vile epithets if you leave the clutter to pile and grow in size.
From a mouse’s point of view, a pile of dirty laundry, old bags, or even just wrinkled paper looks like a cave that needs to be explored. These areas tend to be warmer, snugger, and all around more secretive than the other parts of your house, which means they’re perfect for a vermin abode.
So, declutter perfectly and cut the exploration paths for tiny disease-carrying creatures.
Remove Moisture Sources
One of the best ways to attract cockroaches, mice, and ants is to leave a steady water source in an inconspicuous spot in your household.
Again, to understand just how potent even a minor pipe leak can be in this department, just think how much water the average mouse needs. Not that much, that’s right!
But if the mouse gets the hydration from your bathroom, for example, you’ve got a problem on your hands, alright.
Therefore, making sure to protect any ‘unofficial’ water source that may look inviting to a family of cockroaches is half the job done when it comes to pest prevention.
Clean Your House Regularly
While dust and mud particles won’t really have much caloric value to a pest, some randomly-strewn bread crumbs surely will!
The thing is that often enough we don’t even realize how much tiny food particles we carelessly drop on the floor. These have the uncanny ability to camouflage with the rest of the carpet and they will remain there until they’re either sucked in by a vacuum cleaner or picked up by a passing zebra mouse.
It is up to you, as the owner of the house, to make sure that the first one happens instead of the option Number Two.
If you want to ensure you’re doing this the proper way and want to clean your house with a special bent on pest prevention, check out the Termex Pest Control folks. They’ll know everything to know about it.
Get Onboard the Merry and No Less Eco-Friendly Pest Control Bandwagon
Battling an ant infestation or getting rid of a mouse lair doesn’t have to be a Tarantinoesque blood ‘n’ gore fest. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be bad for the environment.
Cedar oil, for example, can do wonders against insects! Whether it’s mosquitos, ants, or cockroaches, a little bit of this delicate fluid will keep them well away. In case your pet has got a flea situation, sprinkle a little bit of this thing on their bedding and deliver them from their struggles.
Now when we said no blood ‘n’ gore, we didn’t really specify there won’t be any broken bones with a deadly effect. Mice, in particular, can be easily defeated by using a good ole mousetrap. Placing these around your house evokes certain French, medieval imagery, and more importantly – you’re not using poison, so it’s perfectly eco-friendly!
Fix the Barriers around Your House
Sometimes the solution to keeping pests at bay is really quite simple. Make sure they can’t come in!
If you have barriers around your house in the shape of a window screen or something like that, make sure to fix them regularly and that they don’t have any holes.
Simple as that!
All things considered, ensuring your house is free of vermin is not really nuclear science. All you need to do is perform regular checks, keep your house clean, and voila! – No vermin!
Guest post by Mia Johnson
About the Author
Mia Johnson is a freelance writer with a ten-year long career in journalism. She has written extensively about health, fitness, and lifestyle. A native to Melbourn, she now lives in Sidney with her 3 dogs where she spends her days writing and taking care of her 900 square feet garden.
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