3 DIY Preventive Pest Control Tips

You know them when you see them—bugs that emerge with the changing of the seasons. These pests begin to appear in early spring and are abundant by midsummer. Then, by late fall, they’re already seeking warmth and shelter for the winter.

But how do you keep these annoying creatures away from your home during warm weather and seasonal transitions? For Noosa, the answer is simple. We believe homeowners can be the first line of defense against invading pests.

So we’d like to share three do-it-yourself preventive pest control tips for winter, spring, summer, and beyond.

Three of the Best Pest Control Tips You’ll Find

The ideas below apply to many types of pests since these tiny critters’ main goal is finding safe places to breed and secure food and water. You can do these activities on your own to help prevent future pest issues in and around your home.

1. Reduce moisture around your home’s foundation by:
   • Installing extensions to your gutter downspouts.
   • Reducing the depth of your mulch or pine straw.
   • Caulking cracks around doors or windows and openings where plumbing lines come through the exterior walls.
   • Extending condensation drain lines from your HVAC system to the outside of your home.
2. Eliminate stagnant water in birdbaths, dog bowls, flowerpots, and kids’ toys to reduce the mosquito population and breeding sites.
3. Trim trees, bushes, and shrubs that contact or are within three feet of your home.

We hope these three essential pest control tips can help better prepare you to avoid future pest incursions or an all-out infestation.

More to Know About Successful Pest Control

Of course, the advice above builds a solid foundation for pest control in your home. But there is still much more to discover about the various pest species and their habits. So let’s look at a few of the more common Charlotte, N.C., pests you’ll encounter. We’ll also discuss how to control and eliminate them.

Stinging Insects

Wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, and bees can be incredibly annoying. Many species nest on or near your home, but removing or relocating them is tricky without getting stung. They enter your home through torn screens, open windows, attics, and other convenient entry points.

But you can stop them by:

• Covering or removing sweet foods.
• Keeping up your home and its surroundings.
• Doing regular yard work.
• Planting flower gardens away from your home.
• Using wasp traps (indoors, at picnics, etc.).
• Removing old nests.
• Calling a pest control company if all else fails.

And remember, many stinging insects are pollinators—which helps all of us.

Cockroaches

Once you see a cockroach in your home, prepare for more. To be blunt, we’ll say that roaches will eat nearly anything, including paper, clothing, dead animals, plants, and the food in your kitchen. So if these things are plentiful in or near your home, you’ll see many more of these pests soon.

To get rid of roaches, you’ll need to:

• Clean the kitchen thoroughly, including under appliances.
• Check under the sink, cover the sink drain, and scrub the floor.
• Wash dishes immediately after use and wipe up spills and crumbs.
• Empty and clean kitchen cabinets.
• Vacuum rugs and carpets.
• Put all trash in outside bins and close the lids.
• Don’t leave pet food sitting around.
• Get rid of standing water and check for leaking pipes and fixtures.
• Seal off possible entry points.

If you allow cockroaches into your home, they will happily accept your food and readily spread their many germs to you and your family.

Fleas

Do you have furry pets in your home? If so, you’re undoubtedly familiar with fleas—and their incredibly itchy bites. But you’ll need to take the following measures to eliminate these tiny jumping bugs before they drive you up the wall:

• Start by laundering your pets’ bedding and anything else they may have slept on in hot water and dry them at the most feasible setting.
• Vacuum all carpets and dispose of the bag or empty the canister outside. Some people recommend putting an unused flea collar inside these containers.
• Sprinkle baking soda, salt, or diatomaceous earth on carpets to eradicate the fleas through dehydration.
• Use lemon or rosemary scents to repel them.

If fleas are especially prevalent where you live, consult your veterinarian about the best flea prevention for your pets.

Ants

Ants are probably the most persistent pests found in homes and other buildings. They are a nuisance, contaminating food, building unsightly mounds, and damaging the premises by hollowing out wood and other materials to build their nests. Moreover, species such as fire ants inflict painful stings, which can be life-threatening.

However, since ants are social creatures living in elaborately structured colonies, it’s virtually impossible to deal with them individually. So instead, you must tempt them to carry poisoned baits back to the nest. For this task, you should use ant baits, such as Combat, Raid, and Ortho, that contain a food attractant combined with slow-acting insecticide.

Mosquitoes

Let’s face it. Mosquitoes cause dangerous diseases. These flying pests sometimes carry malaria, West Nile virus, dengue, yellow fever, Zika virus, and others. The danger they pose to humans happens when a mosquito ingests the disease by biting a sick person or animal, carries it in its blood, and transfers it to the next person they bite.

Treating a mosquito problem often involves Integrated Pest Management (IPM), whereby different repellants, most nontoxic, come into play. These could include a combination of the following:

• Essential oils.
• Oscillating fans.
• Yellow LED lights.
• Cedar mulch.
• Lavender-scented candles.
• Mosquito traps.
• Bug zappers.

And if the mosquito situation becomes unbearable, either go indoors or apply a spray repellant with DEET to your skin and clothing.

Noosa Can Help!

We’ll end by pointing out that what’s covered here are preventive pest control tips meant primarily for do-it-yourselfers. But if you notice a pest problem that has already taken hold in your Charlotte home, give Noosa Pest a call. We’ll be there right away to take care of the problem.

Call us now at (704)-741-7049 for a complimentary inspection today.