Winter Pest Prevention Guide
As the cold air draws down upon Missouri mice and rats start heading indoors for food and shelter. These pests begin searching for warmth as well as a place to overwinter. If you’re not paying attention and neglect having a pest professional like Around The Clock Pest Control , your home could easily become a “natural resource” for rodents, bats or other critters this winter! But what if this year’s pandemic put you in a financial pinch? Fortunately, there are a few things you can do before calling a pro.
STEP ONE: LAWN & LANDSCAPE
If your lawn or landscape is full of overgrown trees and shrubs then, pests will thrive. The closer to nature your property looks the easier it is for winter pests to thrive. In fact, you’re helping pests make their way inside for winter while giving them a reason to come back next year at the same time. So, trim back overgrown shrubs touching the sides of your home. Cut tree limbs back out and away from your roof. By taking these two steps you’ll limit the ability for mice, rats and ants to make their way inside to nest or overwinter.
STEP TWO: KITCHEN & GARBAGE
Household pests and rodents will take all leftovers from three days ago! To step up your winter pest prevention this year secure your garbage and take it outside to a sturdy trash can. If you leave a bag half (or full) of trash near your house rodents like rats and mice will make an attempt to come inside. If possible, raise your garbage containers off the ground. This step alone goes a long way in discouraging them from coming in.
Bottom line is to never allow trash to pile up inside or accumulate outside.
STEP THREE: ENTRY POINTS
As nighttime temperatures drop, rodents, especially mice for most of us, seek out entry points to nest inside wall voids. So it’s always best each year around this time to begin checking the interior walls of your basement and/or crawl space. Entry points are openings or cracks in the foundation of a house that rodents (and other pests) gain access to the inside from.
These three steps to winter pest prevention will help eliminate potential invaders during colder months. As always, calling a pest management pro like Around The Clock Pest Control is the best option but, when money is tight follow these simple steps to live pest free in Missouri this winter.