Your home is your castle. Whether you own your own house, or live in an apartment, home is the single most important location on the planet. Home is where you kick your feet up after a long day, and watch the latest movie releases, while eating popcorn, and drinking a fruity drink. And, when fall comes, you’ll probably be spending a lot more time indoors. Well, you’re not the only one who likes it in your warm friendly home as summer fades into memory and winter’s chill grips the land in its icy fingers, bugs and wildlife do too.

I’m going to let you in on a secret the bugs don’t want you to know about. You don’t have to live with them! Their yearly infiltration is not “inevitable”. There IS something you can do about it. When everyone else is complaining about stink bugs, spiders, boxelder bugs, cockroaches, mice, and other nasty crawly things getting into their house this fall, you don’t have to share their misfortune. By following these tips, you can actually live bug free.

The secret is to understand what insects, rodents, and other wildlife are looking for. They want food. But not just any food, they have an affinity for rot. That is why you see the rats and the cockroaches in the sewer. That is why you see the centipedes and flies on the road kill. And, it is why the raccoons climb into the dumpster up the street. Pests love bacteria laden locals. If your home is filled with bacteria, pests will be happy to make it their home too.

Pests are looking for a place to spend the winter. No matter how airtight you make your home, they’ll find a way in. The secret isn’t to keep them out, although that does help. The secret is to not let them find what they are looking for. Here is a list of common-sense measures you can take to keep your home safe.

• Keep your inside and outside trash cans covered at all times. The smell of trash is like ringing a dinner bell. Not only do pests like to eat what’s in there, many insects like to lay their eggs on decaying food matter.
• Clean your counters with disinfectant, and make sure to get up any food or spilt drink.
• Deep clean in hard to reach places, like: under the stove and on the sides, under the fridge and behind it, and on and around the trash can.
• Keep the rugs vacuumed, so no crumbs can stay for long.
• Wash the floors with disinfectant.
• Keep grain, seed, flour, cereals, and other vulnerable food, in hard plastic containers. Bugs and rodents can chew through cardboard and paper products.

NEED A PRO? FIND ONE HERE.

To add a layer of protection, it is also good to seal up cracks around your home with caulking. Check all your screens. Install door sweeps and weather stripping, if you don’t have any. And, have your exterior walls and perimeter sprayed by a professional. This will reduce the number of bugs getting in, to a mere handful. If that handful doesn’t find what they’re looking for, they won’t be calling their friends to come share in their plunder. And, they won’t be laying eggs and making nests.

Hide the food and keep the bacteria away, and you’ll keep the pests away too. You don’t have to live with bugs this fall. Your home can be pest free for the holidays. Give it a shot.

Peter Scala is a board-certified entomologist; he is also the Technical Supervisor as well as the President of Parkway Pest Services . Peter has extensive experience in many aspects of the pest control industry and is uniquely qualified to consult in every aspect of pest control. Contact Peter to learn more about controlling stubborn pests through comprehensive package programs that are available at Parkway Pest Services. These programs can help eliminate pests through every season so that you don’t need to worry about the pest problems that are bound to pop up.