THE EFFECTS OF PESTS

Pests are everywhere, but we certainly don’t want them invading our personal space. When noticing a pest issue its always best to manage the issue head on before it can escalate into a costly treatment. When it comes to pests they can be damaging to your home, lawn, plants, and even the health of yourself and pets. Its best to know how to recognize these sorts of problems, and what can be done to prevent it from happening.

When it comes to your home, that is the biggest investment most people will ever make. One pest in particular that isn’t covered by home owners insurance are termites. Termites cause millions of dollars’ worth of damages to homes every year by feeding on the wood in your home’s foundation and even in the surrounding trees. It certainly doesn’t help that Florida is a state with high termite activity, as well as having a hot and humid environment makes it a pest breeding ground in general.

Rodents love to chew, and need to for their teeth to control its growth. If they don’t chew consistently their teeth will grow too big for them to eat. Considering that, that is a big red flag when identifying if there is a rodent in your home. They could chew on the insulation, affecting the ability for your home to retain warm or cold air. They could even chew on the wiring, causing an electrical shortage, or even worse a house fire. Speaking of shortages, ants can even find their way into electrical equipment and sprinklers causing them to malfunction. Another harmful pest is silverfish and firebrats. They may be harmless to humans but they like to feed on clothes, wallpaper and insulation, which can cause some damage.

When it comes to your lawn and ornamentals there is a surplus of pests that like to feed on them. Grubs and chinch bugs like to feed on the grass roots causing sections of the lawn to dry up and die out. Then you have bugs like whitefly, aphids and mealybugs that suck the plants dry of the nutrients that they need to survive causing them to wilt and die. You also have sod webworms that feed on the under sides of the grass blades creating ragged brown spots in the turf.

Most of important is your health, for you, your family and pets. Lots of pests carries diseases. To name just a few: rats and mice carry hantavirus, leptospirosis and salmonella. Every Floridians favorite, the mosquito, has the potential to transmit West Nile virus. Roaches carry a lot of diseases as well, can transmit E Coli and even trigger allergy symptoms.

We all love our pets, and definitely don’t want to suscept them to fleas and ticks. Fleas and ticks can bring about Lyme disease, typhoid fever or even tape worms. Not to mention making our poor little furry friends itch like crazy.

One of the most nightmare pests to have is bed bugs. These bugs can hide anywhere near a sleeping human, and they come to feed on your blood when you least expect it! These pests will make spotting on your bed and put bites all over you! Definitely a pest that requires a professional’s help.

Now here is the most important part, how can I better prevent pests from infesting my property? Pests need only three things: food, water and shelter. When it comes to pests in your home, wipe down counters after every meal, store food in tight containers, sweep the floors to pick up any dropped crumbs and store trash outside. Pests all need moisture to survive, so make sure to check for all excess moisture. Pests can squeeze into tight places, but it doesn’t help if there is cracks and tears in the foundation. Make sure to seal all openings and to add weather stripping around the windows. Bugs also are attracted to lights, so if you don’t need to have your porch light on its best to keep it turned off.

To help prevent pests outside remove any plants that attract ants such as flowers and weeds. Regularly prune trees and shrubs to keep them from touching your home, at least six inches. You want to avoid piles of debris, and to keep mulch build up no taller than two inches. Ants and roaches love mulch, and it isn’t uncommon for mulch bags to already contain roaches. You can also plant bug repelling herbs like citronella, rosemary, lemon and sage have natural chemical components that are proven insect and pest irritants.

When it comes to bed bugs, they are expert hitch hikers so you want to avoid bringing in any used furniture, and to inspect all suitcases after travel. As for pests in the lawn you can always spray it with soapy water. When pests get serious though its best to reach out to a professional to guarantee the problem doesn’t escalate. You can always do you part to help prevent them from invading your home, but if the problem is consistent, regular pest maintenance is a must.