Frederick Jace
No matter where you live, pest control is a problem year-round. These critters come crawling into our homes to escape the cold and take advantage of us.
The key to avoiding a problem this winter is to keep your house clean and make it harder for the pests to get inside. Maintain the walls of your home and cover every possible entry point.
Cobourg exterminators recommend that you look out for these pests during the winter.
Mice
Mice are warm-blooded animals that are active year-round. Infestations often begin in the fall, when it starts to get cold out. Then, by winter, residents begin to notice the signs. Mice leave droppings everywhere behind them and make scratching noises in the walls at night.
While they may seem rather harmless, mice are known to spread the Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome as well as salmonellosis, leptospirosis, and more. It is best that you keep these pests out by sealing every entry possible entry point. Cover vents, use door sweeps, and add screens to your windows. Any quarter inch gap may let in a mouse.
Rats
Rats are common in old neighbourhoods and city centers. They are a lot like mice, but bigger and more destructive. Like mice, they like to come indoors during the winter. Given their larger size, they dig through gaps in the foundation or chew their way through wall vents.
Once indoors, rats cause a ton of damage. They burrow between walls and ruin the space with feces and urine. Reach out to a pest control company right away if there are rats in your area. You can also ask a professional for an inspection to find out where rats could get in and how you can seal these entry points.
Squirrels
Lots of people love squirrels for their furry bodies and silly antics. However, squirrels can be a big problem in the winter. Some will chew their way through the roof to nest inside the attic, where it is warm. You may be able to hear them squeaking and chewing in the attic during the day.
Here, they will tear at the insulation and dirty it with feces and urine. If the problem persists, the squirrel might also stain the ceiling below as its urine seeps down from the attic. Exposing the attic to the outdoors will also ruin the interior with rain and snow.
The best way you can avoid a squirrel problem is to maintain your roof. Make sure there are no gaps along the edges of your roof and that your shingles are in good shape. Cover roof vents with a steel mesh.
Ants
Ants may come crawling indoors at the end of the summer season, then persist throughout the winter. Most ants hibernate in the soil, but carpenter ants build their nests in wooden structures, so it is possible to have ants inside the walls during the cold winter months.
Signs of an ant problem include the presence of ants in the home and finding sawdust on the floor, near wooden structures. Contact an exterminator immediately if you suspect that there are ants in your home. To avoid them, lower the humidity in your home and replace rotting, damp wooden structures.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches are extremely resilient. They don’t mind the cold unless stuck in freezing temperatures for several days straight. Cockroaches are a problem at any time of year. In most cases, they come crawling through the walls of multi-residential homes.
Cockroaches are tricky to avoid. If you live in a high-rise, seal every crack you find in and around your kitchen cabinets. Seal the gaps surrounding your plumbing and any other hole in the wall, as well. The more you can exclude, the better.
If there are cockroaches on your property, you should contact an exterminator right away. Cockroaches will not go away with the changes in season. It takes professional-grade tools and insecticides to get rid of them.
Bed bugs
Bed bugs are purely indoor pests, so they can be a problem at any time of year. People usually get them by staying in hotels or using laundromats, anywhere people sleep or sit still for several hours at a time.
To avoid these bugs, always inspect your belongings carefully when coming back home from a trip. Use a mattress cover and don’t leave your laundry unattended in a public place.
If you have bed bugs now, know that leaving a window open and making the room cold will not work. You must hire a professional to exterminate the pests and ensure that their eggs are destroyed. Professionals use a combination of steam and insecticide to disrupt the bugs at every stage of their lifecycle.
