With the overabundance of rain in the last few weeks, the chances of bugs and pests coming indoors greatly increases. Not only does the rain wash out human living spaces, it significantly washes out the hiding place of the critters we do not want in our homes. Between cockroaches, ants, and spiders, your home may become an emergency shelter for bugs to escape the rain.
The heavy rain floods sewers and waterways and pushes cockroaches out of their homes, leaving them scurrying to find safety. Although cockroaches can survive the rain temporarily, they will seek out warm humid areas to build their nests, avoid drowning, and to find food. There are many DIY ideas out there to help keep them away. It’s more difficult to treat with DIY when the outdoors is saturated with water and flooding, so leaving out traps or powders indoors can be effective. Clean up your yard before the rainy season begins to try to rid it of hiding places for cockroaches. Take the time to seal cracks, crevices, and leaks that may leave room for roaches to slip inside. Cleaning rain gutters eliminate hiding spots. Try to keep your home clean and free of crumbs and food sources, like pet food. Keep it sealed in air-tight containers. Keep any compost and organic food waste outside and away from your house. Lastly, you if find it impossible to control them, contact your local pest control company for help.
Along with cockroaches, ants, and spiders also hate the rain and will seek shelter when the heavy rain washes out their homes. Spiders prefer warm weather, so they stay underground in the winter months but when the rain comes, they are pushed out. They will travel up your home or garage, slip through cracks or openings and enter your home, seeking refuse. Although many spiders bite, their venom is most often harmless. Orb weavers, brown widows which are venomous, and jumping spiders are the most common spiders you may see. It’s hard to keep them out but sealing cracks and crevices, keeping bushes and vegetation trimmed back away from houses, and clearing spider webs will help to keep spiders at bay. Spiders eat other pesky insects, so having them around isn’t always a problem if you can tolerate their stay. As spiders tend to travel alone, pesticides surrounding your home may not be necessary unless you are seeing an influx of multiple spiders; otherwise, swatting random spiders should be adequate if you need to kill them.
Ants are another pest, that lives underground. When the rain is excessive and flooding begins, their homes are overwhelmed. They will head out for an alternative shelter. The Argentine ant is one of the most common ants, with over 270 species of ants in California, but most remain outdoors and are a great benefit to the environment. Ants will feed on sugar, syrup, juice, fat, and meat and find shelter where ever they can. To fight their entry into your home, be sure to seal cracks and crevices that they can find to come in. If you already have ants, follow their trail to find where they’ve invaded your home and seal it up with caulking or silicone. Popular areas where ants choose to hang out are kitchens and bathrooms but they can be found pretty much anywhere.
The current rainy season is unprecedented and insects are going to be a problem. So, keep your living area clear of crumbs, open food sealed up, sweet spills wiped up, and trash and debris away from your house. Clear rain gutters. Seal your windows, doors, cracks, and crevices so the insects can’t find entry into your home. Use DIY ideas to deter or kill the pests entering your home. The best way to keep pests out is to make your living spaces unpleasant for them.
AANTEX Pest Control offers a variety of free inspections and services to the entire Bay Area. 1-800-471-5555
