One of the most annoying things is walking around your home and finding a little friend that doesn’t belong there. Pests in our homes are inevitable, and there is very little that can be done to ensure that they never, ever come back, but what you can do to try and steer them away is consult with a professional pest control company to keep them at bay. You might be tempted to try all kinds of home remedies, and listed below are a few that you would find very useful, so keep reading if you want to learn more about how you can safeguard your home from unwanted pests.
Cleaning material
Everyone loves a clean home, but sometimes we fall short of the right kind of cleaning material that we need to keep away pests. There should be a cleaning agent for specific types of pests in your local supermarket. They work brilliantly for a minor task. Using a household cleaner would help to keep away a tiny amount of pests like ants or even flies, but certain pests cannot be killed and cannot be removed by yourself. If you attempt to do some of the work yourself, you need to wear protective gear like gloves and masks.
Some detergents give off fumes when mixed, which can be harmful to your body when inhaled or could cause skin allergies or abrasions when you touch it without protection. Be advised to wash the area with a soapy detergent afterwards to remove any excess chemicals once you are satisfied with the results or feel like the chemicals have done their job. Be mindful that if you have small children around, you might want to use products that do not require a settlement time to work because they might come into contact with the chemicals and become ill. For crawling insects, you can use talcum powder on carpets to keep them from crawling and multiplying in your carpets.
Vermin
For larger pests like rats or mice, you can take a more straightforward approach by making sure that the surrounding areas of your home are free of unwanted dirt and that dirt bins are clean at all times. If you have large council bins in your yard, you should give them a good wash at least once a week if you have noticed any vermin around. Use detergents that focus on smell, which is likely to attract the rats and mice to your home. Rat pellets work well to kill rats, but they are not an immediate solution to your problems because rats have to digest it for it to work. Mice are also much smaller and faster than rats, and they can hide in places a lot better than rats can, so it is best to keep your home clutter-free so that they do not have anything to gather or collect. Mousetraps are very effective at catching rodents. But they can be really expensive if you feel like you are dealing with more than one mouse or rat.
There are sticky mouse pads that catch them as they run pass and stop them from moving. Mice pellets also work well for them to pick up and carry off into their nest, but again will not work very quickly as it requires ingestion to be effective.
Pick up any cardboard boxes and pieces of paper lying around because mice use it to make their nests, and because they are so small and agile, they can efficiently run away and hide without you finding them for weeks. Should your rat or mouse problem persist, call a professional exterminator to come and assist you.
Flying vermin
Pigeons and seagulls rank high as some of the most annoying birds because they make a mess everywhere they go. You constantly have to pick up the guano and their feathers that carry mites and other smaller insects that aren’t always visible.
You cannot kill them as the Wild Bird act protects them, and you cannot simply get rid of them because they come back to the same place. Pigeons are habitual birds who prefer the same spot to eat, defecate and make a nest. They will scout the area relentlessly if they spot a food source or find suitable roosting (mating). They also prefer to use the same place like a bathroom, much like humans do, so that might leave many of their excrements in one place if you do not clean it up quickly. Pigeon guano can be dangerous if there is a large amount of it, so it is advisable to keep the area as clean as possible. You can use vinegar, bleach or bicarbonate of soda mixed in water to spray the area down regularly. This will prevent them from coming back and sitting in that spot. You can also clean up the guano by spraying it with water and then washing it away with soapy detergent. Do not attempt to sweep away large amounts of guano because the dust can be harmful. Some mites sit in there, and when it becomes airborne, it can cause severe infection.
Anti roosting spikes help keep pigeons off your roof or away from the gutter, which they can block with their nests, but they might now look great from an aesthetic point of view, so the spray and cleaning will have to do. If you feel that they are getting out of hand, you will need to call a pest control company to remove them safely. To make it all more accessible, you can set up traps so the pest control company can collect them safely.
Keeping pests away from your home can be a trying task, but you can do it effectively with the help of a good pest control company and with some products from your local supermarket. As long as you are safe and wearing the correct gear, you should keep the pests away.
Kim Marks