When pests invade, they can cause damage to a building or site and affect people’s health and comfort. Infestations are best prevented by regularly cleaning outdoor areas and keeping them free of debris, sand, woodpiles or other potential nesting sites.
Clutter should be removed and trash disposed of promptly with tight-fitting lids. Sealing cracks and crevices can also help to reduce pest entry points.
Rodents
Rodents are mammals that belong to the order Rodentia. They can be found throughout the world and are characterized by a pair of unrelentingly growing incisors optimized for chewing and gnawing.
Rodents can enter homes through the smallest holes. To keep them out, make sure that all pipes and wires have tight seals. Also, keep grass and weeds short to deny them shelter.
Rats are known to contaminate food and cause structural damage in buildings. Certain species also carry disease, including plague, murine typhus, scrub typhus, and tularemia. In addition, some breeds of rats are reservoirs for hantavirus and leptospirosis. They can even transmit hepatitis and Salmonella.
Bed bugs
A common pest problem, bed bugs thrive in crowded and unclean dwellings. They can also be transported by travelers carrying them in their luggage or in the clothing they wear. Vacuuming regularly and washing any linens that can fit in your washer should help prevent infestation.
If you have a home with bed bugs, look for a sweet, musty smell and check carefully for specks of blood on your sheets and mattresses. In addition, examine any upholstered furniture for evidence of the pests, such as in the seams and tufts of couches and headboards.
Unlike ants, fleas and mosquitoes, which typically bite only the ankles, bed bug bites spread across the body while sleeping. They may also cause rashes and itchy patches of skin called eczema.
Fleas
Fleas are tiny, wingless bloodsuckers that feed on the blood of cats, dogs and other warm-blooded mammals. They can also bite humans, though these bites are usually not noticed. They can transmit diseases such as typhus and rarely, the bubonic plague.
A flea lives for about 100 days, during which it lays many eggs. These hatch into larvae, which spin cocoons to protect them from predators.
Sanitation is critical to keeping fleas at bay. Thoroughly wash your pet’s bedding, and vacuum and sweep floors regularly. Also, talk to your veterinary care team about proper flea treatment for pets. These treatments can be effective, especially with follow-up applications and good hygiene practices.
Ticks
Ticks are eight-legged blood-suckers related to mites and spiders. They thrive in wooded areas with tall grass, weeds and leaf litter where they can latch onto animals or humans passing by. Some tick species spread disease by ingesting the host’s blood. The lone star tick, for example, can cause an allergy to red meat that causes hives and asthma.
Pest control services in Idaho Falls use chemicals and baits to eliminate pests and keep them away from homes. For best results, you should cover up food and drink containers outside your home and sanitize surfaces inside. Also, clean up crumbs and other spills to deprive pests of their food sources.
Conclusion
Cockroaches and mice contaminate food, cause damage to homes and act as disease vectors. Their droppings also affect indoor air quality and can trigger allergies and asthma in children and adults.
Other household pests like ants, wasps and bees can sting, while cockroaches and rodents gnaw on wires posing a fire risk and spreading diseases like hantavirus and leptospirosis. Proper home maintenance can help prevent pests, including storing foods in sealed containers and removing garbage regularly from the house. It’s also important to reduce clutter that can provide hiding places for pests and keep them out of the house by caulking cracks, repairing screens, and sealing gaps around doors and windows.
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