Last fall, without your consent, bugs and wildlife may have taken up residence in your attic spaces. If you have not visited your attic crawl spaces recently, now might be the time. When spring arrives, those bugs, rodents, and wild critters will leave their low-energy state and begin to forage more vigorously for food. This will bring them down into your kitchen, pantry, and living areas--if they haven't started coming down already. Here are some tips for getting your attic in tip-top shape.
If pests are already descending into the rest of the house. If you have overwintering pests descending into the common areas of your home, that means they are looking for food or have already found a food source. Here are some quick tips for hiding the food:
- Don't leave dirty dishes around or in a dry stack next to the sink. Soak your dishes in soapy water.
- Clean floors, counters, and rugs regularly. Even a crumb is a meal for a bug.
- Put pet food down only during mealtime.
- Keep your trash fully sealed.
- Seal your pantry foods, cereal, and pet food in hard plastic containers.
If you haven't checked your attic since fall. It is always a good idea to check your attic crawl spaces in winter. If you haven't been up there to poke around, here are some of the things you should be looking for:
- Rat and mouse nests.
- Wasp nests.
- Termite or carpenter ant colonies.
- Bats, raccoons, squirrels, snakes, birds, and hedgehog activity.
- Cockroach droppings.
- The webs of poisonous spiders.
If you're afraid to check your attic. Let's face it, there can be some creepy things up there. If you don't want to inspect your attic or you've found something nesting up there, here are some things you can do to cleanse your attic and keep it pest-free.
- Have a pest company do an inspection and remove dangerous pests--and the lice, mites, fleas, and ticks they carry.
- Get a treatment to keep pests out of your attic spaces.
- Have pest insulation installed? Pest insulation will save you money on your energy bills because it adds another layer of heat transfer resistance. Plus, it kills and repels a large number of pests.
If you live in Mass. or Rhode Island, contact Big Blue Bug. They have over 75 years of experience and a reputation for protecting homes and families from invasive pests.