Other than damaging your home, pests can also spread sickness and infection if not handled right away. Of course, calling a pest control agency is the best option to get rid of these pests. But if it will take a while before these experts can go to your house, try out these pest control methods and tricks to keep your house clean and clear of diseases before you continue booking pesticide control services.
Hygiene
When your house or yard is regularly maintained, pests won’t find any food or area for thriving and breeding. This, in turn, leads to fewer pests and less hassle. Control pests by following these simple hygienic solutions:
- Always clean up every after a meal. Throw your food scraps away and immediately wash and dry plates and utensils after use instead of letting them lie around.
- Before throwing away your food scraps, wrap them inside an airtight plastic to avoid rodents from smelling them.
- Use your toilet correctly. Your bathroom is among the dirtiest in your home, so keeping it clean will also keep the roaches and other insects away.
- You can install screens on your windows and cover up holes in your pipes to keep pests from entering your home.
If the pest infestation has gone too far and has caused sickness in your home, you can bring the elderly into a hospice to protect them from unwanted infection. However, take note that hospice services often offer long-term arrangements. If you think it will take a long while to remove all the pests completely, then it’s best to keep elderly individuals in a safe place.
Biological Control
Biological control typically includes using the natural enemies of pests and interfering with their breeding ability biologically without pesticides. One example is using native fish to feed off mosquito larvae. You can also use dung beetles to bury and break down cow manure so flies won’t breed on it.
Unfortunately, there are also instances where biological methods can go wrong. That’s why it is best to research constantly and study thoroughly before any application; otherwise, your plan might backfire.
Electronic Control
Technological advancement allows us to grab insects, rodents, and other pests by the rear and remove them permanently from our homes. Below are two of the electronic control methods commonly used today.
- Electromagnetic — This method impacts different animals, such as mice’s neurological system. However, only rodents and insects are repelled.
- Ultrasonic — This operates by producing high-frequency sound waves of short length.
Pesticide Treatment Program
This program is specifically designed to rid all the pests with the benefits of using a few pesticides. However, they are full of dangerous chemicals that are toxic to the human body and are only advisable to use if no other resort is left. Before you begin on a pesticide treatment program, make sure you have already tried different pest control methods, such as the ones mentioned above. It is extremely crucial to follow the directions written on the label when applying the pesticide.
Detective Work
To trap rats successfully, you’ll need to become a detective. Along with detailed tracking, an open mind will have your traps full of rats in no time. As cliché as it may sound, Sherlock Holmes has inspired the needed detective approach to capture rodents at a moment’s notice. You’ll have to learn how to emphasize your inspections by using reason, logic, and observation. Understanding the difference between observing and seeing is also a primary key to aid pest control technicians in locating the source of habitat.
Tracking
Most of the time, rats leave a visible trail behind. Pay close attention as to where they usually leave droppings, urine, or rub marks. This will undoubtedly help technicians locate their presence to determine the best trap placements.
Prebaiting
To do the trapping properly, you’ll have to do prebaiting. If you invest enough time — a few nights at most — in this activity, you’ll have higher chances of catching them all at once. Otherwise, you’ll only be trapping two rodents at a time, which is a waste of energy.
Since rats are wary of unfamiliar food due to neophobia, they are likely to stray away from traps initially. In prebaiting, however, you can ease their neophobia by rewarding them with food. Take note of the food the rodents in your home are commonly eating and use it as a prebait. To help you guarantee a successful strategy, here are helpful tips:
- Limit the other food sources to spotlight the food you used to prebait.
- You can use four to five kinds of bait if the other rodents aren’t familiar with one.
- Don’t be greedy when applying the bait. Being generous to the amount will have more rodents going for a feed.
- Take note of the areas where feeding mainly occurs and add additional traps near it.
- Empty and refill the traps with fresh baits. You can do this for three or four consecutive days or until 75% of the traps have been taken out.
Final Thoughts
As much as we want to be cost-effective by setting rodent traps by ourselves, it is always advisable to let professionals handle pest infestations. However, you can help them out by following through with the tips mentioned above.
