Most pests are attracted by debris from human or animal activities and the shelter our homes offer. The first priority for effective pest prevention is to understand your adversary. The goal is to identify and seal pest entry points, eliminate sources of food, establish good housekeeping habits, and if necessary, actively eliminate pests with traps and pesticides.
Common household pests include insects, such as ants, cockroaches, termites, flies, moths and wasps. Urban wildlife, such as rodents, raccoons, bats and birds can sometimes become problems in buildings as well.
Pests can creep inside a grocery bag from the store or a suitcase from travels abroad. They can move into your home, from the apartment next door or the one above or below. Apartment buildings have many “highways” for pests to follow. They crawl along heating ducts or water pipes and they squeeze into tiny cracks and gaps in floors, walls and doorways. Wildlife tends to eat their way into your home. They will destroy, rip, and eat away at eves, roofing, insulation, vinyl siding, vents, ductwork etc. just to gain access to your home.
Once inside your home, a pest can probably find everything it needs to survive and multiply quickly. No matter how neat and clean your home is, the pest will likely locate the food, water, warmth and dark hiding places it needs to live and breed. Some animals, like raccoons and opossums for example, are extremely territorial. Now that they have made your home their own, they get upset and unsettled when someone tries to remove them. This is especially true if they have entered your home to birth to their babies. A mother (of almost any species) will go too far to extremes to protect its young, causing these already dangerous animals to become even more so. You now become a threat to them in your own home.
Pests will take various routes to find their way into your home. Insects enter apartments through poorly sealed or open windows and doors, cracks and crevices in walls or foundations, and openings around pipes and other penetrations. Insects can squeeze through extremely small openings. Vents and air ducts can provide an entry point for birds, rodents, and insects. Insects can also attach themselves to pets, or to people and the items they are carrying. Pests can be detrimental to you, your family, and your pets.
Home repair and maintenance can be a daunting task. When dealing with issues that are so time-consuming, it is very understandable to get frustrated easily when your attempts don’t seem to keep the issue at bay for very long. It is recommended that for major issues, that can lead to health problems for you and your family a professional service company is called in to rid your home of pests.