Why Treating for Pests in the Winter is Important
Winter is a time for enjoying time with your family in your warm, cozy home. Many people don’t realize, however, that their home isn’t just warm and cozy for them; it’s also warm and cozy for house pests.
It’s common to let regular pest control treatments slip during the winter. After all, you don’t see bugs outside much anymore. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
But “out of sight, out of mind” really isn’t a good philosophy to have when it comes to pests. In fact, a lot of pests do their worst work when they are out of our sights, and this is even more true in the winter than it is during the summer.
Are Pests Even a Problem in the Winter?
Contrary to the belief of many, pests are still a significant problem in the winter. When people ignore pests and pest control during the winter, they have to face an ugly truth in the spring and summer: the pests took advantage of not being disturbed and ransacked their home.
You definitely don’t want to be that person when spring comes. Not only does it mean a lot of unwelcome critters in your home, but it also means their babies. And there’s a good chance that it could result in health problems for your family and damage to your home. Hiring home pest control services year-round can make all the difference between a pleasant spring and a buggy one.
So why do pests become such a problem in the winter? Honestly, there are a few reasons.
Reasons Winter Pests Show Up in Your Home
Firewood
When winter comes, some people choose to heat their homes with fire instead of gas heating. Fire is effective, and what’s more, it really adds to that cozy winter atmosphere we all love. But with fire comes firewood, and with the firewood comes pests.
Wood is a home and food source for a lot of pests. From termites to ants to spiders and even mice, wood is a refuge. And stacks of firewood are no exception. In fact, because the wood is dead, it’s actually more attractive to some pests than a living tree would be.
But there are a few things you can do to keep firewood pests from getting into your home:
- Stack the wood at least 20 feet from your home.
- Stack the wood on a rack or shelf above the ground.
- Burn your wood immediately when you take it inside (don’t leave it sitting by the fire).
- Call home pest control services to treat your home so pests don’t stay a problem.
While it is a good idea to call home pest control services to treat your home, it is not a good idea to treat the firewood itself. Professionals should refuse to treat firewood, and you shouldn’t treat it yourself. When pesticides are burned, they create toxic fumes that could be harmful to you and your family.
Attraction to Warmth
As the weather cools off in the fall, pests will start entering your home more frequently. They don’t like being exposed to the cold any more than you do, so they search out warm spots and settle into them for the winter. The problem is that your home ends up being that warm spot.
You might see some of these pests as they come into your home, but most of the pests will slip into the quiet areas of your home where they won’t be disturbed. Places like the inside of the walls, the attic, and storage spaces become prime real estate for pests in the winter. But if you have pest control treat your home, you should have fewer pests taking up residence in your home.
Secure Place for Hibernation
Because homes have lots of places for pests to hide out during the winter, pests are likely to settle in for months at a time. The attic, for example, is a great place for spiders, mice, and other pests to build up homes and have babies. They know that, in places like this, their young will be able to survive and grow safely.
Other pests are just looking for a good place to hunker down for the coming winter months. The cold weather slows them down, and they need a place where they can safely go dormant. Sure, you won’t see them all winter if they’re dormant, but in the spring, all the dormant insects will get moving again, and you’ll realize just how many were waiting out winter in your home.
Food Sources
In the summer, pests of all kinds can be outside in the warmth and finding food sources all around them. But when winter comes, most of those outdoor food sources freeze and get covered with snow. Survival is much trickier when food is hard to come by.
One of the biggest things that draws pests into our homes during the winter is the ample supply of food that pests can find there. Whether it’s the wood framing of your home or the pantry full of food, a lot of bugs and rodents will come searching for food sources that will keep them alive through the winter.
And as those pests come into your home, the predator pests like spiders will soon follow. Those predators don’t really have much reason to come into your home unless other pests come inside first. The predators simply follow the pests inside, and the more prey pests you have in your home, the more predator pests you’ll have as well. But if you have home pest control services to eliminate the prey pests, you’re unlikely to have many predator pests around.
Why Use Home Pest Control Services in the Winter
With so many reasons for pests to come inside your home during the winter, it’s clear that regular home pest control treatments are a necessity year-round. Winter treatments often focus on internal inspections so that your walls, attic, and more are protected from pests and damage. Even if you can’t see the pests, they’re there, and they could be a much bigger problem than you ever expected.
