Why spend a fortune on costly pest management when you can easily keep the critters away with some preventative measures? Most Americans are struggling to ensure critters remain outdoors and most of them turn to professional exterminators for assistance. However, such a move ought to be your final resort. You can take all the necessary and appropriate steps to create a very intolerable environment for pests such as bugs and others and you never have to spend much on an exterminator. One of biggest culprits of pests in the US, happen to be crickets. Crickets infest one’s basement and other areas of the home as a way of seeking shelter and food to survive.
Below are some of the most effective techniques on how to get rid of camel crickets:
Close and Repair All the Openings
Regularly check your basement for gaps and cracks, particularly where the pipes exit via the walls. Go outside and look for openings around utility meters, laundry vents, and exterior outlets. These are some of the areas that are highly likely to have large cracks that invite bugs. Also, you should constantly check the weather stripping on windows and doors and repair every hole in the screens. You can use the screen repair adhesive patch for the quick fix. It is also important to make sure your garage door remains shut all the time, so that pests do not find any entry points.
Create a Dining Space for Your Pets
You should avoid leaving your pet’s food bowl on the floor because the pets can knock out the dish and you will end up with food that is scattered all over the floor. This is what will attract ants and other crawlers. Give the pets a dining space on the rubber mat. This will make the spilled food easy to spot and also clean up. In case you are having an ant problem with the pet food scattered all over the floor, you can put the pet food into the large bowl with water making it harder for the ants to access the food.
Ensure Your Kitchen Stays Clean
Almost all unwanted pests are usually attracted to leftover food bits, so keeping a very clean living area is very important. The following are some tips you could follow:
- Rinse all containers before you put them in the recycle bag
- Sweep or vacuum regularly
- Keep your fruits away from direct sunlight and regularly check the fruits
- Check whether there are sugar spills near your coffee maker
- Keep all leftover meals in enclosed containers
Keep your Home Dry
Pests love damp surroundings, therefore, eliminate wet spots and moisture. Check your basement to ensure there are no stains on the floor that are signs of dripping pipes and inspect the basement for loss fittings and cracks. Check for any water spots on the ceiling of your home that could indicate a hole in your roof. This is because holes can be perfect entry points for bugs and other insects.
Clean the Yard
Pests are highly likely to assemble under decaying leaves, compost heaps and grass clippings. Also, most of these pests use the branches touching your house as the pathways to gaining access to your home. Therefore, you should consider trimming shrubbery and branches to keep pests confined to their natural habitats. Consider cleaning up the entire pet poop and keep your compost heaps and trash bins covered securely away from your home.
Invite Birds
Besides being pretty to look at, birds are great predators when it comes to pests and other insects such as bugs. You should consider acquiring a bird feeder, which is much cheaper and will most likely take a smaller space than the birdbath.
Keep firewood away from your home
Cockroaches, ants and termites usually hide out in damp ground underneath and woodpiles. Store firewood in an elevated space that is away from your house. In case you have lots of firewood, then you should consider building a firewood rack that allows neat stacking of wood. Else, stack your firewood somewhere like on a bench or a wheelbarrow and use a tarp to cover it.
Trap Mice
Rather than killing mice and rats, you should consider trapping them. This is because the dead bodies of mice usually act as a breeding ground for bacteria and insects. You can easily buy a mouse trap from your local hardware stores.
Clean Out Air Vents and Ducts
Bacteria, allergens, dead skin and dust and much more usually build up in the dirty air duct systems. Pests love nesting in the vents to get food from the debris. Clean by wiping away any dust to make sure these bugs do not have a breeding space and to ensure to completely get rid of camel crickets.