Your home is more important than ever. More and more of us quarantine ourselves at home to protect ourselves and our loved ones from the coronavirus. We’re staying at home (and many of us are also working from home) to mitigate our risk of spreading this disease. That means we’re going the extra mile with our spring cleaning and decor, knowing that the state of our home will play a huge part in determining the quality of our mental health going forward. Some of us may even be planning on some renovations to ensure that we get the most out of our home this spring.
But as clean, tidy and perfectly organized as our homes may be, there’s one more thing we need to think about. The unwelcome pests that may be attempting to make your home their own as you read this! While the evidence shows that household pests probably can’t carry the coronavirus into your home, there’s still plenty they can do to endanger your health and sabotage your home. To keep your family safe, it’s a good idea to find a reliable pest control company near you. And to keep an eye out for signs of the following unwelcome intruders…
Rats and mice
Rodents are an all-year round problem. Many assume that when the weather warms up between March and May that they’ll be migrating outdoors, but rats and mice will be slow to depart if there is easy access to food sources in your home. Rodents can carry diseases and their feces and urine can spread extremely harmful diseases, especially if you’re sharing your home with elderly relatives or young children. If you see droppings, gnawed timbers or other signs of infestation like burrows in your attic insulation, you may need to call a professional who can help you lock down all the tiny points of ingress where rodents can sneak in.
Ants
Ants can feed on virtually anything that’s eaten in the home. They’re persistent foragers and once they’ve established a colony in your home it can be extremely hard to get rid of them if you don’t know how to locate and safely extract the nest. Moreover, it’s important to be able to distinguish pavement ants from carpenter ants. The latter can create tunnels in the wooden parts of your home which may undermine its structural integrity.
Be extra vigilant this spring when it comes to storing your food and disposing of food waste.
Fleas
Even if you’ve gone into lock down, it’s still permissible (and recommended) to take one walk, run or jog a day and to exercise your household pets. But when you bring them home, they may be carrying unwelcome visitors in their fur. Once fleas have entered your home they can live up to a week even without a host and a female flea will lay around 2,000 eggs in her lifetime. So make sure you bathe your pets and treat them to a flea-proof collar as well as keeping your home spotless.
Final Thoughts
Your home will be your refuge in this challenging time. Just make sure the people you love are the only ones you’re sharing it with!
