Pest Prevention
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PRECAUTIONS Reduce moisture sources. Keep food sealed, eliminate crumbs, seal cracks in doors and windows. Keep plants, mulch, woodpiles and trees away from the home. Carpenter ants sometimes burrow in dead trees or drop from overhanging limbs.
TREATMENT Plug entries. For carpenter ants, some exterminators use aerosol or powder insecticide. For other ants, try store-bought bait traps or hire an exterminator. There are eco-friendly baits.
PRECAUTIONS When checking in to a hotel, lift sheet and examine the mattress. Keep luggage off hotel floors and inspect both inside and outside of luggage before heading home. At home, look for signs of droppings or smear marks on bedding or furniture.
TREATMENT Call a pest company. Treatments vary, including eco-friendly applications of heat or freezing. Launder bedding in hot water, and vacuum affected areas. Use bedding casings.
PRECAUTIONS Many of the measures for ants apply. Seal entry points. Reduce moisture. Keep food sealed and lids on garbage cans. Get rid of clutter like boxes and paper. Sticky traps monitor activity.
TREATMENT Bait traps or gels along baseboards and other areas can be effective. Some green products include boric acid. The roaches eat the product and return to the nest, where they spread the fatal powder.
PRECAUTIONS Prevent exterior wood from touching soil or mulch. Keep the base of the house dry. Minimize the use of mulch. Keep woodpiles away from house. Have regular inspections. Install a monitoring device, similar to a piece of wood in the ground.
TREATMENT Contact a pest management company, which may use repellent liquids, non-repellent liquids or baits. Fixes may include drilling holes in wood or the ground and injecting insecticides.
