How To Prepare For Summer Pests

Eliminate Extra Water

With summer comes mosquitoes, and all they need to lay their eggs is a bit of calm, fresh water. Rain from summer storms can collect in certain areas of the yard, which then act as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The items that usually collect water include bird feeders, flower beds, plant drainage trays, buckets, and tarps.

After a rainstorm — or a day of your kids running through the sprinklers — empty out the water from all of the previously listed items. If you have a birdbath or a pet’s water dish, change out the water often. Make sure your sprinklers and drip system work properly, and repair any leaks as soon as possible. The less water in your yard, the fewer places mosquitoes have to choose from.

Check The Screens

Although summer contains the hottest temperatures of the year, it’s still nice to open up the house during the cooler mornings and evenings. But before you do, we recommend making sure all of the window and door screens are in great condition. The last thing you need is to open the house to enjoy the fresh air, only to let in a swarm of pesky flies!

Check every window and door screen for any rips, gaps, holes, tears, and broken pieces. These openings allow easy access for persistent pests, like ants, rodents, mosquitoes, and flies. Small holes can be patched with extra screen mesh. If the screen is full of gaps, it might be easier to replace the whole thing with new mesh. There are many online tutorials on this process if you need a reference.

Store Your Pet’s Food Correctly

Our furry friends love their food, but they are unfortunately not the only ones. Dry dog and cat food commonly attracts pests because they like the protein found in the morsels. Yellow jackets, flies, and rodents are some of the worst since they won’t leave this newfound food source alone, posing a safety hazard to your pets.

Store the bag of food in an airtight container with a good lid, like the large Rubbermaid trash cans. This keeps the food fresh and protects it from hungry pests. You can also put their food bowl in here to keep it all together. Speaking of which, try not to leave your pet’s food dish out after they finish eating. Any residue left will attract yellow jackets (aka meat bees) and make it tricky for you to safely remove the bowl.

Clean The Pool

If you’re fortunate enough to have a pool in your backyard, you know the importance of keeping it clean throughout the year. No one wants to swim with a bunch of dead leaves! Well, except for a certain group of pests that thrive in a cluttered pool. The most common types include water boatmen, mosquitoes, backswimmers, and water striders.

During the warmer months, we recommend cleaning your pool with the net at least once a day. You take away the food sources and hiding spots from aquatic pests when you remove the sticks, leaves, and dead bugs from the pool. Also, keep an eye out for any algae growing in the pool. This attracts water boatmen because they use it as a food source and an egg-laying site. Scrub away any algae, and consider having your pool professionally cleaned if you don’t already.

Use Proper Trash Management

Garbage isn’t a fun topic to discuss because…well, it’s garbage. But it’s important to discuss since it’s a huge attractant for all kinds of summer pests. Rodents, ants, flies, and roaches all enjoy trash as a major food source. The easiest way to prevent them is to take away their meals, which means keeping your trash contained at all times.

Take out the trash from the kitchen and bathrooms as soon as the bags are full, without letting them overflow. Make sure the lids to your outdoor garbage cans are free of cracks, and keep them closed when you aren’t using them. If you have a backyard barbecue or enjoy a meal outdoors, make sure the trash is thrown away and all crumbs and spills are cleaned up immediately.

Do Some Yard Work

This sector of chores is less enjoyable in the summer when the hot sun is beating down on your back the whole time. Nevertheless, it’s important to maintain the health and neatness of the yard throughout the year. A yard full of overgrowth and dead plants is extremely attractive to pests, such as ticks that hide in the thick brush.

Keep the greenery trimmed by pruning the plants and mowing the lawn often. This eliminates the opportunity for summer pests to hide within the tall grass. Also, remove any weeds from the garden and flower beds. These are prime hiding spots for garden pests, like aphids and slugs. Trim back tree branches at least one foot from the house; otherwise, spiders and rodents can use them as highways to your home!

Clean The Grill

Nothing says “summer” like throwing a meal on the grill and enjoying it in your sunny backyard. But as much as we enjoy a dinner of grilled steaks and potatoes, summer pests like the food remnants on the grill even more. Mice, rats, and flies are drawn to the caked-on remnants on the grill’s surface. The longer the crumbs sit, the easier it is for them to enjoy a taste.

When the barbecue is still warm, carefully (no grill-induced burns here!) scrub the grate with a barbecue brush. The harsh bristles should remove the crumbs and scraps with ease. If anything fell off the grill while you were cooking, clean up all crumbs and spills with a damp cloth. Another perk of this process is that you get to start the next barbecue with a clean grill!

Seal Any Entry Points

The last thing you want to do is give summer pests easy access to your home. After all, what’s the point of trying to prevent them if they find a backdoor entrance into the house? The summer heat naturally causes house exteriors to wear over time, especially if the sun directly hits a portion of it for years. This summer, keep an eye out for any new weaknesses in your house.

Pests are small, so it makes sense that they use small openings to get inside a house. Check the exterior for any holes or gaps, taking care to inspect around pipes, doors, and windows. You can easily fill small holes with waterproof caulk. For larger gaps, fill with copper mesh or steel wool before lining with caulk. A sealed home is often a pest-free home!

Clean Out Your Food

Since it’s still spring for another month or so, there’s no time like the present for spring cleaning! Keeping your kitchen neat and clean is not only satisfying for you, it’s also an effective way to keep pests away for the long run. The kitchen is one of the most frequent locations for a pest invasion because of the unlimited food sources these critters find in there.

We recommend making it a habit to go through your pantry and fridge at least once a week to find any expired food. Check jars and cans for any leaks, and clean up crumbs and spills with an antibacterial cleaner. Store dried goods (cereal, chips, crackers, baking ingredients, etc.) in airtight containers with strong lids to keep pests out.

Use A Fan

On the hottest days of the year, you don’t have to tell us this tip twice. But fans do more than cool off a group of overheated people. Since most flying insects are so small, they can’t fly into the strong current of a motorized fan. That’s why you don’t see many flies, mosquitoes, wasps, or gnats on windy days or near strong fans.

Any kind of fan should do the trick of keeping summer pests at bay when you’re enjoying your outdoor space. If you have a ceiling fan attached to your patio cover, that should do a good job of preventing pests in the immediate area. If you have any pedestal or tower fans, place them around the areas where your guests are gathering to protect them from frustrating pests.

Protect Your Summer With Pointe!

All of these steps are excellent methods for preventing pests, but there is one more way to keep summer pests at bay: preventative services from Pointe Pest Control. Our licensed technicians are dedicated to solving each pest problem as efficiently and safely as possible. We start each service with a full property inspection to find all areas of pest activity. Our team uses those findings to then create a treatment plan that is customized to target each of the present pests. We are happy to address every question and concern you may have along the way. Don’t let pesky pests ruin your summer: contact us today for a free quote on our reliable services!

Citations

5 tips for summer pest control. (2020, June 26). Best Pick Reports. Retrieved May 13, 2024, from https://www.bestpickreports.com/blog/post/5-tips-for-summer-pest-control/

Brandpoint. (2023, June 8). Prepare for summer pests: Five ways homeowners can keep bugs at bay. Alexandria Times. Available at https://alextimes.com/2023/06/prepare-for-summer-pests-five-ways-homeowners-can-keep-bugs-at-bay/ (Accessed on May 13, 2024).

Harney, C. (2022, May 27). 6 common pool pests that prevent you from having fun in the sun. Pointe Pest Control. Available at https://www.pointepestcontrol.net/6-common-pool-pests-that-prevent-you-from-having-fun-in-the-sun/ (Accessed on May 13, 2024).