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This time of the year is hopefully a combination of family time, days off work, kitchens full of food/drinks, warm houses, and snowy backyards. Well unfortunately you might have to add rodents, pharaoh ants, cockroaches, and other unwanted pests to the list! While some pests are only really an issue in the summer months, others continue to present a threat throughout the winter. Let’s take a few minutes to discuss what you can do to keep your home pest free throughout this holiday season.

Mice

First, let’s talk mice. As the weather cools they begin to look for warm buildings that they can nest in and get food from. While they are still active outside in the winter just with a thicker coat, they become most noticeable indoors in the fall and throughout the winter. The first thing a homeowner would want to do is seal up potential entry points – ideally 3 months ago! I’ll name a few. Mice like to enter the garage often through a gap in the weather stripping at the bottom corner of the overhead door. Also, the electrical wiring and pipes entering the exterior walls of the home can have gaps around them, these can lead into wall voids, or if followed can lead directly into a room such as an electrical room. Additionally, large trees in your yard may look beautiful, but if they’re overhanging onto your roof it’s providing an easy way onto your roof. From there mice may be able to enter through your chimney and Ho HoHo who’s coming down your chimney, not Santa! Lastly, as I said earlier mice can enter your garage, and if you’re like many people you keep your fake Christmas tree in a bag in your garage. Well, I can tell you from experience as a child, inspect this thoroughly because you don’t want to be carrying a family of mice directly into your home.

Pharaoh Ants

Next, let’s cover pharaoh ants briefly. You may have already read our last blog post on Pharaoh ants and know they’re no fun and becoming more of an issue in Ontario. You also may be currently experiencing Pharaoh ant activity in your home especially if you live in a multi-unit building such as an apartment or townhouse complex where it is more difficult to eliminate them if they have spread throughout the building. One of the key steps in elimination is sanitation so having a ton of food and drinks in your kitchen can be problematic if precautions aren’t taken. First, you want to make sure you are not attracting ants with accessible food and that you’re not competing with any treatment bait you have out. Keep food in closed containers when on the counter or in cabinets, get the kids together to clean up all the dishes and spillage after your feast, and then wipe down all the puddles and spilled water that the kids made as they tried to clean up. This way you’re doing your part to remove food and water sources that will contribute to a larger pharaoh ant issue.

Cockroaches

Lastly, let’s cover everybody’s favourite holiday guest, cockroaches. Hopefully, they cancel last minute with a cold and decide to not join your dinner party. Unfortunately, that will never happen because cockroaches are always up for a nice meal and ready to settle down and start a family in a new home. They usually enter new environments via deliveries and packages (especially food packages), or from people via their belongings. If you or your family lives in the city there’s a good chance someone’s living in an apartment and for them, their risk of cockroach activity is much higher. Cockroaches sometimes end up in purses or backpacks which can then be brought into your home. Now I’m not suggesting you check everybody’s bags upon entry of your dinner party but there are some things you can do to reduce the risk. Again I’m highlighting sanitation, many of the steps we take when combating a pharaoh ant infestation are the same when considering cockroaches. You want to reduce water and food sources as well as decrease clutter and hiding spots. Also by sharing this post with friends and family they may take it upon themselves to check their belongings extra closely if they’re seeing cockroaches in their home. Lastly being educated on how cockroaches enter and thrive in the home can provide you with more tools on how to combat them and from there you can choose which steps you feel comfortable taking to reduce that risk.