It’s a safe bet to say all Calgarians agree that sharing our homes or offices with nasty critters or insects isn’t high on our list of favourite things. With winter poking it’s head just around the corner, now more than ever we are seeing the migration and desperate scurrying of pests set on hibernating under our stoves or under the filing cabinets at work. This increased activity, especially in spiders, ants and rodents, is a result of needing to search out better accommodation as their summer nesting grounds are frosting over. To protect our homes and businesses through the coldest months of the year, it’s good to start preventative measures against unwelcome critters and creepy crawlies as soon as possible. Once they’ve managed to make it indoors, it’s very hard to convince them to leave.
Keep Your Paws Off!
An annual inspection of your home or business is a great idea when it comes to keeping the pests outside. Before you call the big guns in, it’s easy to do a quick inspection yourself. Rodents, particularly mice, are huge fans of hiding out in garages, sheds, attics, basements and even the most scrubbed and spotless kitchens. Don’t think for a second that mice discriminate between clean spaces and not, they will invade no matter how many times you wash your dishes. Kitchens are a mouse’s utopia – they’re warm, full of food and have quite a few quiet corners for a mouse to settle down with their little mouse babies. The best way to prevent them from making it indoors is to watch how often you leave your doors open, as it just takes a second for a mouse to make a mad dash inside. This includes the garage door when you’re warming up your vehicle before work or when you open the door for Snoopy’s bathroom break. The colder it is, the quicker we need to close our doors. And it’s not just our doorways that can be easy access to a mouse. Any hole or gap larger than a quarter inch is an entry point.
Limit Points of Entry
The best way to seal up those entry points is using dense steel or copper wool. Don’t bother with glues or caulk as mice and insects tend to chew through it like it’s a tasty treat. Replacing and patching all window screens is essential when trying to keep both rodents and insects at bay and swapping out old and tattered weather stripping is a must. If these seem like tedious jobs, just remember that with each plugged hole, you’re saving some change on your electrical bill too! Denying pests even the thought of an invitation is much easier than kicking them out, and starting those preventative measures early is your best avenue to success.
Have pests already invaded your home or business to escape the cold? Give our technicians a call at 403-262-1666, and we will make you fall pest problem an afterthought!
