Tag
What pests and pest control mean for your health, and how to keep kids and pets safe while you deal with them.
Rats & mice · Identify
Rat droppings are about ½ to ¾ inch long; mouse droppings average ¼ inch. How to tell them apart by size, shape and location, how to tell fresh from old, and what to do next.
Stink bugs · Identify
No. Stink bugs can’t bite or sting people or pets. Their smelly fluid can irritate skin and eyes, and a dog that eats one may drool or vomit until it passes.
Mice & rats · Safety & Cleanup
Mice in insulation don’t always mean a new attic: trap and seal first, then bag only the soiled patches and top them up. Full restoration runs $3.30–$5.50 per sq ft.
Mice & rats · Safety & Cleanup
A dead mouse smells like rotting meat. Follow the smell and flies to it, spray and double-bag it; if you can’t reach it, the smell usually fades in a few weeks.
Cockroaches · Get Rid of Pests
Boric acid kills roaches, but slowly: puff a barely visible film into cracks and voids, never piles in the open, add gel bait, and expect results after a week or more. A pound costs about $19.
Get Rid of Pests
Mow often, rake out leaf litter, clear brush at the lawn edge and lay a 3-foot strip of wood chips between lawn and woods. Treat clothes with permethrin, dry them on high for 10 minutes after outdoor time, and check people and pets.
Get Rid of Pests
A small paper wasp nest you can reach from the ground is a DIY job: spray it at dusk, wait 3–4 days, then knock it down and bag it. Hornet nests, nests in walls and nests up a ladder are worth the pro’s $525 average.
Mice · Repellents
No. Mothballs are labeled for fabric pests in tightly closed containers, not for mice or rats. Why they fail, the health and legal risks, and what works instead.
Cockroaches · Get Rid of Pests
No. In an NC State study, roach bombs didn’t reduce cockroaches at all, while similarly priced gel bait did. Skip the fogger; about $54 of bait, sticky traps and caulk does the job.
Mice & rats · Traps & Baits
Glue traps catch mostly young mice, rats often pull free, and the CDC advises against them. A dozen snap traps costs about $14 and works better.
Mice & rats · Safety & Cleanup
Don’t sweep or vacuum. Air the room 30 minutes, glove up, soak droppings with 1.5 cups of bleach per gallon of water, wait 5 minutes, wipe, bag. About $15 in supplies.
Mice · Get Rid of Pests
A mouse in the bedroom is mainly a droppings-and-urine risk, not a bite risk. Tonight: put food away, pull the bed off the wall, set snap traps kids and pets can’t reach.
