Tag
When pests move indoors and breed, and what to do in each season to stay ahead of them.
Fall invaders · Get Rid of Pests
Put sticky traps in corners and behind appliances, dry out the basement, switch outdoor lights to yellow bulbs and seal the gaps crickets use. Tell house crickets from camel crickets first.
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.
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.
Mice & rats · Prevention & Sealing
Mice get in through pencil-width gaps (¼ inch) at pipes, doors, vents and the roofline. Seal them with metal mesh plus caulk; a DIY kit runs about $57–71.
Mice · Prevention & Sealing
Food, warmth, nesting spots and a gap about ¼ inch wide. Sealing food, pet food and garbage, moving bird feeders and woodpiles, and closing gaps costs little or nothing.
Mice & rats · Identify
Rarely. A house mouse stays within about 30 feet of its nest, breeds year-round indoors, and cold drives it in, not out. Trapping plus sealing runs about $57–71 in supplies.
Cockroaches · Identify
A wood roach is a native outdoor roach, ¾ to 1 inch, with pale edges behind the head. It can’t breed indoors and dies within days, so pick it up and toss it. No spray or exterminator needed.
Silverfish & springtails · Prevention & Sealing
Yes, it helps: silverfish, springtails and house centipedes need damp air. Keep rooms at 30–50% humidity with a $130–150 dehumidifier and a $10 hygrometer, and fix the leak behind it.
Flies & gnats · Identify
House gnats don’t bite. The biting “gnats” are outdoor flies: biting midges at dawn and dusk, black flies by day. Long sleeves, a fan and a $6.99 repellent stop most bites.
Fall invaders · Get Rid of Pests
Spray clusters on the outside wall with soapy water, vacuum the ones indoors without crushing them, and seal gaps 1/8 inch or larger before fall. Indoor sprays don’t help. About $15 in supplies.
Fall invaders · Get Rid of Pests
Vacuum or wipe them up with a damp cloth without crushing them, seal cracks around sunny windows, and keep a 3-foot strip of bare soil at the foundation. About $5 in caulk, no sprays indoors.
Fall invaders · Get Rid of Pests
Vacuum or swat the sluggish flies at your windows, use a UV light trap in the attic, and seal cracks on the sunny upper walls by mid-August. Fly paper and lawn sprays don’t help. About $5 in caulk.
