Triple Crown of Pests can Cause Thanksgiving Blues

With Thanksgiving only a few days away, there remains plenty of time to finish grocery shopping and food prep before friends and family arrive in SaddleBrooke to celebrate together. Meanwhile, roaches, rodents, and ants enjoy seizing the opportunity to make themselves known once your guests have gone home. Fortunately, there are things you can do to help keep these pests from ruining the rest of your upcoming Thanksgiving weekend.

A very common pest, cockroaches are nocturnal and remain in the dark whenever possible, only emerging to search for water and food. Large infestations should be suspected when cockroaches are seen in the open or in the light during the day. Much like your invited Thanksgiving guests, these uninvited insects require three things: water, food, and warm shelter.

Meanwhile, ants will eat practically any kind of food, but are especially attracted to sweets as they supply a large amount of energy to the relatively small ants. While most ants are considered harmless, an ant infestation can be a major nuisance and may be difficult to control. When ants find a food source is in your home, you can count on them quickly entering your home through the smallest cracks and crevices.

Rodents such as mice are often common household pets, but in the wild they can become very bothersome household pests. They can sneak into homes through a hole about the size of a dime in order to find food or shelter from their natural outdoor habitats. Once inside, mice make their homes in quiet spaces out of spare materials, such as string and insulation. After entering your home, their diet consists of any spare food, but in nature they typically eat grains, seeds and sweets. Mice do not need to regularly drink water because they obtain it from the moisture in their food.

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Because all three of these pests are looking for food in your home, there are definitely some ways to prevent an outbreak before you may need a pest control professional. These ways include eliminating water (do not let water stand in sinks and eliminate outside collection areas), eliminating food sources (dispose garbage as soon as possible following your meal, pack leftovers properly, and wipe off counter tops often), and eliminate harborages (discard unnecessary cardboard boxes and pull mulch away from your home). Ultimately, in the event of a major infestation, a pest control professional can help with actual exclusion techniques to block off and seal possible entryways especially for ants and rodents.

By following these simple steps, the chances of the Triple Crown of Pests arriving unannounced to your Thanksgiving meal will TRULY decrease. We encourage you to pack leftovers with secure lids, clean any clutter following your meal, and take out all of your properly bagged garbage as soon as you can to help keep pests away well past the holiday season!

Paul Opocensky is the Manager for Truly Nolen in SaddleBrooke. His service office can be reached at (520) 219-2494. Founded in 1938, Tucson-based Truly Nolen of America (trulynolen.com) is one of the largest family-owned pest control companies in the United States.