Keep Pests Away from Your Thanksgiving Feast
As the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines continue to evolve, it’s hard to know exactly how things will look this Thanksgiving. However we gather and regardless of how many chairs are at your table, nobody likes to see uninvited, unappreciative guests helping themselves to the meal you’ve labored over the past three days.
Check out some of the common pests that you may need to be mindful of in order to keep them out of your home and away from your Thanksgiving table.
Ungrateful Guests
It can be a thankless job playing host to family and friends during the holidays. Uninvited guests like mice and cockroaches might just add insult to injury. Not shy about helping themselves to a serving -- or seconds! -- mice and cockroaches have no qualms about sampling any food left uncovered or otherwise unattended.
Turn your back on the mashed potatoes, the green beans, or worse, a cheesecake, and they might just say “don’t mind if I do!”
To keep mice out, make sure any potential entryways to your home are sealed up. Check around doors and windows, ensuring that guests close doors behind them completely. Keep food stored in plastic containers with tight-fitting lids and practice smart storage and clean up of trash and recycling. Secure bins with lids and store them away from your home. Pet food should be kept off the floor and also sealed tightly.
Prevent the company of cockroaches by prioritizing cleanliness. Clean up dishes as you go, along with any spills. Window screens and door sweeps do a great job of blocking entry, and taking care of dirty dishes right away will help eliminate the filth and strong smells that cockroaches are often attracted to. Food -- both the human and pet variety -- needs to be stored securely, with any trash disposed of and not allowed to accumulate.
Stink bugs will do just what it sounds like. Stink. No one wants to be greeted by the pungent smell of stink bugs in anticipation of enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving meal. To keep stink bugs out, seal off any entries to the home. This includes cracks in walls and holes in screens. Practice the same smart storage strategies for food, as well as the quick cleanup of spills and proper disposal of any trash.
Bed bugs don’t just frequent hotels. They would love to avail themselves of your lodgings and any food sources they might find there. In fact, they might even hitch a ride in on one of your invited guests. Familiarizing yourself with signs of a bed bug infestation -- like dark red or brown spots on linens or the presence of flat, oval-shaped bugs about ¼-inch in length, is a smart way to stop an infestation from taking over your holiday gathering. Getting rid of bed bugs is best left to the pros.
Racoons anticipate the holiday season for the opportunity to grab take out from your trash cans. They are only delighted to dine on whatever you and your guests do not finish. To avoid this issue make sure all trash is tied off and placed in a sealed trash can. Also, keep your trash bins stored away from the house to avoid any interaction with racoons looking for a late night dinner.
We are Thankful for You!
It’s much easier to prevent a problem rather than deal with an infestation. No matter the season, you can always trust JP Pest Services to handle the heavy lifting for you. We are so thankful to have served our neighbors since 1925 and look forward to handling your pest control requests far into the future.
Learn about our Home Quarterly Program, which provides advanced protection against 50 problematic pests all year.
Happy Thanksgiving, from all of us at JP Pest Services!
