Today, many people are particularly concerned about bedbugs, says Mary Reese, co-owner of Bay-Valley Pest Control, Inc. in Campbell. “When you sleep away from home, in a hotel or in someone else’s house, pull back the sheets before climbing into bed and look for the bugs or their feces. When you get home, leave your luggage outdoors or in the garage and wash all your clothes.”
Similarly, keeping pets on year-round flea medication will keep fleas out of your home. For fly problems, Mrs. Reese suggests buying an over-the-counter spray, misting the room where the flies are, then closing the doors. Here are some more tips:
Insects
• Keep ants away from your home with a concoction of borax and sugar. Mix 1 cup sugar and 1 cup borax in a quart jar. Punch holes in the jar’s lid, and sprinkle the mixture around the foundation of your home and around the baseboards inside your house. The ants are attracted by the sugar and poisoned by the borax. For cockroaches, sprinkle borax powder in the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Avoid sprinkling where children and pets could be affected.
• Use hairspray to kill a hornet, wasp, bee or other flying insect in your house.
• If you have a birdbath, change its water every three days to help reduce the mosquito population.
• Centipedes prey on other bugs, so their presence in your house may indicate the presence of other insects.
• You can distinguish termite damage from other insect damage by examining any holes you find in wood. Termites usually eat only the soft part of wood and leave the annual rings intact.
Raccoons and rodents
• Raw bacon or peanut butter makes good bait for a mousetrap. Make sure a mouse has to tug the trap to remove the bait. If you’re using peanut butter, dab some on the triggering device and let it harden before setting the trap. If bacon is your bait, tie it around the triggering device.
• If a raccoon finds its way into your attic or chimney, chemical repellants—such as mustard oil—are temporarily effective. For permanent relief, wait until the animal leaves and cover its entrance hole with wire mesh so it can’t return.
• For rodent infestations, put poison in deep cracks or holes, and use a screwdriver to stuff them with steel wool or scouring pads. Close the spaces with spackling compound mixed with steel wool fragments.
