Last evening I had dinner with several girlfriends and the subject of rats in one of their homes came up. As it turned out everyone at the table had dealt with a similar situation at some point and were very frustrated. I thought having a better understanding of what we can do to prevent pests from entering your home was important for many of my friends and clients.
I decided to call my friend, Jim Osborn, owner of Paratex, to get some professional advice from an expert! He was full of great information and really gave me the skinny. In short, rodents and bugs are very common to our area. Under “general pests” there is some information about how to identify and differentiate between the plethora of rodents and insects that may affect your home.
While pests pose a nuisance and sometime health problems (for those with asthma or allergies) in our homes – they are useful to our outdoor environment (in moderation of course). There are a lot of things we can do to reduce pests’ interest in our homes. The WA Toxics Coalition has some great fact sheets on indoor pest control (fact sheets in pdf at the bottom of the page). So, rats for instance, can be discouraged with a few, no-cost control standards, such as:
- Store garbage in tightly closed cans.
- Compost grass, brush, and yard cuttings but not garbage or food scraps.
- Remove fruits, vegetables, and bird seeds from the ground.
- Start your wood or lumber pile at least 1-1/2 feet off the ground.
- Do not pile wood next to your home.
- Remove animal droppings, trash, and/or garbage from your property.
- Have junked cars towed away.
- Prune tree limbs so that they do not touch the home.
- Close every possible entry to your home, including windows, doors, vents, pet doors, and small gaps under the eaves.
- Keep your home free of litter.
- Any food stored in basements should be in rat-proof containers.
They also include information about trapping or hiring professional trappers. Sometimes, the infestation of rodents or bugs is so huge that taking the aforementioned measures or trapping seems to not be making a dent. That’s when Paratex’s fumigation technology might be your solution. It is super important to remember that once the pest is removed from your home, to integrate the no-cost, control standards mentioned in WA Toxics Coalition’s fact sheets in and around your home so that you can continue to have a pest free home.
It is obvious that pest issues (something realtors deal with quite regularly) are a real stress to my friends and clients who are raising families and living in their homes. I hope this information and the links provided are useful to all of you.
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