With the recent holidays, you may have accumulated more cardboard, corrugated cardboard, and plastic packaging materials than your trash cans could handle at once, in addition you may have a cut tree you moved from your living room to the back yard or side of the house. A tip from Wheeler’s Pest Control: Cut those items up in to small pieces to better fit in the space your trash cans. The card board material is made of Cellulose, wood, and mixed with moisture this provides food for a number of insects, and even dry this material can be chewed on and used as nesting material for rodents. Those plastic shell packing materials, if left out can accumulate water that will attract nearly every pest Wheeler’s Pest Control deals with. Most municipal refuse collection services do offer tree pick up after the holidays, but if you miss your pick up day, you can cut your tree in to smaller pieces for disposal in your landscape recycling, or your regular trash pick up. Mulching your tree is also a good option.
This is also a good time to inspect areas you might normally not. Packing back up holiday decorations, you’ll want to check boxes for signs of rodent activity, as well as the area you store those boxes. If you put up lights along your roof line, you’ll want to note trees and shrubs that are growing a bit close to your roof and have them cut back. While you’re up there, if you have rain gutters, those can be inspected as well. The build up of plant material can trap water, but will also trap evidence of rodent activity. On your way down the ladder, take a look at those shrubs around the house, they may need some trimming or pruning.
If you traveled during the holidays, your luggage can be inspected for Bed Bugs, Spiders, Fleas, etc. If you traveled by automobile, its a good time to look under the seats for dropped food items or spilled beverage that can leave a food source for pests.
We get many calls for rat infestations during the winter months, and increased traveling brings inspections for Bed Bugs activity. A new year approaches and Wheeler’s Pest Control is ready to help.
