Why Do I Have Bugs?

Are you sick and tired of these 4, 6, 8, or more legged creatures invading your home?  Your home is supposed to be your safe space where your own environment breeds comfort and safety.  Is something biting you, eating your birthday cake, or just giving you the willies? Let’s explore why they are here because that is the first step before any treatments are done.

If you have a pest in the home often times the pest is not the real problem.  The creepy bug is an effect of the real problem and what indicated to you that something was not right.  There are many species of pests with different reasons for coming to visit you but most situations come down to 3 things.  Think of it as a triangle of food water and shelter.  If any of the sides of a triangle are removed, it will collapse and the same will happen to a pest population. Remove food, water, or somewhere to hide and they will go elsewhere. Just like us, they need these 3 things to survive and if you were extreme enough you could fix a problem by removing one.  In reality though, that is really extreme and impractical.

FOOD

           It may seem like an obvious one, but sanitation is almost always a factor when you have a pest problem. But what you might not realize is how what they like to eat and where is just as important. Customers often tell me how clean they keep the house and most do, but what we consider a mess is totally different from the perspective of a tiny ant. That one unimportant crumb to us is a boulder feast for her family. The tiniest little thing can start a huge problem. Don’t forget the areas behind and under your appliances.  We don’t see these often and things can get pushed under them and gather a bug grocery store when your kitchen looks spotless. To make matters worse, these are precisely the areas the bugs, rats, and mice like to be, hidden away from you. Now let’s be fair, you cannot keep your home 100% clean if you want to actually live there, especially if you have kids and pets.  BUT… the closer you get to immaculate the better. If you have a pest problem whatever level of clean is your normal, go past that until the problem is under control. As icky as it is sometimes YOU are the food.  A mosquito repellent with as much Deet as you can take will help but if you have bedbugs, call me, you need help.

Water

          All Gods creatures also need water.  It is the life blood of survival.  Supposedly we can only go 3 days without water but I suspect it to be less than that.  Pests can find water in a plethora of places.  That leak under the sink, the drip pan from the refrigerator, sweat from the windows, the j traps in the sink, the mess little Johny made in the bath, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg and only the inside sources. Just like the food, you can’t get rid of the water, we need it every day.  However you can reduce it.  The only place water needs to be is in the sink, in a glass, or in the tub.  Past that, we start to have a potential problem. 

Shelter

          The third side to the triangle is shelter, somewhere to hide, nest, or an avenue to enter the home.  Let’s be realistic, the bugs and rats are outside and there is nothing that anyone can do about it. What we can do is reduce numbers and prevent entry into your home. It doesn’t matter what is outside chomping at the bit, if you don’t have a hole, there is no way they can come in.  Ahh but more reality… you can’t seal a house 100% but again, the closer you get, the better off you will be.  

For more details about this read Holes #whatbugsme.

          Along with holes providing shelter you can also provide harborage by storing things around the house like wood piles, and bricks.  Your landscaping is probably the biggest harborage you have.  Trees and bushes touching or overhanging the home are great places for spiders and ants to live and gain access to the home.  And then there is mulch, arguably the worst thing you can do to a home besides having pet monkeys.  Mulch is dead decaying organic matter that retains moisture on the foundation of your home and provides food water and shelter for millions of insects.  And all this you slap right up against your house feet thick because it looks good.  I hope it looks better than having bugs in your home or ruining your siding. This is such a big problem that I just added mulch to my list of future blogs to write. 

Conclusion

          Break any of the 3 sides and you will be closer to relief. Break more than 1, even better.  Just like us, if you remove the essentials for life, bugs will not survive.

           If you have more questions feel free to contact me. aaronv@phoenixpestcontroltn.com. Phoenix Pest Control services Knox and Blount Counties in East Tennessee.