Fall Pests That Want in Your Home

Mouse peeking through hole in attic wall

If it seems like there’s an increase in insects in and around your home in the fall, you’re probably right. It’s the result of pests trying to get indoors as the weather gets colder. Some pests migrate to warmer climates, some burrow in or under debris, while others just try to get into our homes to warm up. The scientific term for this phenomenon is overwintering. Pests will find a suitable area to settle in during the colder months and then become more active in the spring. 

This most directly affects you when fall pests enter your home. Some do this by coming in through small openings that are already present and others will chew their way in. There are several types of pests known to try to get in, from insects to rodents. The most difficult fall pests to get rid of are the ones you can’t see because they get in the attic or behind your walls. Read on to learn more about the common pests that may try to get in your home in the fall. 

Rodents

You probably know that squirrels are excellent climbers but did you know that roof rats and mice can also climb well? Most rodents will climb almost anything; branches, fences and drainpipes can all be used to access the roof of your home!  From there, it’s easy to get into your attic and make a nest to stay warm for the fall and winter. If you hear scratching or gnawing noises from up above or inside the walls, you likely have rodents inside your attic or wall voids starting to make themselves at home. Should this happen, it would be time to call an experienced rodent exterminator like the specialists at Griffin Pest Solutions. It is also advised that you ensure your home is properly sealed to help prevent rodent entry. A mouse can enter an opening roughly the size of a dime! Squirrels will chew on dormers and fascia boards to make their own entry points. 

Asian lady beetles

While Asian lady beetles resemble ladybugs, they’re somewhat larger. Their coloration ranges from red to orange and not all of them have spots. So, what’s the problem with these small ladybug look-alikes? They hang out together in large groups, using pheromones to communicate their location. When they decide to enter your home to get warm, the result can be a large infestation that ends up in your attic or walls. While they won’t directly cause harm by damaging your home or stinging you, there are unpleasant side effects. Should you end up with an infestation, lady beetle waste can stain and is known for triggering allergic reactions or breathing difficulties in sensitive individuals.

The best way to prevent these, or any bugs, from getting into your home is to seal cracks and crevices on the exterior of your home. Asian lady beetles are small, so you’ll need to be diligent should you choose to take on this task. Having a preventative pest control service in place can also help to prevent a pest infestation from taking place in your home. If a product is applied to your home consistently, it doesn’t allow for an infestation to even begin. 

Stink bugs

While there are several types of stink bugs, the brown marmorated stink bug is the one you’re most likely to see in your home. It’s an invasive species originally from Asia. They’re shaped like a shield and their color is a mottled combination of brown and gray. They range in size from ¼” to ⅜”. As their name suggests, when stink bugs feel threatened or get squashed, they release an unpleasant odor. Stink bugs tend to spend the winter in quiet parts of a home where they’re unlikely to be disturbed like an attic, crawlspace or inside the walls. 

When you see these pests walking on your home or nearby trees, it is easy to forget that they can fly and it’s their wings that bring them to your home in swarms at times. You will first start to notice these fall pests as the temperature starts to cool at night but the days are still warm. Stink bugs will land on the sides of your home, where the sun is warming the siding, this helps them to stay warm as well. They are drawn to lighter-colored homes, which can be the reason you are seeing them but your neighbor doesn’t have any issues.

Wasps

A whole wasp colony doesn’t overwinter, just the queens. The worker wasps won’t survive the winter and the queen will start a new colony every year.  The fertilized queens overwinter outdoors in places such as hollow logs, stumps or under leaves. However, they can also overwinter on or in structures, including the attics or siding of homes. The most common way for wasps to get in is through attic vents that aren’t screened. If you haven’t done so lately, look for openings into your attic and seal them as much as possible to help prevent wasps and other pests from entering. It is possible for the queen to start her new colony in your attic, which can mean a large nest of wasps could end up inside! 

Expert Exterminators

Griffin Pest Solutions has been providing the Lower Peninsula of Michigan with trusted pest control services since 1929. If you have any of these pests are in your home, we can help get them out and keep them out. We also offer preventative services to help keep these pests from entering your home this fall or winter! Call us for a free quote!

Everything You Should Know About Rodents Near You

Rodent peeking out through damage in a wooden log. Everything you should know about the rodents near you.

October 20 to 26 is the Professional Pest Management Alliance’s sixth annual Rodent Awareness Week. It couldn’t be happening at a more relevant time. According to a recent study, rodents are the greatest pest concern facing American homes today. Rats and mice invade 21 million homes every year, mostly in fall! Despite how common they are, however, rodent behavior isn’t very well understood. For instance, did you know that rodents are found in bathrooms twice as frequently as other rooms? The best way to prevent rodent infestations now and in the future is to understand them better.

We want to help! That’s why, in honor of Rodent Awareness Week, Griffin put together this primer on everything you should know about the rats and mice near you. This is what rodents want, how they get into your home, and how you can keep them out for good:

What do rodents want?

Rodents want shelter, warmth, food, and humidity–usually in that order. They enter homes in late summer and fall in order to escape the freezing temperatures of winter. Once inside, they’ll stick around if they can get their paws on food and water. Rats and mice look for warm, dark, narrow, humid shelters where they can find food and water.

How do rodents find homes to infest?

Rodents are very sensitive to temperature and pressure fluctuations. These sensitivities help rodents understand when the season is changing faster than we possibly could. As soon as they sense outdoor temperature chances, rodents start looking for the warmth and pressure differentials created by drafts. When they find drafts, they’ll follow the warmth inside.

In addition to temperature and pressure sensitivity, rodents also possess a highly-developed sense of smell. This sense of smell allows them to sniff out specific information about food, including the best way to get to it. Rodents literally “follow their noses” all the way inside your home. 

Rodent chewing on sunflower seeds near a home

How do rodents get into homes?

Rodents make their way inside by sneaking through tiny, draft-producing nooks and crannies located all around homes. Mice and rats are notorious for their ability to squeeze through tiny gaps. They tend to typically find these gaps in a few particularly likely places, including:

  • Door and window frames
  • Gaps around utility lines
  • Cracks in baseboarding and foundations
  • Breaches in vents or pipes
  • Damaged or rotting siding or shingles

Wait, why are they in my bathroom?

Rodents love moisture, warmth, and darkness. Bathrooms typically provide plenty of all three, particularly if they’re in your basement. Rats and mice live in bathrooms to soak up humidity and warmth and drink condensation. Occasionally, rodents may even swim up through damaged plumbing pipes to enter your home.

rodent climbing on an electrical wire

Why are they a problem?

Rodents are surprisingly dangerous in homes for several reasons. Here are the main reasons you never want rats or mice to establish themselves in your home:

  • Fire Damage: Did you know that 25% of the house fires attributed to “unknown causes” were probably caused by rodents? Rats and mice chew through electrical wiring, which can generate sparks and start fires.
  • Health Concerns: Rat and mice feces, saliva, blood, and fur transmit several dangerous diseases. Rodents may also carry diseased fleas or other parasites.
  • Food Damage: Rats and mice in your home will make a beeline for any pantry food they can find. The damage they inflict can get surprisingly expensive surprisingly quickly!
  • Wood, Fabric, and Paper Damage: Rodents constantly gnaw on any soft materials they can find, tearing them up in the process. Rodent infestations end up damaging wood, fabric, and paper products in your home.

How can I tell if I have a rodent problem?

Unfortunately, if you happen mice or rat inside your home, chances are they aren’t alone. Even if you don’t see your rodent, however, there are a few ways to figure out if they’re hiding near you. Look for the following signs:

  • ¼ to ½ inch long black droppings that look pellet or spindle-shaped
  • Damaged electrical cables or wiring
  • Gnaw marks on cardboard boxes, drapes, upholstery, wooden furniture, or even carpet
  • Damaged food packaging
  • Collections of dirty, soft material like paper, insulation, cardboard, or plastic
  • Dirty or greasy markings along the lower parts of walls

How can I keep them out of my home?

Start by cutting off their access to your home. Repair weaknesses you find around the usual sites up above using caulk, weatherproofing, spackle, or another sealant. If an opening is big enough to see, it’s probably big enough for rodents to use. Pay particular attention to drafty or humid parts of your home such as basements and bathrooms.

When you’re finished rodent-proofing access points, make the rest of your home as inhospitable to rats and mice. Keep your the floor of your basement, crawl spaces, pantries, and attics as clean and clear as possible. Elevate all storage materials, especially cardboard boxes and linen garment bags. Store your pantry food in airtight hard plastic containers. You should even keep your lawn as clear as possible. The harder it is for rodents to hide near you, the greater the distance they’ll keep.

 

Once rodents have established themselves inside your home, they can be difficult to remove without serious help. Luckily, you have serious help–you have Griffin Pest Solutions. 

Our experts can find rodent infestations, remove them, and make sure they can’t get in again. If you become a little too aware of rodents this Rodent Awareness Week, give us a call anytime. We’ve yet to meet a rodent infestation we couldn’t beat.

The Late Summer Rat Problem

Outside rats move inside when temperatures fall

We don’t like it any more than you do, but it’s time to face facts: summer is ending. Fall will be here before we know it, whether we’re ready or not. If you pay attention, you’ll notice the whole world preparing. Squirrels are busy gathering food, ants are reproducing, and bees are swarming.

Unfortunately, some of these fall preparations might be a problem for you. Rodents like mice and rats are gearing up for fall and winter like everything else. The first item on any rat’s fall preparation list is finding a warm place to stay. If you’re not careful, that place could be your home. The only way to keep rats out this late summer is to beat them at their own preparation game. Here’s what those rascally rodents are up to and how to counter them at every turn:

Looking for Food

Rodents have an incredibly keen sense of smell. Rats can interpret all kinds of information from different scents. This sense of smell helps guide rodents toward accessible food supplies. Rats can smell food through walls, even if it’s dry and stored. They can even smell how easily they’ll be able to access it. Rats literally follow their noses to sources of food, letting scents guide them to vulnerable access points.

Rats are looking for consistent sources of food they can access easily. They want to be able to sneak into boxes of food to chow down without anyone noticing. Make that as hard as possible. Store all your dry goods in airtight plastic containers. Clean up your dining and kitchen areas after every meal. Take your garbage out every night. If you can make your food hard for rats to get at, they’ll be much less interested in trying.

Rats start building nests in late summer and fall

Building Nests

Rodents aren’t picky about nesting material. They build small, tightly-packed clumps of various debris, which they rest and eat in. Rats build their nests of paper, insulation, stray fabric, and other trash. They gather these materials by dragging them into dark corners. Often, rats will rip paper or other objects to shreds to use as nesting material. Rodents also rear their young inside these nests, where they can stay safe and hidden.

Rats build their nests in dark, secluded, and warm areas. They want to be able to rest and forage for food without fear of being spotted. Consequently, if there’s a rat nest in your home, it’s probably in your basement, attic, or crawl space. Look for nests in corners or beneath furniture. Rats often build nests into damaged insulation, walls, or other nooks and crannies. Prevent rats from building nests by taking care to keep your basement clean and tidy.

Teething

Rat and mouse teeth never stop growing, so the rodents never stop teething. Rats and mice have to gnaw on something constantly to keep their teeth sharp and healthy. They’re not particularly picky about what they chew on. As long as it’s soft enough to bite down on safely, rats are all over it. Teething is a big reason why rats can be dangerous inside homes. When rats bite down on wiring, they could start dangerous electrical fires.

Rats gnaw on soft materials that they can access while they’re sneaking around. Usually, they’re chewing on boxes, storage materials, fabrics, or wiring. The best way to keep rats from damaging your stuff by chewing on it is to elevate it. Keep vulnerable stored materials in an elevated place where rats can’t reach it. Replace your cardboard boxes with hard plastic ones. Conceal and protect electrical wiring whenever possible, and consider affixing it to the wall.

Rats sneak into homes to find shelter in late summer and fall

Looking for Shelter

Rats have extremely keen perceptive senses developed over centuries of hard-won survival. One of the main reasons why they have these developed senses is so they can prepare for environmental changes early. When they start sensing a season’s change, they start looking for warm shelter right away. Rats use several senses to start searching for shelter. Their whiskers help them locate drafts and warm breezes, which they can follow into structures.

Rats use their heightened senses to find all kinds of access points. Once they find these access points, they can twist and squeeze their way in through surprisingly tiny openings. Rodents frequently squeeze through openings in door and window frames, utility lines, and small foundation cracks. Many rodents can climb surprisingly well to access openings, but most get in via access points close to the ground. Finding and blocking off these access points is the most important thing you can do to prevent rodent infestations.

Rodents are very, very good at preparing for cold weather. One of their most dastardly techniques is sneaking their way inside before we know to look for them. If they’re safely ensconced in your home before the temperatures even drop, they won’t have to worry about your fall defenses!

If rodents start this early, we have to start preventing them this year, too. Follow these tips starting now to keep rodents from infesting your home this fall. It’s not too early to start thinking about winter! If you do end up with rodents now or later, however, remember that you can always give Griffin a call. No matter how prepared your rodents are, we’ll prove we’re even more prepared.