It is no secret that pests are everywhere. You are a lucky soul if you have never had to deal with an infestation of ant, mice or other pests or rodents. One minute you are binge-watching your favorite Netflix show and the next thing you know you are dealing with an infestation. It happens to the best of us.
When it comes to dealing with pests, some people whip out their phones and call the pest experts. Others think they have their own solutions. Now, some household pest solutions are fine and may actually work, but others may only make the situation worse.
There are several methods in dealing with an infestation, some work quite effectively but there may be drawbacks. Earthwise Pest Management, your pest control service in Sacramento, offers the pros and cons of natural pest strategies.
Fly Traps
You can put something sweet into a bottle, like mango peels for example, and flies will go to the bottom and find themselves unable to get out. Flies are greedy that way. This is a method that works and you aren’t in danger of messing anything up or poisoning a family member.
You can also make your own flypaper by boiling sugar, water and corn syrup together to create a super-sticky substance that can be stuck on paper. Flies are drawn to the sweet concoction and will find themselves stuck fast to it.
While these are great ways to catch flies, they really don’t get to the root of the problem. Flytraps only deal with the adults and you want to attack the source of the problem which is the larval stage for the best results.
Killing Fruit Flies
Fruit flies are huge fans of sweet wine and they don’t care if it is red or white, Pinot Noir or Chardonnay. They just can’t get enough. To capture and kill fruit flies all you have to do is fill a smallish container with wine and a small drop of soap. This will attract the flies and drown them. Not a bad way to go if you like wine.
Again, this method will kill the fruit flies, but it does not resolve the root issue.
Mothballs
Mothballs are quite effective in repelling moths. And this is a great way to keep them out of your bedroom dresser drawers if you can stand the smell.
Another way to get rid of moths is to fill a small basin with water and hang a light over it. The moths bump into the light and fall into the water and drown.
Mothballs are effective at repelling moths, but they won’t get rid of them. The moths will just move to another part of the house. And again, it is best to treat the source.
Vinegar
As you may already know, ants rely very heavily on scent to communicate with each other. When one ant discovers food or anything else of interest, a scent trail is created so others can join in on the fun. So that is why that food you dropped on the floor has a line of ants forming about it.
One solution is to create your own scent trail that screws everything up for the ants. A solution of water and vinegar wiped onto the surface will wipe out those scent trails and hopefully drive the ants from your home.
Of course, when you drop more food a few days later, the ants will appear again. This is sort of like putting up a detour sign, traffic never stops, it is simply rerouted.
Killing Roaches
There is simply nothing worse than an infestation of roaches as they are gross and difficult to get rid of. But if you mix equal parts of baking soda and powdered sugar, you have yourself an effective roach killer. Roaches will also ingest boric acid and die from it.
Unfortunately, roaches can eventually make themselves immune to most homemade poisons. And when they do, your infestation will get worse.
Orange Attack
Spiders are no fans of oranges or any other citrus fruits for that matter. Just the sight of an orange or lemon is enough to scare them away. So make a spider repellent by mixing water and citrus juices in a spray bottle and wipe down your counters.
The problem is that to keep spiders away, you need to wipe things down a few times a day. That can be quite time-consuming.
In addition, you could be attracting other pests by wiping everything down with a citrus-based spray.
Great Walls
Hundreds of years ago, kinks built walls to keep their kingdoms safe. So maybe the best way to keep pests out of the house is by creating a border.
There are any number of things you can use to create a border including crushed garlic, cayenne pepper and even cinnamon. You might have to experiment to see which will work best. You might also come up with a combination that works rather well.
You can use peppermint to repel ants, copper to repel snails and mint to repel flies. There is something that will repel most any type of pest you can imagine.
The only problem is that while many natural ingredients do repel pests and rodents, they will only last a few days at the very best. And then you would have to reapply over and over again to be effective.
The best solution to a pest problem is to call Earthwise Pest Management.