There are pests that tend to infest more during fall, they are known as common fall pests. Fall comes the beginning of the holiday season and there’s a lot of preparation homeowners take care of.
In this article, we are discussing the common fall pest and possible ways of getting rid of them. Keeping your home or property free from pests all through fall.
Common Fall Pests and How to Get Rid
One thing that’s easy to overlook is pest control with dropping temperatures, common pests, like rodents, stink bugs, bed bugs, beetles, spiders, wasps, and many others are looking for increasingly scarce food or shelter.
Unfortunately, our homes are equipped with everything most pests need, if left alone, an infestation can occur and create thousands of dollars of property damage.
Below are the common fall pest and how to get rid of them:
Rodents
As temperatures get cooler, more rodents will seek shelter indoors. Many rodents like Norway rats are capable of knowing their way through housing material including wood and metal.
Left alone rats and mice can cause some serious damage to your home’s structural integrity and can even create fire hazards by chewing on electrical wiring.
In some situations, a single mouse invading your home can quickly become an entire horde of mice foraging for food in your garage, or kitchen.
Note: Before attempting any pest control product, ensure to wear your personal protective equipment or PPE. Also, keep all people and pets off the treated areas until dry.
How to Get Rid of Rodents
To treat rats and mice during fall, what we recommend is:
You use baits like Asian rodent bait set inside of a rat and mouse bait station. It is made with peanut butter and other rodent attractants.
A rat and mouse bait station provides rodents with an ideal environment to shelter.
How to use: just set the bait onto the provided prongs and crumb tray inside the station. Set the station along the outer perimeter of your home or along the fence line.
Rodents in the area will detect the bait and travel along your structure to reach it. Once there, they will go inside, eat the bait, and travel back to their nests, and died within 3 to 4 days.
Once you have seen a reduction in rodent activity, you can set up a glue trap to monitor for future outbreaks. A good mouse glue is better and easy to set up, just pull the cover and place them where you’ve noted previous pest activity.
Where to place traps: We recommend you set them close to pest entry points, like doors, windows, wall voids, cracks, and crevices out of the reach of children or pets.
If you a child or a pet, get stuck on the glue, you can use cooking oil to loosen the stickiness.
Stink Bugs
Stink bugs are among the common fall pests invaders a homeowner can find. When crushed, they release a scent that many people find unpleasant.
Stink bugs are sensitive to the cooling temperatures of fall, causing them to invade indoors.
While harmless bees, insects congregate in large numbers will manage to find ways into our living spaces through cracks and crevices, and create unpleasant odors nobody wants to put up with.
How to Get Rid of Stink Bugs
If you are looking for long-term control of stink bugs. We recommend you use a bifenthrin-based liquid insecticide.
When applied properly, the bifenthrin will leave a long-lasting residual that will control a wide variety of pests including stink bugs.
Using a bifenthrin product of 7.9% active ingredients concentration will mix a solution at a rate of 0.33 fluid ounces to 1 fluid ounce of product per 1-gallon of water.
Use higher amounts, if you’re dealing with a heavy pest infestation, we recommend you spray the application with a 1-gallon handheld pump sprayer.
This makes both mixing and applying products quick and simple. To mix your solution, first, fill your sprayer halfway with water, add your measured amount of product into the sprayer.
Then add the remaining water up the 1-gallon line. Close the sprayer and shake to ensure even distribution.
A few times to produce a low-pressure spray. Apply your solution as a parameter application.
Spray along your home’s outer perimeter, spraying 3 feet up the structure and 3 feet out.
Allow the product to dry when applied properly. The bifenthrin will leave a long-lasting residual effect that will kill many pests like stink bugs that come into contact with it.
to treat tight cracks and crevices where stink bugs hide. Views and apply dry insecticidal dust like D-fense dust.
D-fense dust is ready-to-use dust made up of deltamethrin that is perfect for hard-to-reach areas.
If left undisturbed, this dust can last up to 8 months, use a handheld duster to apply D-fense dust under appliances, baseboards, and electrical plates.
In the attic stink bugs and other invasive pests that make contact with the dust are effectively knocked down and dies within a few hours.
Bedbugs
Bedbugs are one of the common fall pests that become increasingly widespread during the holiday season.
Bedbugs can occur year-round, many homeowners notice outbreaks during fall because they may have picked them up while traveling during summer.
Despite their name, these pests will inhabit any crack or crevice in any piece of furniture or personal belonging.
Bed bugs will feed on humans, sucking their blood and creating itchy bites. If you’re dealing with bedbugs know that you should conduct treatments on most of your furniture and belongings.
How to Get Rid of Bedbugs
The infested room will have to be left in its original spots moving furniture around different parts of your home can result in the infestation spreading before applying products.
You’ll need to thoroughly vacuum the floors of the infested room. Then wash all clothing, blankets, and other loose Fabrics, drying them with high heat.
Using Flex 10-10:
We recommend that you apply a product like Flex 10-10.
Flex 10-10 is a liquid insecticide concentrate made with Permethrin and Piperonyl butoxide (PBO).
How to Apply Flex 10-10:
You will apply this product in a 1-gallon handheld sprayer at a rate of 3.2 to 6.4 fluid ounces of product per 1-gallon of spray solution.
You can apply the solution to the tufts edges, seams, and folds of any mattresses in the infested room.
Using Gentrol IGR:
Afterward, we recommend you add an insect growth regulator (IGR).
Gentrol IGR is an insect growth regulator made with hydroprene. This Product will prevent pests from maturing into reproductive adults.
How to Apply Gentrol IGR:
Simply mix 1 fluid ounce of Gentrol IGR into your current spray solution. You can apply this solution of Flex 10-10 and Gentrol IGR onto the bed frame box, spring, or any furniture within the room, and the closets over the flooring and onto the baseboards.
Using Pyrid Aerosol:
Once you’ve completed the application above. The next step is to flush out cracks and crevices with a product like Pyrid.
Pyrid is an aerosol insecticide made with Permethrin and PBO, it’s great to flush out hiding pests within cracks and crevices.
How to Apply Pyrid Aerosols:
Applications include fixing the straw into the cans actuator and stick the straw into the area where pests may be hiding and spray.
It will immediately knock down pests that make contact with the spray killing them within minutes.
Please note that bed bug treatment may take time and could require several re-applications in 30 days.
Note: Do not remove an infested mattress as it may spread the infestation to other parts of your home.
Instead, you can protect your mattress and box spring from future infestations by sealing them with bedbug encasement bags. More on how to get rid of bedbugs.
Stinging Insects
Stinging insects like yellow jackets and hornets are commonly active during summer but tend to show more aggression during fall.
Most larvae in the colony have already matured into adults, by fall leading to a perceived increase in population or aggressive behavior.
Many populations of bees, stinging pests and will not sting unless threatens or if someone wanders too close to their nests.
If you have noticed these pests on your property, you will know they have a nest nearby that can pose a danger to you or your family.
How to Get Rid
When treating these common fall pests, treatment is going to vary depending on each pest. If you’re dealing with yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, or even bees, finding the nest can help greatly with identification.
Yellowjackets will establish nests underground or within structural voids.
Hornets will build around nests among tree branches or underneath eaves.
Paper wasps will create open umbrella-shaped nests underneath elevated wooden work and structures.
Carpenter Bees will create holes that are about half an inch in diameter around wooden structures.
To treat yellow jackets, hornets, and paper wasps. You can use a product like Stryker wasp and hornet killer as the product contains prallethrin and comes ready to use in a spray.
You can just stand about 6 to 15 feet away. Shake the can and drench the entire nest, for yellow jackets drench the entrance to the nest, then sprayed directly into the nest opening for 6 to 8 seconds.
Ensure the product makes contact with as many pests as possible.
To treat common fall pests like carpenter bees, you will need a foaming insecticide like FiPro foaming aeros. FiPro contains Fipronil and will expand to fill out of reach areas.
To apply, just fit the included straw into the actuator at the end, point the straw to the hole opening, and apply the product until the galleries are full for up to 8 seconds. Pests that make contact with the product will die within several minutes.
Once FiPro dries, it will also leave a lasting residual that will prevent reinfestation for up to 30 days. More on how to get rid of stinging insects.
Conclusion
The fall season brings cooling temperatures with different factors that affect common fall pests activity but there is always a way to control all infestation on your property following these guides on common fall pests. Keep visiting Pestclue to get the latest update on pests and pest control.
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