Do You Know How to Prepare for Fall Pests?

A rat in someone's home in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

When the weather starts to cool down for the first time in many months, all sorts of pests begin their preparations for a harsh winter. Looking for warmth and shelter from our chilly New York winters, countless kinds of insects and rodents try to take refuge inside our homes and on our properties. If you’ve lived around Peekskill for a while, you know how susceptible to pest problems our homes can become. Looking for a way to combat them? Read on for advice from our expert technicians at Garrie Pest Control!

Common Fall Pests in Peekskill NY

All sorts of pests live in New York, but there are a few to note that commonly cause trouble for homeowners come autumn. Here is our list of pests to watch out for this fall:

  • Roaches: Cockroaches make their way indoors when the temperatures start to drop. The problem with roaches is that you may not notice that your home is infested until the size of the outbreak grows quite large.
  • Beetles: Ground beetles, powderpost beetles, and carpet beetles are all more prominent in the fall. These beetles can cause all different sorts of slow-developing damage to your property.
  • Spiders: Spiders get into our homes looking for cluttered places to hide and insects to eat. Having an infestation of smaller pests can quickly lead to a spider outbreak, too.
  • Rodents: Most infamously, rats and mice love to get into our walls, attics, and crawl spaces to take shelter and forage for food during the fall.

How to Pest-Proof Your Home for Fall

Once a pest infestation is already underway in your home, you won’t find much success getting rid of them without professional help in most cases. The best way to enjoy a pest-free fall and winter is to take steps beforehand to reduce your risk of an infestation. There are several ways you can prepare your home for fall:

  1. Close any gaps that pests could get through. This could mean weather stripping your doors, fixing screens on your vents and windows, sealing cracks in your pipes, fixing broken roof tiles, and more.
  2. Keep your yard tidy. By clearing out yard waste promptly, cutting your grass short, reducing standing water buildup, and more, you can reduce the number of pest hiding places and food sources.
  3. Clean up promptly. Wash all of your dishes after eating, clean up spills when they happen, and store your food away in airtight containers.
  4. Seal your trash. Use trash cans with lids that seal or close tightly. Also, be sure to take the trash out of your house often and keep your bins as far from your home as you can.

Professional Help with Fall Pest Control

If you’re already mid-infestation in your home in Peekskill NY, you can count on your local pest control company to handle the problem. The expert technicians at Garrie Pest Control are well-versed in the particular pest pressures in our climate and have been removing pests from local residences for almost half a century. For a free quote, contact us today!

Your Leaky Pipes May Be Attracting Pests

Cockroaches are attracted to plumbing fixtures in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

Having leaky pipes or plumbing issues in your home is bad enough without the added bonus of a pest infestation. Unfortunately, pests love excess moisture and will readily infest a home that is experiencing a plumbing problem. This is why it’s crucial to stay on top of plumbing repairs in your home. When you don’t, you run the risk of potentially leaving yourself vulnerable to pest infestations. The experts at Garrie Pest Control are here to help. Read on to learn everything you need to know about preventing pests and leaky pipes in your Peekskill NY home!

Moisture-Loving Pests

Pests are drawn toward areas that provide them with their main sources of survival: food and water! This is why pests are commonly found in bathrooms, crawl spaces, laundry rooms, and more. The most common pests that are going to be attracted to areas with excess moisture are as follows.

  1. Termites: If a broken pipe has caused water damage in the very structure of your home, you can be sure termites are to follow. Subterranean termites in particular are attracted to moist wood and soil. When there are unattended-to leaky pipes or plumbing issues, you could be leaving your home vulnerable to termites.
  2. Ants: These tiny pests will appear seemingly out of nowhere when excess moisture is abundant. Leaky faucets or spilled water from a pet’s bowl can bring ants out in the hundreds. In addition to your typical house ant, water can be a main attractant to the wood-destroying carpenter ant as well.
  3. Cockroaches. Roaches may be known for their resiliency, but they aren’t as strong as you’d think. Without water for a week, a roach will not survive. Cockroaches also love to linger inside of pipes and plumbing fixtures. An issue can quickly introduce roaches into other parts of the house.
  4. Rodents: Rats and mice alike are always looking for a water supply. Leaky pipes or broken faucets in your crawl space or laundry room can provide a haven for rodents. The last thing you want is rodents scurrying around when you have a plumbing issue, making it important to prevent them.

How to Prevent Pest Infestations From Leaky Pipes

Leaky pipes or plumbing issues can quickly bring a plethora of problems into your home. This is because almost all pests are attracted to water. In fact, some will die without a source of water within a few days. If you want to help prevent pests in your home, the best thing to do is keep an eye out for leaks and address any issues right away. Regularly inspect to ensure your faucets aren’t dripping, your drains aren’t clogging, and there are no leaks from your fridge, washing machine, or dishwasher.

Dealing With Pest Problems in Your Kitchen or Bathroom?

If you’re already noticing the signs of pests from a plumbing issue or leaky pipe, it’s important to contact your local exterminator for assistance. At Garrie Pest Control, we will work hard to get rid of any pest problems and provide you with tips to prevent future ones.

Types of Household Bugs in New York [2021 Update]

Bed bugs are a common household pest in New York - Garrie Pest Control

Nobody wants bugs in their homes. Bugs can contaminate food, bite people and pets, and generally creep you out, too. So what can you do about the many varieties of bugs that are native to the state of New York, particularly in the Hudson Valley area. The good news is most pests will stay outdoors. Occasionally, though, they can make their way indoors. To avoid the frustration and surprise of finding pests in your home, it’s important to know how to protect your home from the most common ones! The pest experts at Garrie Pest Control are here to share everything you need to know about the four most common pests in the great state of New York.

Pests in New York

1. Cockroaches

Infamously gross and hardy, cockroaches are tough to kill. You could squish every roach that you see, but what can you do about the elusive nests of cockroaches that may be living in your cabinets, walls, or attic?

The key to cockroach control is preventing cockroach invasions in the first place. Seal up cracks in doors, windows, and walls, keep your home clean, and try to avoid eating outside of the kitchen or dining room. Also, make sure you keep your food tightly sealed away in airtight containers. If cockroaches access your food supply, they can spread incredibly dangerous diseases.

2. Bed Bugs

Some of the most difficult bugs to kill, bed bugs spread like a disease, latching onto a single person and spreading across entire homes, neighborhoods, and even cities. Bed bugs hide in mattresses, closets, baseboards, and other areas where they can form tiny but highly populated nests. They’re infamous for biting humans at night, feeding on their blood.

Bed bugs are difficult to kill, often requiring the use of heat treatments that essentially cook them to death, including their eggs. You must kill bed bug eggs if you hope to eliminate the infestation. This is why most other methods that target adult bed bugs just don’t work. It’s best to enlist the help of a bed bug control expert.

3. Termites

These dangerous pests are infamous for being costly. The very word “termite” should send a shudder down every homeowner’s spine. They eat dead plant matter, which often consists of building materials in homes, like wooden frames, cabinets, flooring, and furniture. New York homes commonly deal with termites, making it important to put prevention in place all year long.

If you notice deep grooves or holes in wood, your home may have termites. Always contact a termite control professional as soon as possible to begin termite intervention. As some of the most costly and destructive bugs on earth, professional termite prevention should be at the top of your priority list as a homeowner!

4. Pantry Pests

Like roaches, pantry beetles are hungry for just about anything you’ll take home to them. Sadly, their home may happen to be your kitchen pantry, hence the name of this common New York beetle. Pantry beetles are incredibly destructive to human food sources, and can often infect flour mills and grocery stores. This sadly means that you may take a pantry beetle infestation home with you.

Try to keep all food stored in airtight containers, especially sugary and flour-based foods that pantry beetles love. If you notice these food-eating pests in your home, it’s smart to get advice from your local pantry pest control experts.

Pest Prevention for New Yorkers

At Garrie Pest Control, we know that no homeowner wants to have pests in their home. We are proud to work with homeowners in the Hudson Valley and Peekskill NY area to customize pest control plans that keep homes pest-free year-round. To learn more, contact us today to get started!

Are Cockroaches Only Active At Night?

Cockroaches at night in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

As frightening as it sounds, cockroaches are indeed active overnight while you are asleep. As mostly nocturnal creatures, roaches prefer to stay out of the light of day as much as they can. Seeing roaches during the day can signal you have a serious infestation on your hands. Instead, these pests will hide and even sleep during the daytime hours, typically in the darkest and dampest areas of your home or business.

If you suspect you have roaches running rampant in your Peekskill NY apartment overnight, read on to learn everything you need to know about the behavior of roaches with the experts at Garrie Pest Control!

Cockroach Sleep Schedule

Similar to other animals and insects, roaches possess a unique circadian rhythm that includes a resting period. In one particular study, it was proven that roaches have three states of activity: a period of locomotion, a period of limb or antennae movement but no locomotion, and a period of immobility. Under normal light conditions (light during the day and dark overnight), cockroaches were only active at night, typically during the period right before midnight. There was little activity during the early morning hours, and roaches were found to rest during the daylight.

What Do Roaches Do During the Day?

Seeing a cockroach or two in the light of day inside your home or business is never a good sign. It could mean one of three things:

  1. You already have a serious cockroach infestation on your hands.
  2. Cockroaches have been forced out of their typical hiding places due to a lack of resources.
  3. Artificial light can sometimes disorient roaches, encouraging them to come out in the daytime.

Where Do Roaches Hide?

Due to the fact that they dislike daylight, cockroaches typically hide in the darkest areas inside or your property. The main cockroach environments in a building include bathrooms, basements, and crawl spaces. However, in a big infestation, many other areas can become a roach’s new home: under the appliances in your kitchen, underneath sinks, inside light switches, or amongst boxes in your attic or garage. If you stumble upon them during the day by moving an object, they will likely run for cover.

Cockroaches in Peekskill NY Homes

If you begin to notice the signs of cockroaches in your home—or worse, you’ve seen them in the flesh during the day—it’s time to call the cockroach control team here at Garrie Pest Control. Our experts will thoroughly investigate to find where roaches are hiding. From there, we will implement a cockroach control plan suited to the unique needs of your home. Contact us today to get started!