If you own a home, pests can be an extremely annoying thing to deal with. There are so many ways pests will present themselves. Rats, mice, ants and cockroaches are the most common. Some can even wreak havoc on your home. Here are some things you can do to get rid of these pests.

If you’re a pet owner, your pets may be the reason pests keep coming back. Take the time to keep your pet’s food bowls clean. If any water from their dish is spilled, wipe it up immediately. Store pet food in plastic containers rather than the paper bags they come in. All these things can attract bugs.

Ask your exterminator what the risks of using their pesticides are. Everything comes with some level of risk, and some chemicals can be very dangerous for children or pets. If your exterminator is unsure you should find out before you let them proceed. It is definitely better to be safe than sorry.

If you are dealing with a stink bug invasion, try to minimize your use of outdoor lights. These pests are drawn to the brightness, so they will move closer to your house when the lights are on, giving them more opportunities to find their way in. Furthermore, draw your blinds in the evening so the light from inside your home does not attract them.

If you are considering buying a home, make sure that you have a professional inspect it first. It can be easy to spot some infestations, but those under your home on inside the walls won’t be visible until a few days have passed.

If you have been the victim of a recent bedbug infestation and have taken steps to eradicate them, be vigilant. Bedbugs don’t have to eat for a whole year. Because of this, you should seal off any and all access points in your home. They will not be able to hide in these spots.

If you have a lot of debris and overgrown plants in your yard, you are inviting pests into your home. Litter, debris, overgrown plants, and trash are all great habitats for pests. If these pests are right outside your door, it will take no time before they are inside your home and becoming a problem.

One of the biggest sources of pests entering your home is the type of mulch you use on the outside garden beds. If you are using wood chips, termites are attracted to this and will get inside your home from it being in close proximity. Use rocks and stone in your garden instead to eliminate this problem.

If you are trying to get rid of pests in your home, you should think carefully if you have children and/or pets. Many of the chemicals that are in pesticides can be harmful to them. Get them out of the house for a few hours if you have no other choice.

You should not use pesticide when it is windy, hot or humid outside or when it is raining. These conditions will cause the pesticide to spread and pollute your area. Always check the label of the products you buy and make sure you use the product safely and in reasonable quantities.

If your garden is filled with slugs, use beer as effective remedy. Take an aluminum pie pan into your garden and place it at soil level. Fill it with beer and sit back and watch your snail problems disappear. Snails are attracted to the beer, but cannot get back out of the pie pan.

To reduce mosquitoes and the West Nile Virus they carry, change the water in your birdbath completely every three days. It’s important to do the same for any standing water, be it a bucket, kiddie pool or other water trap. Don’t let water pool on your exterior either to ensure no mosquitoes breed there.

When you find centipedes in your home, it’s likely you actually already have another pest living there. Centipedes eat smaller insects, so they are likely to have found a food source within your home. Check for other bugs to see if the issue is bigger than you first anticipated it to be.

No matter what kind of pests you have, you want to make sure you get rid of them as quickly as you can. Use the advice offered above to help you get a handle on your pest problem. Soon, your home will be pest-free.