Best Time of Year to Pest-Proof Your Home; How the Alameda County Vector Control Services District Can Help

Best Time of Year to Pest-Proof Your Home: How the Alameda County Vector Control Services District Can Help

Any time of the year is the best time to fortify the structure of your home to exclude unwanted visitors, such as rats, mice, wildlife, wasps, bees, and other pests. Weather has a significant impact on what you can do and when you can do some of the work, but the most unfortunate time to address these problems is after the rat, raccoon, wasps, or army of ants has entered the sacred refuge of your home.

We receive requests for service for vector related issues, such as rodents, wildlife and arthropod pests, as well as complaints regarding the causative conditions surrounding these infestations. One pest in particular, the roof rat (Rattus rattus) has a solid hold in some of our neighborhoods, and if we let our guard down, they will readily enter our homes where we can really feel their influence.

Our data from 2006—2014 shows that the requests for services for roof rats begin a dramatic rise after April each year, though keeping in mind that these are simple averages, this suggests April to be an ideal time to have your homes pest-proofing evaluated. The April increase may be partly due to the reproductive cycle of our wily roof rat, but it is also the beginning of the “land of plenty” in the foliage around our homes. Roof rats like many of our normal yard plants and are rarely in want of food. Even with the drought conditions, most yards still received ample precipitation to allow foliage to grow quite well without much help.

A thorough inspection of the parameter of your home—ground-line and roofline, looking for any openings over 1/8 inch, with the intension of sealing these vulnerabilities, will protect your dwelling from unwanted invaders. Once roof rats, or their relative, the Norway rat, or far distant cousin the house mouse enters your home, their cycle of damage will begin! Rodents have a propensity to gnaw on whatever takes their fancy, and are not very careful in their toilet habits, as well as, always-needing suitable material for their nests—making them small, but capable engines of destruction and contamination. Wasps and bees are notorious for finding that small hole in the wall and making it their new home, which may cause structural damage, unnecessary stings as they defend their new home and further costs of pest control measures.

Our Vector Biologists can provide a “pest-proofing” inspection with the intension of finding the vulnerabilities on the perimeter of your home and yard, as well as giving suggestions for corrective actions that will reduce pests from living on your property, and keep them out of your home. Just call in at (510) 567-6800, or (510) 567-6700; alternatively, you can make a request for service at our website: http://www.acvcsd.org and we will take your contact information and your inspector will call you and schedule a convenient time to stop by and complete an evaluation.

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