You might not be fully aware, but you could be sharing food with unwanted pests. Pests are everywhere and in everything. It’s terrifying to think of mites in your cereal, spiders crawling into your mouth at night, or cockroaches laying eggs in your home.
Talk about YUCK! Now it is time to consider how to get rid of these pests effectively because you do not want to share your home with pests, but safely for the sake of your family and pets with who you do want to share your home.
1. Prevention
The best way and by far the most effective pest control method is prevention. Ensuring you are taking action to not attract pests in the first place. Much of prevention comes in the form of eliminating food sources.
Typically this looks like a lot of household cleaning and rules. Cleaning up every after a meal ensures there are no food sources laying about for pests to seek after.
Using a secured trash bin with a lid can help immensely with attracting pests.
Washing the dishes and not allowing them to sit overnight eliminates yet another food source. Crumbs on the counter are easy to access for pests like ants.
Think about it, when was the last time you wiped away all those bread crumbs from under your toaster?
Prevention is key!
Cockroaches love the glue from those amazon boxes. Be sure to throw those away as soon as possible! Or better yet, do not even bring them in! Same with keeping the plastic sacks from grocery stores.
2. Biological Control
Biological pest control is the method of using living organisms for the sole purpose of controlling pest populations. In the simplest of terms, it works by putting organisms that people typically do not mind in hopes they will kill the unwanted pests.
The goal of biological pest control is to complete the task of killing the dangerous species without affecting any other aspect of nature.
An example would be placing bacteria that kill mosquitoes in water sources while still being safe for humans to drink. Another example would be purchasing ladybugs to release on crepe myrtles to destroy scale populations.
Although this method could be considered the most “natural”, given the circle of life, it is by far the most costly.
Oftentimes, the purchase and shipment of living organisms can be well into the thousands. There also runs a large risk of overpopulation and the species becoming invasive.
3. Mechanical Pest
Mechanical pest control refers to the use of physical force to immediately eliminate the pest or isolate them from a food source. This is the cheapest form of pest control and is oftentimes the least effective.
Mechanical pest control includes sticky traps or spring-loaded traps. This relies on the animal coming into the trap and not escaping.
Recently this method of pest control has received heavy criticisms for the ethicality of its use. Spring-loaded traps often result in a violent death for the pest whereas sticky trap alternatives prolong the pest’s suffering and starve them.
4. Organic Pest
Organic pest control uses a product-based method of pest elimination but does so through organic, no chemical alternatives. People often use these products to eliminate or deter pests without exposing their families to what they view as “unsafe treatments”.
There are some really great alternative options, like Eco-G which Gecko Green utilizes in our pest control program. On the whole, there are very few organic options on the market and even fewer of those are actually effective.
If you want safety and results: stick with EPA-approved chemical treatments.
5. Chemical Pest
Some organic treatments do not produce an effective result, which is why most opt for chemical pest control.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works to approve products that are effective but also are safe to use for your family and for the environment.
These can be insecticides that eliminate any current pests and leave a residual for future pests. It also includes Aerosol treatments for cracks and crevices, liquid spray for baseboards, granular treatments for the outside, solids like bait or gels.
Please keep in mind that some chemical products are very dangerous for humans and other living organisms if not correctly applied, consider opting for a professional pest control company.
A good technician will place in areas not regularly disturbed in your day-to-day lifestyle but easily accessible by pests, like the inside of drawers or the underside of the edge counters.
Keep Your Family Safe From Pests
Whether you’re looking to prevent pests or they’ve already invaded, Gecko Green is the pest control solution for you. We’re the family-owned company that cares about keeping your family safe from all pest threats.
Our complete pest prevention and control program will fortify your North Texas home in no time.
Having our expert technicians monitoring your property is the best way to safeguard your family and your home from pest damage. Call us today to learn about our guaranteed services!
