The Summer Heat is Driving Pests INSIDE Your Home!
If you live in Middle Tennessee, you already know that the summer can get really hot.
We’re not the only ones who can only spend a few hours outside before we need to cool off. Pests will do anything to find a way inside your home to look for moisture and a cooler environment.
While summer is the season almost every homeowner looks forward to, it’s also the time of year most people dread. And that’s because the pests are unbearable. As temperatures start rising in Middle Tennessee, several household pests start to become more active.
We’re here to help you understand the importance of why pests move inside during the hottest months of the year. This blog will help you recognize a majority of the early warning signs and encourage you to take action before a small problem turns into something major.
Are you ready to kick the bugs back outside this summer? So are we! Let’s talk more about it.
The Summer Heat Creates the Perfect Opportunity for Pests to Move Inside
First, let’s talk about the real reason why summer is the season where pest activity skyrockets. If you didn’t already know, the warm weather quickly speeds up the life cycle of many pests. Several insects are cold-blooded, which means their body temperature and movement are heavily influenced by the environment around them.
Common Pests to Watch Out For in the Summer
Pests use this time of year to start searching for relief from the extreme heat and dry conditions outside. Your house provides everything they need to survive, such as cooler temperatures, moisture, easier access to their food source, and shelter. Pests like ants, cockroaches, spiders, and rodents often travel inside during heat waves, which makes this time of year one of the busiest in the industry.
Here’s the unfortunate part. Once pests find a comfortable place inside your home, they’re able to quickly establish themselves and become much harder to eliminate. This is why keeping up with your regular pest control services year-round is extremely important. Early prevention is the first step to protecting your home, family members, and peace of mind all season long.
Now, let’s talk more about the pests we mentioned above.
1. Ants
First, let’s talk about ants in the summertime. As summer continues heating up, ants become more active in their search for food and water. When outdoor conditions become hot and dry, your home becomes the place they never want to leave. Let us remind you that even the smallest crack or gap along the foundation, doors, or windows can provide easy access to your kitchen, bathroom, and other areas with moisture and food.
When you see a few worker ants on the hunt for their resources, there’s only a matter of time until a larger problem occurs. Once the ants discover a reliable source of food and water, they leave behind scent trails that guide the rest of the colony directly into your home. So yes. It’s very important to address ant activity early on to eliminate the conditions that are attracting them before a minor problem turns into a full-blown infestation.
2. Cockroaches
Next, let’s move on to cockroaches. These fellas often thrive the most in warmer environments, but when summer temperatures become extremely hot, they start heading inside for cooler conditions, moisture, and reliable food sources. The heat can honestly get to be too much for everyone and everything. This is why you should never assume that all pests love the summer heat.
Cockroaches can be found hanging out in areas like your kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, crawlspace, or basement. Since they’re primarily nocturnal creatures, most homeowners don’t realize they have a problem with them until an infestation has already started.
The most unfortunate thing about this is that cockroaches are more than just an unpleasant sight. They’re able to contaminate food, trigger allergies, and even spread harmful bacteria throughout your home. Once they get comfortable inside, they can be incredibly difficult to remove because they’re good at hiding in cracks, crevices, and other areas that are harder to reach.
The next time you spot a roach inside, remember that there’s probably more hiding nearby. Take preventative measures by calling U.S. Pest to address the situation early on. This is the best way to keep these unpleasant insects from turning your home into theirs.
3. Spiders
Now, let’s move on to the creepy crawlies that are probably hiding in those dark, secluded areas of your home. Yes, we’re talking about spiders. You might notice them during the summer as the temperatures rise. Here’s the thing about spiders. They’re not trying to get inside your home to attack you. In reality, they’re trying to go after their food sources, which happen to already be inside.
You can usually find spiders hiding out in garages, crawlspaces, basements, attics, and corners of rooms. These areas all provide ideal environments for them to build webs and hunt their prey without getting caught.
While most spiders are harmless and actually help control other insect populations, there is absolutely no homeowner that wants to share their living space with them. If there’s an increase of spiders inside your home, that’s a tell-tale sign that other pests are present too. Reducing insect populations, sealing up entry points, and maintaining routine pest control can help make your home less attractive to both spiders and the insects they feed on.
4. Rodents
Last but not least, we can’t leave out the rodents. While these little creatures are often associated with colder weather, the extreme heat also drives mice and rats inside. This is because the rising temperatures and outdoor water sources become scarce, so they’re forced to search for cooler environments that provide shelter, moisture, and food.
Your home offers everything they need to survive. It doesn’t take much of an opening for them to squeeze through to gain entry. Once rodents get inside your home, they quickly become a serious threat. For instance, they might contaminate your food, damage insulation, chew through wiring, or leave behind droppings that are capable of impacting indoor air quality.
While rodents prefer to stay hidden within walls, attics, and crawlspaces, homeowners don’t often realize they have a problem until it’s too late. Early prevention and regular inspections are the best thing you can do to keep rodents away from your home all-year-round. Don’t let them turn your home into their next summer retreat.
Don’t Let the Summer Pests Take Over Your Home
While pest activity is completely normal in the summertime, it doesn’t mean you have to share your home with them. So, the next time you notice a good amount of pest activity or just want to get ahead of future infestations, schedule your free inspection with U.S. Pest Protection today. We’ll do Whatever It Takes to help you identify potential issues and create a well-detailed plan that’s right for you and your home.
