Spring: Snowdrops and daffodils. Returning birds ‒ cardinals, swallows, swifts, cuckoos, nightingales. Red-tailed hawks in their courtship dances.
Everyone enjoys spring. The end of winter and the imminent return of long summer days. But the change of seasons also brings back the bugs. Lots and lots of bugs!
We’ve had a pretty cold winter thus far; and while that postpones the return of many of our least favorite insects, that’s all it does: defer the inevitable. And the inevitable includes some of most annoying pests of all - including mosquitoes, ants, house flies, moths, ticks, earwigs, spider mites and termites.
The good news is, there are a few easy steps you can take to get rid of the ticks, get rid of the mites, get rid of bed bugs and all the rest - plus disinfect your home - all with the help of careful planning and a little bit of Sterifab application.
Getting Rid of Mosquitoes
Remember, standing water is the ideal breeding place for mosquitoes, so get rid of as many sources as you can. Not only should you replace the water in bird baths every day, but you should also drain planters, kiddie pools and clear the gutters. It will also help if you cut the grass regularly and weed as often as needed. Oh yes, and check all your window and door screens. All a mosquito needs is a tiny hole to gain access to your home or office.
Getting Rid of Ants
Ants will go anywhere, anytime, to find food for the nest, and you need to be especially watchful in the Spring. Truth be told, pesticides like Sterifab are by far the best way to tackle an ant problem, although there are a few natural remedies you can try, if you must. If you start outside, you should spray around entrances, including window sills, doorways, and ventilator outlets, as well as on all visible trails or pathways. If you use Sterifab indoors, remember to keep children and pets away from treated areas.
Kill those Cockroaches
Roaches are not restricted to urban areas only. You can find them in both suburban and rural homes and offices. These pests are mostly nocturnal and will eat practically anything ‒ bread crumbs, glue, pet food, paper, even wax and starch. Making sure that your home or office clean is the key to getting rid of roaches. But if they do appear, then applying Sterifab is a surefire way of eliminating them. Again, remember to keep pets and children away from the surfaces you spray.
How to Get Rid of Fleas
Fleas love the spring as much as you do, although they prefer to bring out their legions in April or May, rather than March. Still, these bloodsucking pests are no respecters of persons (or pets for that matter), so you have to be vigilant to their presence. You want to try to get rid of fleas as soon as they're discovered!
Of course, it doesn’t help that they’re small and virtually invisible to the naked eye, so you will have to check yourself and your pets as often as is practical. In addition to using Sterifab to kill fleas, you should ensure that your dogs and/or cats are fitted with a flea collar. Plus, you should also vacuum carpets and upholstered furniture regularly and wash clothes that may harbor fleas in as hot a wash as you can.
Learn more about how to get rid of fleas.
Eliminating Ticks
Ticks are a particular hazard during both spring and summer since they can attach themselves to pets and people with ease. If you can't get a tick cleanly out of your skin, then you should visit your doctor immediately (or the vet if your pet is the victim). However, there are a few things you can do to get rid of ticks in your home.
Declutter your home. (Ticks can, and do, hide almost anywhere.)
Wash dirty clothes in hot water since ticks are especially drawn to dirty clothing and bed linens.
Clean your entire home from top to bottom, and be sure to clean out shelves, dust corners and shelves, and sweep, mop, and vacuum all floors.
Finally, apply Sterifab liberally.
Learn more about how to get rid of ticks.
Of course, there are lots of other springtime bugs you’ll have to contend with, such as wasps, grain moths, termites, whitefly, and centipedes ‒ to name but a few ‒ but they too will succumb to Sterifab.
If you’d like to know more about these pests and other invaders in your home or office, check out our other blogs. Here's one on how to get rid of mold (another spring season troublemaker!)