Winterizing Your Mid-Missouri Home for Pests

Some General Ways to Keep Winter Bugs Out of Your Mid-Missouri Home 

As tedious as it may sound, keeping the indoors and outdoors of your house clean will make a world of difference in preventing pests. Winter bugs are simple creatures, and often there are simple solutions to keeping them out. Below are some helpful housekeeping tips from Atkins. 

• Sealing Openings: One of the first precautions you should take is sealing the openings around your house. Not only will this help insulate your mid-Missouri home from the harsh cold outside, but it will also keep winter pests from getting in so easily. This means sealing up cracks under doors, windows, and any other tight spaces within your household. 

• Get Rid of Dampness: A lot of insects like carpenter ants are highly attracted to moisture and rotting things. Look for damp areas in your basements, bathrooms, and attics and dry them out quickly. A winter pest can’t survive long without moisture. 

• Clean the Yard and Gutters Outside: Picking up the trash and leaves outside gives winter pests less hiding spots during the winter months. The gutters are also a safe haven for creepy crawlies, so clean those out as well. If you’re not a big fan of lawn work, Atkins will happily visit your home and perform the best pest control and lawn service around mid-Missouri! 



• Keep the Interior Clean: Many pests enter your household in search of both warmth and food. Because of this, it is really important to keep the kitchen clean without leaving any food out. Pretty straightforward, but it will lower your chances of enduring a pest problem this winter.

How to Tell if I Have Termites or Bed Bugs in My Mid-Missouri Home 

The most common pests that Atkins deals with in the winter are termites and bed bugs. These insects can be difficult to get rid of, so it’s better to detect them sooner rather than later. Check out this guide to spotting both in your mid-Missouri home. 

• Termites: These winter pests chew through wood and cause a plethora of property damage every year. Termites multiply quickly, so they need to be detected as soon as possible. Look for blistering in your wood floors, mud tubes in the crevices of your home, droppings with a sawdust-like appearance, and any brown-headed insects with large mandibles. 

• Bed Bugs: As the name suggests, these pesky, flat insects will hide themselves in the nooks and crannies of the beds in your home. Bed bugs will often leave reddish stains and black feces on your sheets. When finding bed bugs, look in the folds and seams in your mattress and wash your sheets in hot water. At this point, it’s best to call a pest control service and let them handle things professionally.