As the winter holidays quickly approach, you’re likely traveling or welcoming guests into your home. During this season of giving, we often give and receive baked goods and other treats. Whether you’re baking a spice cake or hosting a turkey dinner, these gestures of kindness come with their fair share of clean-up. Though we often open our doors to others during the holidays, our professionals at Adams Exterminating want to give you some advice about how to keep unwanted guests from joining your festivities. As a result of the colder temperatures and abundance of tasty treats, cockroaches become more predominant in Lewisville homes during the holiday season.
Are Cockroaches Decking The Halls Of Your Lewisville, TX Home?
Cockroaches are sneaky, nocturnal pests meaning they only come out at night to snack on our leftovers. During the holiday season, we only want one visitor coming down through the chimney eating our cookies. As a result of their late-night activities, you likely won’t notice when cockroaches first find their way into your Lewisville home. Throughout their travels, they leave behind bacteria and other pathogens that are harmful to your health. If you see one cockroach, there are likely more lurking and hiding in the cracks, crevices, walls, and pipes in your home. As an infestation grows, you will begin to see signs of their presence such as droppings or shed skin.
We have three common species of cockroaches in Texas: American, German, and Oriental. Regardless of the kind of cockroach living in your basement, crawling through your pipes, or creeping through your cupboards, they are all repugnant and bring a host of problems into your Northern Texas home.
Cockroaches Are Always Uninvited Guests
Cockroaches are active year-round and survive without a problem during the winter months, especially here in Texas. As the temperatures shift and drop below freezing at night, they will likely seek shelter inside your home. Even if you do everything you can to prevent food and water sources, they will still survive inside your home. These cold-blooded insects digest their food slowly and thus can go up to a month without food.
Though we recommend keeping your house free of crumbs and open food, this still may not quell an infestation as cockroaches will have no problem finding an alternate source for a meal. When hungry, they will eat any organic material including shed hair, food particles in your drain, sewage, or even decaying wood.
Cockroaches come with a host of problems and are known for spreading a range of diseases, particularly salmonellosis, e.coli, dysentery, giardia, and many others. Cockroaches do not bite their host, but rather spread disease indirectly. They often travel through and dwell in unclean places such as sewage pipes and garbage cans. There, they pick up germs and diseases that they leave behind as they scamper throughout your home at night.
Prevent Cockroaches From Ruining Your Holiday Season
There are a few preventative measures you can take to make your home less appetizing for cockroaches. Firstly, be intentional about cleaning up messes. Not only will this help with a cockroach infestation, but it will keep other pests such as rodents or wildlife from crashing your holiday parties. Secondly, inspect the exterior of your home. Clean up debris in your yard to make your home unwelcoming to these uninvited guests. Also, check the exterior of your house for entry points. This is particularly challenging as cockroaches can enter through the smallest of cracks or crevices. Lastly, if you’re bringing boxes into your living space from outdoor storage or basements, inspect them for possible infestations. Cockroaches like to stay hidden, and your untouched decorations provide just the respite they’re looking for.
Our Experts Will Help You Take Back The Holidays
Despite your best efforts to mindfully clean and seal your home this holiday season, oftentimes a cockroach infestation is unavoidable. Our professionals at Adams Exterminating Company have the knowledge and experience needed to help you protect and prevent a cockroach infestation. Start your new year by calling us today to discuss our home pest control options.