Back to School, Know Your Pests: A Parent's Guide to Fall Prevention

The backpacks are packed, the school schedules are on the fridge, and the Colorado evenings are starting to cool off. While your family settles into the new routine, the pests around your home are starting a routine of their own, and fall pest prevention is what keeps them outside. As nighttime temperatures drop, mice, spiders, and box elder bugs all begin moving from the yard toward the warmest structure on the block: your house.

This is the easiest time of year to get ahead of them, so there is no need to panic. A few practical steps this month, most of them free, can close the door on pest season before it starts.

Pests do not know the school calendar, but they do feel the same seasonal shift your kids do. Insects are cold-blooded, and rodents need steady warmth and food. When August nights start dipping, the survival math changes for every pest in your yard.

Mice begin scouting for winter shelter well before the first frost. Spiders follow the insects they hunt, and those insects are drawn to the warmth and light of your home. Box elder bugs gather on warm walls that face the sun, usually on the south and west sides. They look for cracks where they can slip inside and wait out the winter.

None of this means that your home is dirty or that something is wrong. This is normal seasonal behavior, and because it is predictable, prevention works.

• Mice. A mouse can fit through a gap a quarter inch wide. More on protecting your home from rodents. Garage doors, gaps around utility lines, and openings under siding are the usual entry points. Indoors, they look for quiet storage areas and steady food sources like pantries and pet food bags.
• Spiders. Most Colorado spiders are harmless and are actually hunting the insects in and around your home. More on Colorado spiders this season. You will notice more of them in window corners, basements, and garages in early fall as they follow their food supply indoors.
• Box elder bugs. These black and orange bugs are more of a nuisance than a threat. They do not bite, sting, or breed indoors, but they can gather by the hundreds on warm exterior walls and find their way inside through window frames and small gaps.

You do not need a chemical in hand to make a real difference. These steps use no chemicals, so they are easy to do with kids and pets at home, and most take less than an afternoon.

• Walk the outside of your home and seal gaps a quarter inch or wider with copper mesh or hardware cloth, paying attention to where pipes and wires enter the house.
• Check the weather stripping under exterior doors and the garage door. If you can see daylight underneath, a mouse sees a doorway.
• Repair or replace torn window screens before you stop opening windows for the season.
• Move firewood, mulch piles, and stacked items at least a few feet away from the foundation.
• Trim shrubs and tree branches that touch the house. They work like bridges for insects and rodents.
• Store pantry staples and pet food in sealed containers, and keep bird seed in the garage in a lidded bin.
• Declutter storage areas like the basement and garage so pests have fewer quiet places to settle.

Each of these steps removes an entry point, a food source, or a hiding place.

Pet households have one extra thing to think about: anything that goes on or around the home should be applied with pets in mind. Professional products, applied correctly by a licensed technician, are targeted to treated zones and are used with clear re-entry guidance so your dog or cat stays out of the area until it is dry. If you ever try a store-bought product yourself, read the label fully and keep pets away from treated areas exactly as directed. When in doubt, ask a professional before you spray anything.

Do-it-yourself fall pest prevention handles a lot, but there are clear signs the job has grown past caulk and containers:

• Droppings in the pantry, garage, or under sinks
• Scratching or scurrying sounds in walls or ceilings, usually at night
• Box elder bugs appearing indoors day after day, even with windows closed
• Spider webs rebuilding in the same spots within a day or two of cleaning

At that point, a professional inspection finds what a walk-around cannot: the actual entry points, the nesting areas, and the right treatment plan for the specific pest. Getting it handled in late summer or early fall is far simpler than evicting pests that have already settled in for the winter.

Guardian Pest Management is family owned by Sean and Michelle Meade. They have more than 30 years in pest control, and they founded Guardian in 2000. Since then, Guardian has served South Metro Denver, including Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Castle Rock, Parker, Centennial, Lone Tree, Castle Pines, Greenwood Village, Roxborough, and Cherry Hills.

Families trust Guardian with their homes because it treats them like neighbors, which they are. Guardian has a 5.0-star Google rating and never locks a homeowner into a long-term contract.

Want a fall pest prevention inspection before the season turns? Call Guardian Pest Management at (303) 346-7087.