Pest Library

What You Need To Know About Pests In Cincinnati, OH

Rodents and insects are pests that regularly find their way into our Cincinnati, Ohio homes. It is essential to know which are most likely to call your house home, what they want, and how to eliminate them. Learn about our area's most persistent pests and how to keep them out of your house with the help of our informative pest control guide.

Ants

What do acrobat ants, odorous house ants, carpenter ants, pharaoh ants, and little black ants all have in common? They are all regular visitors to our Ohio yards and homes! What most homeowners have in common is that they will spot ants crawling across the surfaces of their homes at some point. Ants live outside but regularly move into our homes after being attracted by food or moisture.

Though ants are primarily a nuisance to contend with, some are a bigger deal to have in our homes than others. Take, for instance, the carpenter ant; they nest inside wood, and in our homes can make structural wood into their home, which will cause major structural damage over time. The pharaoh ant can spread many dangerous pathogens that can make people ill, including salmonella, staphylococcus, and streptococcus. Keeping ants at bay is difficult because their small size allows them to move in and out of homes without any problem. Also, our trash cans, recycling bins, gardens, kitchens, and pantries provide them will access to all the food they need to maintain their colonies. Partnering with a professional and scheduling regular home pest control services is the best way to guard your home against these tiny household pests.

Use the following tips to stop our area's most common ants from taking over your Cincinnati property.

Inspect your home's exterior, especially the foundation, and seal any cracks you discover.
Make sure door sweeps are under all exterior doors.
Check that weatherstripping around your windows is in good condition.
Keep ants out of trashcans and recycling bins by ensuring lids are always on them.
Regularly vacuum your home to pick up crumbs and other food debris that will keep ants returning to your home.

Bed Bugs

Learning about bed bugs is important because they are blood-feeding insects that can be introduced into any of our Ohio homes at any time of the year! Bed bugs hang out where we do because our blood is their preferred food source, and like most living creatures, they want to have easy access to food. Any structure that people live or spend a lot of time in can be the place bed bugs call home. Public areas are where people commonly come into contact with bed bugs and then unintentionally introduce them into their homes. Hotels, airports, hospitals, movie theaters, and dormitories are examples of places where people are most likely to have a run-in with bed bugs.

Unlike outdoor pests that have seasons when they are most active, bed bugs live indoors with people and therefore don't have an "active season." However, most professionals agree that bed bug infestations are highest during the summer and fall when people travel the most. The more people moving around, the more chance bed bugs will have to hitchhike into new homes and businesses. After coming into contact with bed bugs and moving them into your home, they quickly establish themselves and find hideouts close to their sleeping hosts. In homes, bed bugs like to hide in the seams of mattresses, upholstered furniture, inside electrical outlets, and under piles of clutter or dirty laundry. Closely examining potential hideouts in your home can help you spot a bed bug infestation before they take over!

Use the following tips to help prevent bed bugs from moving into your house and taking it over.

Be proactive and regularly vacuum floors and upholstered furniture to remove stray bed bugs.
Wash your family's sheets often.
Use bed bug-proof mattress protectors to eliminate one of the bed bug's favorite hideouts.
When in public spaces, keep your belongings up off the ground and away from other people's things.
Carefully inspect secondhand items for bed bugs before bringing them into your home.
If possible, never purchase secondhand mattresses for your home.

Reach out to us today to learn more about our effective bed bug control services in Cincinnati, OH.

Cockroaches

The unfortunate truth is that cockroaches can find their way inside no matter how clean you try to keep your house. Any Cincinnati home is at risk of a cockroach infestation! Cockroaches are some of the most feared and unwanted houseguests, as they provide us with no benefits, only numerous problems. Many different things attract cockroaches to our homes, including excess moisture, food odors, and pet food. While cockroaches commonly find their way into our homes on their own, they also regularly hitchhike indoors. Cockroaches climb into and move from place to place in cardboard boxes, grocery bags, deliveries, furniture, electronics, and appliances.

While thousands of cockroaches live worldwide, only a handful have become common household pests. American cockroaches, German cockroaches, and Oriental cockroaches are three of the most common roach species that infiltrate our homes and businesses. Though each species is unique, they all share the love of a few things, including the food we eat and the shelter our homes provide. The cockroach's dark and flat oval body makes it easy to move in and out of spaces. Once they get inside, these prolific breeders quickly explode in number and are difficult for Ohio homeowners to control and eliminate.

The following suggestions will help you make it more difficult for cockroaches to find their way into your house.

Always inspect secondhand items like appliances and furniture for cockroaches before bringing them into your home.
Always check deliveries, bags, flowerpots, and cardboard boxes for roaches before bringing them inside.
Avoid attracting cockroaches to your home by keeping lids on trash cans, picking up uneaten pet food, and repairing leaky outdoor fixtures or hoses.
Inside your house, limit their easy access to food by removing trash from your home, storing food in the fridge or airtight containers, and keeping counters and floors clean and free of crumbs.

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes are tricky pests to control, and every homeowner struggles with keeping these flying, biting pests out of their yard. There are several reasons mosquitoes are frustrating to deal with year after year. First, they breed rapidly; the process of an egg developing into a new biting adult only takes eight to ten days. Second, they fly, so unless you have an invisible barrier around your yard, they can move onto your property anytime they want. And lastly, mosquitoes seek out areas of standing water and moisture. Females lay their eggs on top of areas of standing water, so things found in most of our yards like clogged gutters, flowerpots, puddles in the driveway, and yard debris allow water to collect and provide mosquitoes with multiple breeding sites.

Along with being annoying and delivering bites that leave behind red, itchy welts, the biggest reason why mosquitoes are so unwelcome is that they spread diseases and parasites that cause serious illness to people and animals. Female mosquitoes are responsible for the spread of diseases as they feed on the blood of multiple hosts throughout their short lives. In order to complete their life cycle, mosquitoes must acquire protein through human blood and other warm-blooded animals. In the process, it spreads diseases like the West Nile virus, chikungunya virus, dengue fever, malaria, and Zika virus that make people ill worldwide. The mosquito's ability to spread disease is why it is one of the world's most dangerous insects, even though you can squish them with the palm of your hand!

Help make your yard less hospitable to mosquitoes by implementing the following prevention tips.

Plant plants in garden areas that mosquitoes find offensive, like basil, marigolds, and lavender.
Use outdoor fans help to keep mosquitoes away from outdoor sitting and eating areas.
Keep your lawn cut short; mosquitoes like to rest in tall grass.
Regularly clean out gutters to keep rainwater flowing freely through them.
Remove brush piles, unnecessary woodpiles, old tires, and other debris from your yard that can collect standing water.
Store containers upside down when you aren't using them, like buckets, flower pots, wheelbarrows, and wading pools.
Partner with 1 Stop Pest Control so we can perform our monthly services (May-October) to significantly reduce mosquito activity on your Ohio property!

Rodents

While many people think a rodent's large ears, dark eyes, and curious whiskers are cute, and some even keep them as pets, when rodents enter our homes uninvited, they quickly lose their charm! Rodents are destructive, disease-spreading pests that should never be allowed to use our Cincinnati homes as a place to forage for food or to nest. Unfortunately for us, rodents like mice and rats have become comfortable living near people and, with ease, move in, out, and around our homes.

When it comes to rodents in Cincinnati, food is what is most likely to attract them. Rodents have a high metabolism, and they are constantly trying to find food to fill their hungry stomachs. The more places that rodents can access food on your property, the more drawn to it they will be. Most of our properties unintentionally provide rodents with the food they are looking for. Trash cans, bird feeders, pet food, compost, and gardens all attract foraging rodents. Once rodents find what they are looking for, they quickly make themselves comfortable, establish large populations, and are challenging to eliminate.

We want to provide you with the following tips to help you prevent rodents like mice and rats from becoming unwanted roommates.

Keep what they love out of their reach — food! Limit their access to food in your home by regularly washing dirty dishes, vacuuming, wiping down counters, and practicing proper food storage.
Limit a rodent's ability to forage for food in your yard by keeping lids on trash cans, regularly harvesting gardens, removing bird feeders, and keeping outdoor eating areas free of food debris.
Make it difficult for rodents to find entry points. Use caulk, steel wool, or another appropriate material to seal cracks in the foundation and spaces around utilities.
Install door sweeps and weatherstripping.
Remove clutter from your yard that provides mice and rats with shelter and easy access to your home.

Termites

Helpful when living outside but harmful when inside our homes, termites are pests that no Ohio homeowner wants to tangle with. Subterranean termites are the most common species in our area; these termites have high moisture needs and prefer to feed on water-damaged or decaying wood. Subterranean termites nest underground, and their workers move back and forth from the nest to food each day. These termites travel through the soil or, if need be, above the ground through mud tubes they create. Since these insects travel and feed concealed from our view, it can take a bit of time to discover their presence, allowing these destructive pests to cause extensive damage to the structures of homes.

The subterranean termite can become a problem on any property but is most problematic in yards or homes where excess water is present. Things like leaky pipes, poor ventilation, unsuitable drainage, and leaky roofs or windows can lead to problems with termites. Subterranean termites typically feed and nest outdoors but can accidentally move inside through cracks they find in the foundation. Another common entry point for termites is through any wood on your home, making direct contact with the ground. Moving in and out of your house each day while gathering food to bring back to the nest, the damage termites cause is unmatched. Being proactive and partnering with a professional is key to guarding your home and bank account from these destructive pests!

To avoid problems with termites, make your yard and home as unappealing as possible to them.

Remove old or decaying woodpiles, fencing, and other wooden structures from your yard.
Never store firewood right against your home's exterior.
Maintain a crushed stone barrier between your foundation and any mulch or soil.
Repair damage to your home's roof and install weatherstripping around windows and doors to help keep rainwater from seeping into your home.
Quickly repair leaky pipes and fixtures in your home.
Remove water-damaged wood from your home and replace it with sound wood.

If pests have found their way into your Ohio home, don't despair; give us a call at 1 Stop Pest Control. One call does it all! We have the comprehensive home pest control services necessary to solve your home's pest problems so you can enjoy your home and yard to their fullest potential. Speak with one of our professionals today to learn more about working together as a team to guard your Cincinnati property and your family against our area's most common pests!