The Most Annoying Fall Pests and How to Manage Them
Fall is the season where bugs and other pests start seeking warmer areas to settle in before the cold hits—and that makes your home a popular destination. Here’s how to manage fall’s most annoying pests.
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Crickets
Depending on the type of cricket, some may invade your home looking for food in fall or during periods of heavy rainfall. They hide in dark, warm locations, such as behind baseboards and in basements and crawlspaces. You may hear the telltale cricket chirping, which is a male cricket rubbing its forewings together. They can be a nuisance, chewing on fabrics and paper. If there are a lot of them, you may notice frass—dried excrement that looks like coffee grounds—on flat surfaces, such as windowsills. If you do, check out these chemical-free ways to get rid of household pests.
Managing crickets
To keep crickets from entering your house, seal up any cracks or gaps around the perimeter and keep debris, such as leaf litter, mulch, and firewood, away from the foundation. You can keep them from entering the house with this product that you spray into cracks and crevices or this product that you sprinkle around the perimeter of your house.
Spiders
Contrary to popular belief, spiders do not come inside seeking shelter before the winter. Are you bothered by spiders setting up shop inside your house? Spiders often come indoors seeking food: You can get rid of spiders with a little patience and the right tactics—but act quickly before they have a chance to lay their eggs! (Unless you hope to decorate your home with elaborate spider webs.)
Managing spiders
Spiders don’t infest a house en masse unless their eggs just hatched. That means that killing every spider you see is actually an effective way to keep spiders under control. If you have an overabundance of house spiders in the fall, the problem is not going to go away. These spiders will continue to live, breed, and hatch within your home until you get professional help. In addition to watching out for pests, here are some more fall tasks every homeowner should tackle.