Let’s take a look at another way unwanted pests enter your home. You won’t need your caulking gun this time & if you haven’t already, you can come down out of the attic.
One of the most under estimated ways in which a bug, mouse or other creepy crawly can enter is by ‘delivery.’ It goes without saying that most people understand this and so many of my customers can even site times that they know exactly when and on what they brought a pest in. So why is it important? Why not wrap this article up by saying “inspect everything that you cart into the house?” I guess we could and I’m quite sure I’ll end with that same notion. What I’d like to point out however is the many ways I’ve seen ‘pest delivery’ so that you can broaden your scope of understanding and perhaps be a bit more vigilant with your increased awareness. Let me start with the oddest way I’ve seen that actually happened to me.
Last year I declared war on my energy bill, it had climbed so high I knew I had to do something, anything before I went broke trying to keep my house comfortable. Insulation I thought would be the way to go. Being cheap I guess I decided to do it myself and I rented the machine and purchased 30 bags of insulation. These bags were tightly packed and hard as rocks. I instructed my boys how to cut the bags and feed the machine and I scampered up into the attic. We used walkie talkies to communicate and everything seemed to be going well. Right about bag 15 or so I got an urgent call.
“Dad, over”-( I insisted we talk walkie talkie lingo)”Go ahead, over”- “I don’t think you’ll believe this, over”- “What, over”-“There’s a roach in this bag, over”- “So what, he’s just a dead roach, over”- “He’s not dead, we opened up the bag & he’s running around the machine, over”-
A second later the roach got sucked through and was now on his way up. I never saw him & part of me wants to believe he didn’t survive the trip. The other part of me wondered HOW he made it through all the processing, got bailed into a tight plastic bag, trucked to the store and then waited there on a shelf until I bought him.
In 25 years I’d have to say that’s a first and one of the most unusual ways I’ve transported bug into my home. The following is a list for you to keep in mind to keep this from happening to you.
Groceries especially in boxed items
Items bought from yard sales or flea markets
New appliances or furniture
Flower arrangements
Neighbors dogs or cats come to visit (fleas)
Items brought home from storage facility
Luggage after a trip (bed bugs)
Firewood
Christmas or holiday items brought in from shed or attic
Mail or delivery of packages
Moving vans
New sod (bugs start outside but can move in looking for new home)
Plants brought in from the cold
Relatives or new roommates that visit or move in
Although this is not a complete list I’m sure, it may help you think ‘outside the box’ when a sudden
