The Importance of Pest Control
Reasons Why You Need Regular Pest Control
Here’s a simple fact of life. Pests will always find a way into your home. It doesn’t matter whether it’s spotlessly clean or hasn’t seen a mop or broom for weeks, insects, rodents and an army of other little beasties will make a beeline for your living spaces because of the warmth and food they provide.
Your four walls are like a grocery store for common household pests. If you don’t keep them out or stop them in their tracks, they could cause untold damage to health and property. Here are five reasons why regular pest control is important:
Pests Spread Diseases
In addition to being a nuisance and an unwelcome sight, pests carry diseases that can be harmful to you and your family. Some transmit them by biting or stinging while others pick up and carry disease-causing parasites and bacteria. They easily contaminate surfaces with their body parts, excreta and hairs. To give you an idea, here are some of the common diseases caused by household pets.
- House flies can cause dysentery, typhoid fever and salmonella, food poisoning.
- Mosquito-borne diseases in Australia include dengue fever and Barmah Forest virus. This illness is only found in Australia and symptoms include headache, tiredness, fever, skin rashes and joint pain.
- Rats, mice and other rodents carry lots of diseases that are harmful to human health. They include salmonella, leptospirosis and Weil’s disease.
- Birds and their droppings carry numerous nasty diseases that you’ll definitely want to avoid. They include a respiratory disease called histoplasmosis and salmonella. Bugs from their droppings can be sucked into ventilators and air conditioning units.
Pests Damage Your Belongings
Your personal possessions are also fair game for the uninvited tiny invaders. For example, silverfish munch on organic fibres such as books, photo albums, insulation and wallpaper. They contain all the nutrients they need to survive. Left undisturbed, silverfish breed rapidly. Other critters that will destroy your belongings are carpenter ants, carpenter beetles and termites.
Pests Contaminate Food
Like humans, pests need food, water and shelter to survive. Your kitchen provides them with everything they need. As they forage and feast on your supplies, they leave bacteria and excreta behind. Pests can also invade numerous stored products such as cereals, dried fruits, nuts, seeds and grains. They’ll contaminate your food without you even realising so you could be dining on meals that are basically unfit for human consumption.
Pests Destroy Your Home
You don’t want pests to get a foothold in your home because they could end up destroying it. There’s a long list of insects, rodents and other beasties that can affect the saleability, liveability and value of your property.
- Rodents can cause fires by nibbling away at the insulation around electrical cables or water damage by puncturing pipes.
- Bird droppings cause millions of dollars’ worth of damage to buildings every year because of their acidic nature. They eat away at materials such as wood, stone, steel and iron. Accumulated droppings can clog gutters and damage roofs.
- Termites destroy homes by snacking away at their wood structures. Out of all the pests that worm their way into buildings, these are the costliest and damaging. Pests can be found in wooden beams and wooden furniture eating cellulose contained in the wood. They burrow into these structures and are almost impossible to detect immediately. They can stay hidden for years. By the time you notice them considerable damage has been done.
- Possums can also be incredibly destructive by damaging electrical wires and destroying insulation.
- Wood-boring insects such as the common house borer invade furniture, decorative woodwork, wood flooring and structural timbers.
Pests Raise Stress Levels
Insects and rodents make everybody’s life a misery. A pest-free home is a happy home. If pests are plaguing your pad you can expect them everywhere. They won’t just keep to one place. At any time, they could be crawling over your mattresses, leaving droppings on your food and getting inside your clothes and furniture.
Book Regular Pest Inspections
Pest control should be a top priority for your home. There are also several other methods of pest control which you could also explore. Regular professional inspections and mitigation measures not only take care of any problems you may be facing now, but also in the future.