Top Tips for Pest-Free Outdoor Living

Avoid mosquitoes in your Atlanta GA backyard with tips from Active Pest ControlWith summer winding down, you’re likely wanting to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Whether you are hosting a backyard barbecue or reading out on your patio at night, the last thing you want to deal with is a pest problem. Mosquitoes, ticks, flies, lawn pests, and wasps are just a few of the many pests that can become quite a nuisance. At Active Pest Control, we know you want to enjoy your time spent in your outdoor living spaces to be pest-free*, which is why we’re here to provide you with our top tips for pest-free* outdoor living in your Atlanta area home.

Common Pests in Your Yard

The time of year that provides nice enough weather for you to be outdoors is also the time of year when pests are most active! Whether you have a garden in your backyard or couches and tables on your deck, you will likely encounter some of the following pests:

How to Prevent Pests in Your Outdoor Living Space

To keep pests away when you’re in your yard, there are several things you can do. The best ways to keep pests away in your outdoor space are as follows.

  1. Get rid of standing water. Mosquitoes only need a half inch of standing water to breed.
  2. Keep your lawn and shrubs trimmed. Overgrown grass or vegetation provides mosquitoes and ticks with shelter.
  3. Know how to look for ant hills. Even a tiny mound can contain thousands of ants inside.
  4. Check wood structures. Termites and carpenter bees will damage your wooden decks or porches.
  5. Use an insect repellent. Insect repellent containing DEET will help repel mosquitoes and ticks.
  6. Clean your patio or space regularly. Crumbs or spilled liquids will attract ants and other insects.

Year-Long Pest-Free Living

Pests are just a fact of life outside. However, you don’t have to let them ruin your time spent in your own backyard! For help implementing pest-free* outdoor living tips, the experts at Active Pest Control can help. Contact our residential exterminators to learn more.

Is There A Fly In Your Soup?

If there is a fly in your soup, be thankful you don’t have Grover helping you with your problem. In this classic scene from Sesame Street, a restaurant patron must rely on Grover–who can’t tell the difference between under, next to, on and in–to help him with a fly in his soup. After several failed attempts, Grover bursts out with a line that is probably one of the funniest in Sesame Street history. “You should have asked for a bowl of soup and said, ‘Hold the flies!'” The absurdity of this statement is only made more pronounced when Grover replaces the man’s fly-tainted soup with another: cream of mosquito.

Bugs may not be a big deal in Grover’s kitchen, but they can be bad news in yours. Flies aren’t only a frustrating pest, they are a known spreader of harmful bacteria. It’s not entirely their fault. They start their lives out as maggots and feed on rotted organic material in your trashcan and other unsavory places. It is only natural for them to continue to be drawn to filthy things for the rest of their lives. If you think it bugs you to see a fly land on your food, imagine if you could know where that fly’s feet have been. It would throw you right off the edge.

Flies are not an insect you should ever shrug off. They can’t be effectively controlled with a few strips of flypaper. This is a dirty insect that shouldn’t be in your soup, on your counters or in your kitchen. Here are a few ideas to make your kitchen a fly-free zone:

  • Make sure you screens are in good condition. Some flies will zip in through the front door when you open it, but a large number get in through poor screening and holes in window framing. Use fingernail polish to fix small holes, and invest in a tiny patch kit to get holes that are up to a quarter in size.
  • Don’t lure flies onto your property. Get trash cans that seal. Put compost several feet away from your exterior walls. And don’t provide any other food sources around your home.
  • Trash cans inside should be sealed as well. If a fly does get in, you don’t want to give it the perfect breeding site.
  • Soak dishes in soapy water rather than stacking them next to the sink. Flies can’t breed fast enough to use your dirty dishes as a breeding site, but they will definitely grab a bite and use the energy to find another more suitable site.
  • Commercial businesses use light traps to control flying insects. If a couple of flies get in, you might want to have a small light trap to take care of the problem.
  • Remember that the trash can in the kitchen isn’t the only trash in the house. If you have kids, there could be food in the bathroom trash as well.

It is no fun having flies in the kitchen. Use these tips and a year round pest control program from Active Pest Control to keep them out, for good.