Halloween is around the corner bringing with it cooler weather, spooky decorations, kids in costumes, and lots of candy. Spider and cobweb decorations, plastic rats, bats, and more are fun and festive, but the real pests are not if they make their way into your home. RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) ® has tips to help you keep tricky pests out and prevent your home from turning into a haunted house.
Just as trick-or-treaters will flock to your door in search of candy to fill their pillow cases, unwanted pests will too to take their share of those sugary morsels. This holiday can be the perfect time for pests to take advantage of frequently opening doors and a multitude of sweet treats and crumbs around the house; so it is important to be aware of these pests and to think about ways to prevent their entry.
With cooler weather and a pest filled holiday, we want to offer three important steps you can take to ensure the trick-or-treaters are the only ones knocking on your door:
- Preserve your pumpkin. Jack-o-lanterns are fun to carve leading up to the holiday, but don’t forget to dispose of them when they start to rot. Rotting pumpkins can lead to fruit flies, gnats, and more unwanted pests.
- Seal to store. Your kids may be excited to come home and dump their candy bags out on the living room floor to count their collection, but pests may see this as an opportunity to stash some sugar and have a feast ready for the winter. Seal all candy in air-tight containers to prevent pests.
- Scare off mosquitoes. Ghosts might not be flying around but mosquitoes still are. Prevent mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika and West Nile by applying EPA-approved insect repellent before taking kids out to trick-or-treat. EPA-approved insect repellent containing DEET is safe for children two months and older.
