If it squeaks, buzzes, eats everything lying around you and has more legs that you have, chances are you do not want it creeping in your house. Exterminating these unwanted critters with a potent poison can be a satisfying solution to the pest problem in the house but may effect the health of the people living there. The stuff, which is toxic to the pests is surely going to be toxic to people as well specially children. And since pesticides treat pest symptoms and not the underlying causes, they often do not work as prevention-based option.

Here are a few general tips from R.I.P Pest Management, your specialist in pest control in North Shore.

Ensure your house is clean

A number of rodents and insects are attracted to food as well as water. So, you need to start off by making your house less tempting to pests. You should do the following things to make sure your house is kept clean.

• Wipe up any spill immediately after it has occurred using a solution of water and soap

• Keep all kinds of ripe fruit in the refrigerator

• Dispose garbage regularly and keep the garbage cans clean of any food residue

• Wash dishes regularly or soak them in soapy water until you wash them

• All the beverage and food containers that are kept outside the freezer or fridge are sealed tightly. Plastic containers that have snap-on lids and glass jars that have rubber seals are better than the ones that have screw-tops.

• Vacuum and sweep your floors daily

• If you've a pet in your house, comb him or her daily and wash its bedding quite frequently. Ensure to vacuum the floors, upholstery and rugs that your pet comes in contact with on a regular basis.

Keep the kitchen and bathroom area of your home dry

The kitchen and bathrooms in your house must be kept in a dry condition. If there is any leakage in the faucet, it must be fixed as soon as possible. And do not let standing water accumulate ever.

Seal the entryways

• Entry points through which new invaders can get into the house must be sealed off. Denying access is very important in order to have a safe and pest free home. Here are some ways, which you can use for keeping the pests at bay.

• Use silicone caulk for sealing the cracks and crevices in mouldings, baseboards, pipes, sinks, ducts, cupboards, electrical outlets and toilets.

• Place screens before the heating & cooling vents & repair holes in the existing screens.

• Keep stacked firewood, debris and vegetation away from the exterior portion of the house. This will prevent the pests from climbing up & in.

Try out chemical free strategies

Chemical-free strategies have been very useful in controlling and preventing the invasion of pests in a home. So, if you want to solve your pest problem without the use of chemical pesticides, do the following things:

• Lay traps

• Make use of a swatter

• Vacuum for individual bugs or nests

Use lower-risk pesticides

If your pest problem persists, you can try out these techniques. These can have very minimal health risks on the members of your house.

Use dust boric acid on areas like cracks & crevices. This is going poison the crawling insects such as cockroaches, ants and silverfish slowly. However, boric acid is hardly toxic to humans or other mammals.

Try out fatty-acid soaps that kill soft-bodied insects such as fleas, mites and caterpillars on contact. They are virtually harmless unless ingested by humans or mammals.

Hire an Integrated Pest Management company like us who makes use of physical controls & very low-toxicity products for managing pest problems.