Humans do not like cold, and neither do animals and insects. During winter, many of them look for warm places to stay out of the harsh weather. If you don’t take preventive steps, you’ll be playing host to hundreds of pests who will not only stay in your home but take the opportunity to eat and otherwise damage your property, apart from posing a serious health hazard in some cases.

Here are a few tips you can use to ward them off and ensure your home stays pet free this season:

Screen Off All Vents and Seal All Cracks

From your attic vents to those on your roof and even the foundation, leaving any vent open is an invitation for pests to scurry or fly in. Inspect them to make sure that they are in good condition and use some kind of netting to screen any one that has some space open.

Cracks and holes in your walls, siding, stucco or even piping are pest gateways, so take the time to go over your home and close up any hole you come across.

Keep Your Surroundings Dry

Garage and crawl spaces are favorite habitats for insects and rodents because of how humid they usually are, and the pests are attracted to places where water is available. Take your time to remove any excess water and let air in to reduce the humidity, thus lessening the attraction of those areas to pests.

You can use pest control products to kill off any pests that are already in these places since they might be difficult to see. Check http://www.pestcontrolreviews.com for the most effective product options.

Repair Your Doors and Windows

Doors and windows are supposed to be tightly closed, but they begin to become looser due to time and frequent usage. Inspect door and window frames, hinges and weather stripping to be certain there isn’t space for pests to come through. Repair what can be repaired and replace whatever is too damaged. It might cost a bit, but it’ll still be less than the cost of fumigating your home to remove an infestation.

 Don’t Leave Pet Food Outside

Rodents will come in force to check out any food they smell, and leaving pet food just outside your door will keep them coming around. Leave a reasonable distance between your home and where your pets feed. It doesn’t matter whether it’s dog food or for cats or birds, rodents eat all of them.

Keep Food Preparations Tidy

Rodents, cockroaches and other pests love human food too, so make sure that you keep your kitchen clean and use airtight containers to store dry foods. If you have a picnic or barbeque outside, make sure to dispose of all food scraps properly or you’ll soon see an influx of pests in the area.

Be Careful What You Bring Home

If you take all the time to keep your home tidy but then bring pests along with you from the store or anywhere else, you might as well not have done anything. Pests reproduce very rapidly, and even a single spider is enough to spawn hundreds more if it’s able to hide among the holiday decorations you’re bringing in from the garage or storage shed.