4 ways to keep your SC house Palmetto bug, rat and snake free during the winter months

When temperatures drop in winter, many pests in South Carolina try to find their way indoors for heat sources and protection.

Bugs, insects, birds and rodents may try to invade your home.

Before this can happen, it’s important to protect your home from any creepy crawlers that may try to take up an unwanted residence in your home.

Spiders, ants, palmetto bugs, termites and fleas don’t sound like very good house guests, but neither do raccoons, squirrels, mice, rats or other rodents.

Here are four ways to keep pests out of your home as the temperatures begin to drop.

• First and foremost, seal any openings you may have that can connect the outdoors to the indoors. Either yourself or a professional should inspect your home for any cracks, holes, gaps and openings. Even the smallest of openings can invite any small critter seeking asylum from the harsher temperatures. During your search, try paying special attention to areas around windows, doors, on your roof, in foundation cracks, under your home (if it stands on pilings) and pipes. Certain critter screens can be installed under stilt homes that sit suspended above the ground on pilings.

• Clean up your yard and around the house. This helps to eliminate any potential pets habitats and nesting sites. This could include raking the leaves, cleaning your gutters, trimming your bushes and shrubs on the lower half to keep it away from the ground, store firewood or wood piles away from the house and in a dry location, prune trees away from your roof to prevent easy access for rodents and consider a chimney cap or mesh covering for any uncovered chimney.
  
  Screening your vents is also an option. In addition, bring in any toys, bowls or anything that could accumulate an artificial pool of water. This can attract bugs, insects and other pests.

• Keep your home and kitchen free of left-out food items. Not only can this grow bacteria and make food potentially unsafe for consumption, but leaving food out for extended periods of time can attract pests. Remember to clean crumbs off of tables and the floor, avoid leaving dirty dishes out overnight and refrain from leaving out uneaten pet food. If your pet eats outside, it’s especially important to bring in their food bowls.

• Call a pest control expert before you experience any signs of a possible infestation. Staying ahead of suspected problems can greatly decrease the chances of any pests sneaking into your home or risking an infestation occurring without your knowledge.

“Areas of your home, including the attic and basement, can be home to a growing population over the winter if you don’t use any pest control treatments. During the spring, many of the pests may remain with a very large-scale infestation. Large infestations are more costly to eliminate and take longer to remove from a home,” according to Carolina Pest Management.