You may be familiar with summertime pests like ants and termites that gain access to your home through small entry points such as small cracks.

However, the summer is not the only time pests can enter your home. Pest control is a year-round issue and needs to be addressed quickly and seriously. Here are some common pests that enter the home in winter and how to get these pests out of your home quickly.

Common Winter Pests

Mice and Rats

The house mouse is the most commonly encountered rodent in the United States, according to extermination experts. House mice usually nest in dark, secluded areas like attics and basements, and often enter homes through openings in garage doors, windows, and doors.

House mice can cause serious property damage as they chew through drywall as well as wires that can then spark an electrical fire.

On the other hand, Norway rats often nest in basements, piles of debris and other undisturbed materials and enter your home through the same methods as the house mouse. They are known to gnaw through almost anything – including plastic or lead pipes – to obtain food or water.

There are many ways

Other Rodents

Depending on the area you live in, you may be susceptible to other varieties of rodents entering your home. These can include:

• Squirrels
• Racoons
• Skunks
• Voles
• Gophers
• Beavers

These tend to be larger than the average mouse or rat, and may be more difficult to trap due to their size. It is important to recognize exterminators in your area to ensure they are captured and safely released back into the wild.

Fleas

These pests do not just enter the home through the small openings previously mentioned, but can hitch a ride on your furry family members. This does not just include adult fleas, but their eggs, larvae, and paupe.

Although most people think of fleas as a problem only the family pet has to deal with, they can also bite humans and are the most common transmitter of the rare bubonic plague.

While pet owners are primarily at risk for flea infestations, these biting pests can also be brought onto a property via wild animals like the rodents we previously discussed and then make their way into a home.

Bed Bugs

Although bed bugs are not known to transmit disease (like fleas are), they are a pest of significant public health importance.

Bed bugs are another species of blood-sucking ectoparasites (external parasites) similar to fleas and head lice. Differences in the biology of similar species of pests, such as body lice and head lice (or bed bugs) can greatly impact the ability of pests to transmit disease.

Bed bugs can be hard to find and identify, given their small size and their habit of staying hidden. It helps to know what they look like, since the various life stages have different forms.

Spiders

Contrary to popular belief, most spiders don’t migrate indoors when the temperatures start to get colder or snow begins to fall. As the temperatures cool off in late summer, outdoor spiders adapt by building up antifreeze in their tissue. This glycol compound “supercools” the spider without freezing it.

So spiders stay alive year round, even if some of use would pray for the opposite to be true.

Spiders then seek out a place to hide for the winter, because they cannot stay warm on the antifreeze alone. They often make their way through the snow and top layer of soil. There, they have insulation from the worst of the cold. However, they can still move and hunt prey.

Some spiders will hunker down for the winter in pods. They build these pods and sacs in chimneys, downspouts, and cracks in walls on your property, or even will crawl through tiny cracks so that they can stay in a warm area to be comfortable and lay their eggs, spin webs, and hunt prey.

Protecting Your Home in Winter from Pests

One solution that works specifically for small rodents is to place copper mesh into holes and gaps. Mice and rats hate having to chew threw wire mesh, and hate the taste of the copper material, so they will tend to avoid entering homes that have entranceways blocked off by the wire.

However, not all pests will avoid your home if you just place copper mesh around openings.

A waterproof silicone sealant is the best caulk for pest prevention in winter due to its moisture-resistant formula and durability against changing weather conditions. This method is best to help prevent smaller insects in because they will be less inclined to crawl or gnaw their way through the silicone.

If you do not own one already, consider purchasing a caulking gun as an accessory with your silicone sealant. This helps to ensure that the silicone you are applying is applied evenly and with the same amount of pressure throughout the line you hope to apply.

Before applying a layer of silicone sealant, make sure to thoroughly clean the area of application by removing dirt, old paint, and previously added layers of sealant.

Locate any cracks and holes and then begin applying caulk from the gun at a 45-degree angle. Start at one corner and carefully apply a small bead of silicone caulk with gentle pressure.

Once you’ve filled in the hole, let the silicone sealant cure for at least 24 hours, and do not touch it. Use your index finger or a spoon to even out the caulk and clean up leftover silicone sealant.

This can also be done with an expanding foam sealant where the silicone will automatically fill up the cracks as it expands.

Keep Winter Pests Out with Silicone Depot

If you live in an area prone to winter insects, Silicone Depot has the tools you need to seal cracks, gaps, and holes in any area of your home.

To prevent the need for expensive pest control services, use our affordable, high-quality, food-grade 100%RTV Silicone Sealant to fill in gaps and holes. To check out our catalog of silicone sealant products and accessories, visit our website today!