If you’re like most people, you prefer to live in an environment that’s sheltered from the elements and has an adequate food supply at hand. Unfortunately, many pests share your desire for a cozy home. Because they are small and often difficult to spot, you can have quite an infestation before you notice that pests have invaded. However, if you know what to look for, you can better defend yourself against unwanted intruders.
Is it an infestation or a minor problem?
Termites come in two varieties: subterranean and drywood. The subterranean species makes their home in the soil, leaving it to feed. The drywood species prefers to invade wood floors, furniture and house frames, living out their lives within the invaded structure. Many homeowners never know they have an infestation unless they see them swarming. Other signs are less obvious, but may allow you to detect a problem sooner. One such sign is the appearance of mud tubes on your home’s foundation or exterior walls. These tubes are usually flat and about as wide as a pencil. You should also watch for distorted or cracked paint on painted wooden surfaces or dark spots and blisters on wood floors. Use your ears as well as your eyes; damaged wood often has a hollow sound when you tap it with the handle of a tool, such as a screwdriver.
Silverfish and their firebrat cousins like to feast on books, papers and dry foods, such as cereal or pasta. They’ll eat the starch in your shirts and the paste behind your wallpaper. Signs of an infestation are often difficult to spot unless you inspect your bookcases, textiles and papers. You might notice a pattern of irregular, unconnected holes in fabrics or papers. Papers may become discolored from fungi associated with their attempts to feed. You might also notice small, delicate scales that are incandescent and cling to many types of surfaces.
For many years, bedbugs were a rarity in the U.S. They have recently returned with a vengeance. They can hitch a ride in your suitcase when you stay at a hotel, even if it’s a five-star resort. Once they invade, they can hide in the smallest of places, coming out at night to feast on your blood. The bites are the most obvious sign of an infestation, but many people blame mosquitoes or other causes. You might need a magnifying glass to spot some of the other signs of a bedbug infestation. The bugs are very small, and the signs they leave behind are normally even smaller. You might notice tiny blood stains on your pillowcase or sheet. They may leave excrement on your walls, sheets or other surfaces that looks like a tiny rust spot. The young shed their skins, sometimes as many as five times during the first month of life, but the skins are often in the bedbug’s hiding place and therefore difficult to find.
If you suspect you might have an infestation problem and are in the Orlando area, the specialists at ABC Home & Commercial Services are ready to assist you.