Tips for controlling pests in and around your home
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Now that the weather is taking a deep dive to the cold side, you may be seeing more pests and rodents trying to come inside your home.
Eyewitness News spoke with John Moore exterminators to find out what you can do to keep the pests away.
"I've heard peppermint, eucalyptus oil and cayenne pepper," Kyle Jackson, Pest Control manager with John Moore Services said.
Jackson says these ingredients can help keep insects away, but if you have small children or pets he doesn't recommend them.
"There's a chance small kids can ingest it and it could get in their hands and eyes," Jackson said.
He says the best green product is the Diatomaceous Earth hand duster located at your local hardware store.
"You can put this in beds if you have silver fish issues, or put it in closets. You can also put it underneath couches and around dog bedding. It will kill anything that crawls," Jackson said.
Jackson says a small amount goes a long way, and you will want to dust around your windows and doors as well.
For the outside area of your home, start checking for holes. If there's a hole bigger than the size of your thumb or larger, that can be an entry point for rodents.
"There's a lot of holes outside that you can use a piece of cooper mesh to prevent little intruders from getting in," Jackson said.
Copper mesh is selling for less than $10 at most big box stores.
Also, make sure your doors are sealed and double check the caulk around the windows to keep out roaches and ants.
Right now, you may be seeing an increase of rodents in your area thanks to Hurricane Harvey.
"A lot of low lying areas where rat populations were have moved up into homes where there weren't before," Jackson said.
Jackson says the best thing to do is to check your attic.
"Start looking at ... areas around the corners for any matted down insulation. Another big tip: you'll find rodent droppings about the size of a tic-tac or smaller," Jackson said.
If you find droppings with a white tip, Jackson says those are lizard droppings.
"It's a misconception when people see a dropping they assume it's rodent. Lizards also make droppings and we can't ... prevent those from getting in and out of the house," Jackson said.
