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Pesticide News Story:Winterize Your Home Against Old Man Winter and Pests
For Release: November 10, 2010
Many of the tasks we perform to prepare our homes for the winter season also help to keep pests from entering our homes. Insects and other pests, such as stink bugs and mice that thrive in the outdoors during the warm weather months, must seek shelter as the weather becomes colder. Our warm homes are an inviting place for pests to come in from the cold!
Pests can enter our homes through the smallest of cracks and crevices. Mice can slip through a space as small as the thickness of a pencil! A few Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tips to follow are:
- Caulk windows inside and out.
- Weather strip entry doors and/or install door sweeps if daylight is visible around the perimeter of the door.
- Rake away all debris and edible vegetation from your home’s foundation to keep from attracting pests.
- Inspect for and seal foundation cracks to block a potential point of entry for pests.
- Secure crawlspace entries.
- When insulating exposed plumbing pipes around the foundation or the crawlspace of your home, check for any points of entry where pests could enter. Caulk small gaps and fill larger ones with steel wool to prevent mice from entering.
- If your home has a fireplace, cap or screen the top of the chimney to keep out rodents and other pests.
For more information on controlling pests around your home, please visit our Web page, Controlling Pests, at https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/controlling/index.htm.
For a FREE informational kit about controlling pests and using pesticides safely, reply to Mary-Jean Lormand (lormand.mary-jean@epa.gov) with your mailing address.