Pest Library

What You Should Know About Pests In California's Central Valley

Guarding your home against pests is easiest when you know which are most likely to enter your California home. We have put together an informative pest control guide to help you learn more about the common pests in the Central Valley area.

Ants

Many ants call the Central Valley area home, including Argentine ants, California red ants, house ants, and odorous house ants. These ants regularly find their way into our homes after being attracted by food, moisture, and shelter. Ants are excellent communicators and live together in large groups making it difficult to keep these pests from taking over our properties.

Many people view ants as simply a nuisance when they find them wandering around their homes. But being annoying is just the tip of the iceberg. Ants can cause major problems for people and our properties. Some produce foul odors, others bite or sting, some transmit dangerous pathogens, and others cause structural damage. Ants live in significant numbers all around us, and working with a local professional is the best way to stop them from feeling at home in your Central Valley house. 

To keep the ants that call our region home from being attracted to your property, we always recommend removing as many food sources as possible. Keep lids on trash cans and recycling bins, regularly harvest gardens, and pick up uneaten pet food. Also, maintain a clean kitchen, store food properly, and clean up spills.

Contact Gideon Pest Control today for professional pest control help that will stop ants from taking over your property. 

Cockroaches

Several species of cockroaches in our area regularly find their way into our homes. Four of the most common are the American cockroach, brown-banded cockroach, German cockroach, and oriental cockroach. Cockroaches are formidable pests that are difficult to prevent and even more difficult to remove from our homes.

There are many valid reasons we have such adverse reactions to finding cockroaches in our homes. First and foremost, they will quickly contaminate your family's food and your home's surfaces with bacteria, excrement, allergens, and disease-causing pathogens. Cockroaches have flat oval bodies and hide in your home's dark spaces, making identifying their presence tricky. The longer they go unnoticed, the faster these prolific breeders will take over your house. 

To avoid problems with cockroaches, cleaning up leftover food and the messes that cooking creates is essential. Make sure your family's trash is sealed and placed in sealed containers. Vacuum your home often and keep storage areas organized. Always inspect boxes, deliveries, and secondhand items for cockroaches before bringing them inside. Also, eliminate entry points by sealing cracks in exterior walls, gaps under doors, and spaces around pipes or wires. 

Sometimes commercial pest control is necessary to keep disease-ridden cockroaches away. Call Gideon Pest Control today for help with a cockroach infestation!

Earwigs

Earwigs are those unpleasant-looking long, flat insects with pincers extending from their hind end that make us cringe when we find them in our homes. Though earwigs are unpleasant to look at, the truth is that they don't cause significant harm to people. They are garden pests that occasionally find their way into our home, usually driven indoors by a lack of moisture in their outdoor environment. 

Things that attract and absorb moisture like mulch, woodpiles, dense vegetation, and decaying are most likely to draw earwigs to our properties. The more earwigs that live on your property, the greater the chance they will use your house or another structure as a place of respite. Basements, crawl spaces, laundry rooms, and utility rooms are the most common places to discover earwigs in our homes.

In order to avoid finding earwigs in your house, it is vital to ensure your home has adequate ventilation. Repair leaky pipes, and make sure gutters are in good working order. To keep earwigs from crawling into your house, seal cracks in the foundation and install door sweeps. Also, rake back leaves and other vegetation back from your home's exterior and remove decaying vegetation from your property. 

Call Gideon Pest Control today if you need help with an earwig infestation!

Silverfish

Silverfish are small, moisture-seeking insects that regularly move into our California homes through small cracks and gaps. These insects primarily live outside in areas with damp soil and decaying vegetation. The ground under mulch, trash cans, logs, and landscaping ties, are typical outdoor habitats and allow silverfish to live near our homes, garages, and sheds. 

Silverfish will migrate when their outdoor habitats become too dry to live comfortably. The moisture in and around our homes attracts silverfish, and they end up moving indoors through small openings they discover in your home's exterior. Once inside, they move to an area of your house that provides them with needed moisture. Usually, you'll find silverfish scurrying across bathrooms, basements, and kitchen floors. The longer silverfish are in your home, the more likely they will cause damage and contaminate food by feeding on starches, dry goods, cardboard, and book bindings. 

Silverfish have high moisture needs, so reducing as much excess moisture in and around your home is super helpful. Reduce moisture levels with dehumidifiers, proper ventilation, and air conditioners. Repair drains and pipes that are dripping water. It is also essential to repair openings in your home's exterior to make it as difficult as possible for them to find an entry point. 

To learn more about eliminating silverfish from your home, call Gideon Pest Control today!

Spiders

Spiders are creepy and fast-moving and have been the villain in many books and movies! However, spiders provide a valuable service; they feed on and control the number of nuisance and dangerous insects that frequent our outdoor spaces. Yet, when we find these eight-legged pests in our homes, we want them removed as quickly as possible. 

Most of the spiders we find in our homes and gardens, like jumping spiders, daddy long legs, wolf spiders, and garden spiders, are harmless to people. However, finding black widow spiders on your property is a different story. They are dangerous as they have venom strong enough to harm a person. If you see large numbers of spiders on your property, it is because there is an ample supply of insect prey for them to hunt. Spider and insect infestations go hand in hand, and you can get rid of both with the help of a pest control professional. 

To keep spiders from wandering into your home while following their insect prey, you must take away as many entry points for them and their prey as possible. Make sure screens or caps are on chimneys and vents. Inspect exterior walls and the foundation, sealing any cracks you discover. Make certain screens in windows and doors are intact, and weatherstripping and door sweeps are in place. Eliminate easy access to your home by cutting back shrubs and bushes from its exterior. 

For easy professional spider control, call the experts at Gideon Pest Control.

Rodents

Rodents are unpleasant critters whose beady eyes, long tails, and sharp front teeth are a nightmare for homeowners. Once rodents find a way into your house, they are difficult to remove before they cause damage to your home or spread disease to your family. Partnering with a local, professional pest control expert is the best way to keep house mice, roof rats, and sewer rats out of your Central Valley home.

Rodents love our homes for the same reasons we do! Our houses provide rodents with safe, comfortable shelter, sources of water, and, most importantly, easy access to food. Once mice and rats find a way into your home, they are difficult to remove. Rodents make themselves comfortable fast and are prolific breeders. One mouse or rat can turn into many in a short period! The more rodents on your property, the more damage they will cause. 

Preventing problems with rodents is difficult because they want to live with us. The best way to avoid problems with these pests is to take away their easy access to food. Keep lids on trash cans and recycling bins, have trash regularly removed from your property, and maintain gardens. Indoor and outdoor eating areas should always be kept clean, and you should store leftover food properly. Never leave uneaten pet food out and remove bird feeders from your property. 

If you want excellent pest control for your Central Valley, California property, reach out to the family-owned-and-operated Gideon Pest Control. As a local company, we understand the needs of our customers and the treatments that will best solve their pest problems. Learn about all our home pest control options by contacting us today!