Sometimes, it is quite easy to spot signs of a pest problem, whether it’s a mouse running around your home or ants in your kitchen. However, pest infestations are not always this obvious, like unidentified smells, noises, and inexplicable baseboard damage. Below, we will explore several signs of a pest infestation to prevent further issues.
Small droppings
Droppings are one of the signs that show pest infestation in a home. Droppings are made by pets like mice and rats, leaving small droppings around your home. Other pests like termites and cockroaches also leave dropping behind.
However, droppings are sometimes not so obvious. They can be mistaken for dirt clumps based on the infestation type and dropping age and can even break apart with time, turning into smaller granules. This makes it difficult to identify. Droppings can be found in corners, under sinks, and cupboards. Whenever you see droppings, there is a possibility of a home infestation.
Insect Molt
During insect molt, the insect sheds its larval form and grows bigger. Beetles, bed bugs, and cockroaches are some pests that may scatter their egg casings and skin sheds around your home when molting. If you find a pile of wings, it could be a termite infestation. Termites discard their wings when swarmers choose new colony locations.
Strange Smells and Noises
Pests often emit detectable smells that experts can identify. However, if you haven’t encountered a pest infestation, you might miss it. For example, according to pest experts, rat and mice urine smells like ammonia. For cockroaches, they emanate oily scents, while bed bugs smell musty or sweet like berries.
If you smell something unusual in your kitchen, basement, or other areas, it could be pests. You should not ignore them, especially during the night. Squeaking, gnawing, scurrying, or scratching songs might indicate a rat or mouse problem. Even large bugs give off audible sounds like faint buzz.
Nests
The presence of nests such as sawdust piles, holes in your walls, chewed paper or cardboard, insulation pipes, and spider webs can be signs of rodents or insects living in your home. They can be found in bathrooms or kitchens, in crevices, cracks, under the furniture, behind refrigerators ets. In case of a cockroach infestation, identifying their nests can help you get rid of baby cockroaches.
In addition to these, there are outdoor nests such as wasps, brown lawns, damaged vegetation, termite mud tubes, and ant hill nests. Outdoor nests are a bigger issue that requires the presence of professional exterminators. Outdoor pests could infest your home at any time. Therefore, ensure you remove these threats before they become a nuisance.
Damaged Furniture and Fabrics
Sometimes, you might notice inexplicable tears and holes in furniture and fabrics. These could mean pests destroying your home. Small pests are usually attracted to soft surfaces and might leave damage in clothing, rugs, chairs, couches and others.
Rotten wood
Rotten wood can be a sign of carpenter ants and termites. They love humid and moist areas like attics and basements with softer woods. Search for small entry holes, and check your fence posts, decks, and other interior and exterior wood.
Look out for damaged wood on furniture, floors, and walls. They might contain loose shavings and marks left by carpenter ants, termites and other pests.
Endnote
Pests are often very destructive to homes. However, many people often face challenges in dealing with pests from rodents to insects. It is crucial to understand the signs of a pest infestation to protect your home better. Familiarizing yourself with these pest infestation signs can ensure you better protect your home and address potential pest infestations.
