Keep home free of winter critters and pests
Winter’s arrival in southwestern Pennsylvania can be a particularly trying time for wild animals making landscapes, backyards and homes more attractive to unwanted critters and pests.
As deer and small animals like rabbits, rodents and other herbivores forage for food, the plants in your landscape are likely part of their winter smorgasbord as they feed on twigs, bark, flower buds, and foliage, according to Better Homes and Gardens.
Valerie Sesler, master gardener at Penn State Extension in Fayette County, said although deer eat a great variety of vegetative material, they are typically the biggest offenders.
While a single deer can consume 1.5 tons of vegetation a year, Green Earth found the number of whitetail deer has tripled in certain states in the past decade.
Foraging deer can cripple gardens, shrubs and trees, sometimes rendering them unable to weather winter, leaving you with a dead, lifeless landscape in the spring.
Deer are also reportedly known to harbor disease-carrying ticks and rodent infestations associated with respiratory ailments.
If you’re a fall gardener, wild animals can do more damage to your landscape than frost, according to Green Earth Media Group.
“We often leave our garden intact in the winter to give refuge to animals and insects during the winter. We save the clean-up until late winter or early spring,” Sesler said.
According to Penn State, rabbits can feed on plants in your yard year-round. They eat flowers and vegetables in spring and summer, and in fall and winter, they eat woody plants.
In winter, when the ground is covered with snow for long periods, rabbits can severely damage landscape plants, orchards, forest plantations, and park trees and shrubs, Penn State reports. Some young plants are clipped off at snow height, and larger trees and shrubs may be killed when rabbits remove a large amount of the bark.
Other herbivores like tree squirrels can find their way into buildings through loose siding or ventilation screens. Once inside, they can damage walls, insulation, and electrical wires.
In residential areas, Penn State notes that squirrels cause damage because of their tendency to gnaw on structures. They will chew siding and under eves to make openings for their nests.
Green Earth states that fencing and other types of deterrents like plastic owls often aren’t effective in scaring herbivores away.
However, a combination of the right deterrents and preparation can better manage your environment to keep it as pest free as possible.
No matter what the temperature, Green Earth recommends taking several steps to keep unwanted critters away from your home in the winter.
The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) noted that as pests are more likely to enter homes in fall and winter, it’s important to take preventative steps to reduce the chances of an infestation.
“Although rodents are a year-round problem, we do find that consumers report an uptick in rodent infestations occurring in the fall and winter months. In fact, rodents invade about 21 million homes in the U.S. each winter, making them one of the most common pests,” said Cindy Mannes, executive director of NPMA.
A single rodent in a home can quickly turn into an infestation, damaging walls, personal items and exposure to allergens and disease.
Before the weather cools, Penn State Extension recommends to take a look around your home to find any potential entry points and plug them.
First, identify what kind of pest you have and investigate where it is coming from.
Next, look inside and outside the house for holes in walls that are ringed with a dirty, oily marking.
Seal off and plug holes with a rodent- proof material such as copper mesh, hardware cloth and silicone caulk.
Install door sweeps at the bottom of doors.
It’s also important to clean up crumbs, spills and store foods, including keeping pet food, off the floor. Make sure open boxed or bagged food is sealed and put in hard containers with tight-fitting lids to prevent easy access.
Other suggestions include to fix leaking pipes and dripping faucets, keep living areas clean and uncluttered and keep yards and vacant lots maintained by mowing and utilizing regular trash pickup.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends to fix gaps in trailer skirtings and use flashing around the base of the house, otherwise, rodents will continue to get inside.
Keep in mind outbuildings and garages also need sealed.