Household & Home Business Hazards – 6 Common Pests That Pose Health Risks and How to Handle Them

We all like to keep a healthy, happy and hospitable home. After all, it’s the place where we relax after a hard day’s work, and if you’re a home business owner, it’s the place where you do all your work! In addition, we have friends and family over for the good times, and want to put the kids safely to bed at night. But unfortunately sometimes uninvited guests come a’ knocking, and they don’t have the best intentions. Did you know that six common household pests can pose a serious health risk to you and yours? Let’s take a look at these common nasties and how to handle them.

Mice

They may make cute pets for the little ones, but if they’re wild and out of the cage and roaming around your place there’s nothing cute about them. Mice can spread diseases and conditions, so you’ll want to call pest control services sooner rather than later. With that said, there’s a few things you can do to deal with mice.

Firstly, prevention is the best defence so try to keep your home neat and tidy and clean up any food scraps and crumbs that may be lying around. You can call in the pest control professionals, or set some traps or lay some bait.

Rats!

While we’re on the topic of rodents, rats are another common pest that can endanger your family. They spread disease and are generally unhealthy to have around. Their droppings also pose a serious risk. If you think you’ve got rats, there’s a few things you can do. Firstly, always take care to clean up food scraps. Also, ensure your bins are tightly shut – this applies to compost as well. Then, consider calling in an exterminator or investing in some traps and bait.

Cockroaches

Of all common household pests, cockroaches are the most common.

They’re also a health hazard! They carry germs and bacteria and are downright unpleasant to see in your home! Cockroaches love feeding on stray crumbs and bits and pieces so, as usual, keep your home clean and tidy and free of tidbits that these vermin love to snack on. Try spraying some perimeter insect repellent around the outside of your home to keep them outside where they belong.

Spiders

Ugh! Just the thought makes your skin crawl, doesn’t it?

Arachnids are common household pets, and some even do you a favour and keep other insect populations down. However, some are venomous, and can pose a significant health hazard if someone gets bitten, especially with younger children and older people.

So, what do you do if you think you have redbacks or whitetails living with you?

Insect spray is good and will kill them quickly. You could also consider a bug bomb or calling in the professionals. Check in dark, dry spaces like under clothes draws, in the garage or in the linen press – they love to call these spots home.

Maggots

While we’re on the topic of disgusting critters, maggots nearly take the cake.

You’ll likely find maggots at the bottom of your bin or in the compost – especially if you’ve disposed of some meat that has started to spoil. Maggots breed flies which carry germs, bacteria and disease and certainly aren’t good to have around.

Here’s a tip – freeze any meat you are going to throw out, then wait for garbage night to throw it out. It’ll still be thawing when the garbage gets collected, reducing the risk of maggots appearing.

Ants

Although ants are probably the most benign critter mentioned in this article, they can still ruin your food. Again, clean up stray crumbs and make sure sweet stuff like honey and sugar is kept in a sealed container. Try perimeter spray again, and seal up any holes where ants may get in.

There You Have It

There you go! We’ve looked at a few of the most common household pests that can endanger your health and how to combat them. From calling in professional exterminators through to keeping your place neat and tidy, there’s quite a bit you can do to keep you and your family safe from harm.