Pests may be built for the outdoors, but the inside of our homes often has everything they’re looking for—shelter, food, and water. So how do we protect ourselves from rodents, spiders, cockroaches, and other unwanted pests that are determined to find a way indoors?

It all starts with blocking the ways they come inside. What may be a tiny crack to a 5½’ tall human can be a wide doorway to a ½” bug, so let’s shift our perspective and take a look at entry points as a pest would see them. Once you know how pests are getting in, you can better keep them out.

Some entry points are pretty obvious—a door left ajar or window not closed all the way. But if you’re seeing pests scurrying about indoors and have been diligent about closing doors and windows, there are likely some smaller, less-noticeable openings that pests are using to come inside.

Gaps in baseboards, around chimneys and plumbing voids, and even between bricks and siding can all serve as pest entry points. Even worn-out weather stripping or door sweeps can create enough of a hole to allow pests in.

Keep in mind that to a flying or crawling pest, all openings are attractive. A gap of mere millimeters can provide the same passage to a small insect as a 1″ crack in the foundation.

From a human perspective, bushes grazing a home’s foundation or tree branches overhanging the roof can look artful. To a pest, however, it’s an easily-accessed highway that leads over treated lawns and straight to loose roofing, a cracked window, or other unseen entry point on the top or sides of your house.

  “THERE’S VERITABLE BUFFET INSIDE.”



Though there’s often plenty of food for ants to forage outside, in many homes there’s also a large bowl of unguarded pet food sitting on the kitchen floor all day. While a cockroach might have to hunt for water outside, a leaking pipe under the sink is a guaranteed source to sustain them as long as they stick around.

All the messes on our floors, faucet drips, and even improperly packaged food act as pest magnets, and when one pest discovers a food or water source, there are surely more unwelcome intruders to follow.

If you’ve seen an increase in pests in your home, check the weather. Rain, wind, heat, and cold can all encourage pests to seek shelter indoors. Ants are known for coming inside after large rains, and rodents are a notorious winter pest. The time of year can also play a role in increased pest activity, with spring and summer being prime times for new pests to hatch and begin searching for food, water, and shelter—often indoors.

Hosting pests inside your home isn’t what you signed up for. Fortunately, a few preventative steps can help you protect your home from infiltrating insects, arachnids, rodents, and other invasive critters.

Seeing our homes from the perspective of the small pests that want to get inside can help determine the most effective ways to keep them out. For a whole-home pest control solution, consult the experts at Local Exterminator. Our trained field experts are adept at identifying potential entry points and knowing which pests are most common in our area—and most importantly, how to stop them. To learn more about our pet- and family-friendly services, contact Moxie today.