Helpful tips for winter

1: Prevent entry into your home.
     Make sure any openings into your home are covered up.  Mice can climb and they certainly like the look of your warm dryer vent when their is two feet of snow of the ground.  This includes window coverings and screens.

2: Keep your kitchen clean.
     Animals and bugs go where the food is.  Maintaining a clean kitchen will prevent them for setting up shop in your cupboards as thier is no food to eat.

3: Proper yard maintenance.
     If you remove areas where rodents and other pests like to congregate then they will move off and find an easier place to live.  This includes standing water from ponds and rain barrels, etc.  Those only service as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other bugs.  Trim and remove dead brush and undergrowth.  Do not store wood in piles against the home.  Mice love to make nests in these piles and can ultimately work their way inside.

4: Garbage.
     Ensure that you place your household garbage in proper containers.  Meat scraps will attract bug, birds, rodents and perhaps the neighbors cats.  It is best to not have this garbage outside for more than 48 hours in the summer time due to it being noticed by unsavory guests.

5: Inspect outside furniture and play toys
     Plan in the spring and fall to inspect your yard furniture and the family toys.  Animals and bugs could have set up nests or habitats and they could come as a real surprise when you go to use them.  Spiders egg sacks and wasps nests are not fun surprised to find when you are setting up for that family barbecue.

6: Pest control
     Do not hesitate to call a pest control professional if you encounter some of these issues.  The knowledge and expertise they bring with them can mitigate these problems quickly and get you back to enjoying your yard in no time.