Pest Library

What You Need To Know About Pests In Salt Lake City, UT

Our pest guide is a resource for homeowners to learn about pests that call Salt Lake City, Utah, home. At Jensen's Guaranteed Pest Control, we are experts at pest identification and providing our customers with effective pest control solutions. Read on to learn helpful information about the pests that like to take advantage of the resources found in and around your home.

Ants

Ants are social insects. Their colonies are made up of one or more reproductive females, males, and many infertile females (workers). Worker ants are the ants you see trailing through your yard and home. Every day workers leave the colony to forage for food. Unfortunately, our properties often provide these omnivores with multiple food sources, from gardens, fruit trees, bird feeders, and trash cans to our kitchens and pantries.

Ants are household pests; the most common species to find their way to the yards and homes in our region are the carpenter, fire, and sugar ant. These ants like to build their main nests outside but move into our homes after being attracted by food and moisture. The more regular ant activity you see in and around your home, the more likely ants have built a nest behind its walls.

Ants are pesky and sometimes dangerous and destructive pests. Avoid problems with them using these ant prevention tips. 

• Repair leaky pipes and fixtures that provide ants with the moisture they crave. 
• Remove food sources. Keep lids on trash cans, pick up uneaten pet food, and maintain a clean kitchen.
• Eliminate entry points, big or small by installing door sweeps, repairing cracks in the foundation, and keeping screens in windows and doors.

For ant control in Salt Lake City, call us now.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches have a flat, oval body, long antennae, and six legs. Though thousands of types of cockroaches live worldwide, only a handful have made a name for themselves as common household pests. In Salt Lake City, German, American, and oriental cockroaches are the species that regularly become a problem in and around our houses.

A cockroach infestation can occur in any home or business. They are opportunistic pests, and our homes provide these insects with things to eat, the moisture they need to survive, and areas of safe shelter. Living with cockroaches is not only unpleasant, but it is dangerous. Cockroaches spread disease, parasites, and allergens, contaminating surfaces and stored foods.

Use the following tips to avoid issues with these unsanitary pests.

• Implement a year-round pest control program.
• Practice proper food storage and maintain a clean kitchen.
• Regularly vacuum your home and wipe down tables and counters.

Preventing problems with cockroaches is important for your and your family's health. 

Flying Insects

Salt Lake City residents regularly share their properties with flying insects that sting, like wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets. Though each flying insect species varies slightly in appearance, they all have stingers extending from their hind end. Their stingers and the venom they inject with their stings are what cause them to be such a danger to people and animals.

These flying insects are a problem on our properties because they offer food, water, shelter, and the materials necessary to build nests. Knowing where these pests like to build their nests can help you identify a problem sooner than later. Common nesting locations include house eaves, garages, decks, playhouses, sheds, trees, shrubs, attics, vents, and ground holes.

Use the following tips to keep stinging insects at bay. 

• Repair damage to your home's exterior to keep them out of your house.
• Limit flowering vegetation planted around your home's windows and doors.
• Remove common nesting sites by filling ground holes, cutting branches back, and removing yard debris.

If stinging insects make it impossible for you to enjoy your outdoor space, contact us for professional help. 

Occasional Invaders

Occasional invaders are pests that only sometimes get into our homes. Many pests threaten our homes year-round, but occasional invaders are usually only a problem during certain times of the year. Boxelder bugs, elm seed bugs, and earwigs are occasional invaders that enter our houses to overwinter and escape cooler temperatures.

Occasional invaders aren't usually a danger when they find their way into our homes – they typically don't feed or breed, but they do enter in large numbers and are a nuisance. As these insects crawl through your home to find an overwintering spot, they are unsightly and will stain surfaces like walls and upholstered furniture with excrement. Once these pests enter your home, they are challenging to find and eliminate.

Implementing regular pest control services is the best way to stop occasional invaders before they become an issue in your home. In addition, you can do things like cut trees and shrubs back from your home and seal cracks, crevices, and other openings in your home's exterior. You can trust us to help you maintain a pest-free home; call now to learn more. 

Rodents

Mice, rats, and voles are rodents that regularly live near people. They have learned that our properties provide the things that will allow them to thrive. Rats are the largest of the three species and have long scaly, hairless tails. Mice are small rodents with long tails covered in a light layer of fur. Voles look very similar to mice; the easiest way to tell the two apart is by their short tail covered in dense fur.

Voles prefer to live in open grassy areas, making our yards places they often call home. These rodents dig shallow burrows in areas of tall grass and are usually more of a problem in our yards than our homes. Mice and rats live in areas that offer protection, like tall grass, dense vegetation, and construction debris. These pests regularly wind up in our homes, garages, sheds, and barns seeking shelter and food.

The following tips will make your property less appealing to rodents in Salt Lake City. 

• Maintain your yard, fill in bare spots, and keep the grass cut short.
• Vacuum and dust your home to remove crumbs, spills, and other food debris. 
• Remove clutter from your home's basement, crawl spaces, attics, closets, and other storage areas. 

For rodent control in Salt Lake City, reach out to Jensen's Guaranteed Pest Control today. 

Spiders

Salt Lake City is home to many different spiders, including dangerous black widows, brown recluses, and nuisance spiders like hobo and wolf spiders. Though most people find spiders unsettling, they play a valuable role in the ecosystem. Without spiders and other predators, our outdoor spaces would be overrun with insects.

While spiders are helpful outside, you must act when they invade your indoor spaces. Large numbers of spiders indicate that you have a problem with insects in and around your home. Like all other predators, spiders live where they have the easiest access to their prey. Spiders regularly become a problem inside our homes after following their insect prey indoors.

Use these simple prevention tips to keep Utah spiders away from your property.

• Keep your lawn cut short and shrubbery cut back from your home.
• Remove areas of standing water that attract insects and offer spiders a water source. 
• Remove clutter from your home and yard to limit harborage spots.

It is also important to seal cracks in your home's exterior to help keep spiders and insects out of your home.