Pests can bring detrimental effects to your yard. The damages caused by pests differ in the type of insect and how they feed on plants. Some insects, such as beetles, leaf worms, and grasshoppers, have chewing mouthparts and feed on leaves, fruits, stems, and others. Some of the adverse effects caused by these insects include leaf skeletonizing and leaf defoliation.
Unfortunately, your yard is highly vulnerable to pests’ infestation during fall as pests begin to find places to hibernate when temperatures decrease. It may be hard to notice them until spring. That’s why treating your yard for pests during the fall is vital. Here are the reasons why you should spray your yard in the fall:
1- Infestation by Common Winter Pests
There are pests that you won’t experience in your yard toward the end of summer. It can make you halt pest control practices. Some pests may take advantage during such a period. Therefore, it is vital to identify common winter pests in your yard during fall and look for ways to eliminate them. Some common winter pests include Mice and rats, squirrels, bats, cockroaches, fleas, bed bugs, moths, and spiders.
2- To Reduce Disease Infection Rates
Pests such as roaches, mice, mosquitoes, and fleas are the main culprits of harmful diseases, including the Zika virus, Chikungunya, dengue, and malaria.
Rodents are also common in yards and spread diseases and viruses, including salmonellosis, rat-bite fever, bubonic plague, and leptospirosis. Mice and rats’ feces contain bacteria that can bring skin infections and trigger allergic reactions.
3- To Get Rid of Pests Looking for Warmth
When temperatures decrease, insects and rodents alike look for warmth. Pests like bugs can creep into your yard during fall as they seek places to hibernate. Therefore, you need to treat your yard for bugs to curb the possibility of bugs seeking warmth.
4- To Maintain the Exterior
Fall is the best time to pay maximum attention to your yard. Since infestations can happen around your yard, especially if there are debris and woodpiles, it is vital to ensure your exterior has no seamless access points for rodents and insects.
Pest infestations can also cause significant structural damage to your yard. For instance, Carpenter ants reside in the walls. So if you have any structure in the yard, these ants will chew and damage it. Rodents in the yard can also bring enormous mess and damage, which can be extremely expensive to repair.
5- To Disrupt the Pest Breeding Cycle
Pests can increase if left untreated as their breeding cycles are so rapid. Pest control disrupts their breeding cycle, inhibiting them from spreading into new areas. Here is the breeding cycle of some pests:
• Rats: Rats attain sexual maturity after one month. A pair of rats can bear approximately ten offspring in 90 days. Your yard can have about 50 more rats if left untreated for about six months.
• Flies: A pair of house flies will lay eggs that can undertake an entire life cycle in less than two weeks. Therefore, you will probably get more than 100,000 flies if you leave your yard untreated for a month.
• Cockroaches: Pest cockroach species can settle for up to one year in suitable conditions with abundant food and high humidity. Within three months, a single female cockroach can produce about 400 insects.
Continuous pest control is vital to curb short- and long-term damage. It can reduce pest populations that could harm properties and pose health risks.