Cooler weather ushers in fall pests

(RNN) Fall is here and summer pests are retreating, but that doesn't mean you can slack off on pest control. When the weather cools down, some insects and rodents start looking for a warm place to stay. If you're not careful, these pests could choose your cozy home as their winter habitat.

There are ways of staving off their encroachment, however. Charlie Jones is a 14-year veteran in the pest control industry and is currently the Senior Vice President of Operations at Arrow Exterminators. He says that in the fall rodents in particular are looking for a warm place to stay, and they can shimmy into some very tight spaces, even a nickel-sized hole.

"If the head will go, the body will follow," Jones said.

Rats, mice, and squirrels often end up in attics during the fall and winter months. That's because attics provide lots of room to roam around, soft insulation to sleep on and plenty of things they can chew. Rodents must chew on things in order to keep their ever-growing teeth from getting too long.

And that's the problem. All that chewing can cause house fires. Jones explains that one way rodents cause house fires is by chewing through a wire, which causes electricity to arc between the two pieces of wire and sparks a fire.

Rodents also bring other problems into your home. They can make you and your family sick. Pests like fleas, ticks, and lice often piggy back on rodents and, as indirect vectors, help spread diseases from rodents to humans.

Mice and rats also carry several diseases that can be spread to humans directly through their feces, urine, and saliva. You don't necessarily have to come into contact with the animals to get sick.

If you have a central air and heating unit in the attic, Jones says that can spread particulates like rodent dander and feces throughout your house via the air ducts. Those particulates can make you and your family sick.

While they are not rodents, raccoons and opossums sometimes make themselves at home in your attic, basement or even in your walls, and are most certainly pests.

Raccoons are worrisome because they are known to carry rabies along with other diseases. Once a raccoon gets into your home, she won't leave because she has a litter of cubs with her. Raccoons are creatures of habit, so a mother raccoon will return time and again to the same attic to raise her babies as long as she is able to gain entry.

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Cooler weather ushers in fall pests