What You Can Do to Keep Pests Away from Your Thanksgiving Meal

The holiday season is here, and families and friends across the country are gathering together to eat turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. Thanksgiving dinner is a holiday tradition that brings people together and inspires joy, love, and gratitude; however, you’ll want to keep the holiday spirit in your home by keeping insects and rodents out of it. Follow these tips to ensure that pests stay far away from your Thanksgiving meal.

Clean up after the meal

Crumbs and dirty dishes can quickly attract insects and pests into your home. Keep your kitchen and dining room as clean as possible by wiping up messes, disposing of food scraps, and washing the dishes. Cleaning up throughout the day as food is prepared can help prevent kitchen and dining room messes from piling up.

Don’t leave leftovers uncovered

Thanksgiving leftovers are almost as good as the dinner itself, but you don’t want to share them with pests. Even if you leave some food out to snack on throughout the day, make sure it’s always covered. Add a lid to your Tupperware, put plastic wrap over a plate of turkey, or place a kitchen towel over the bowl of dinner rolls. Better yet, put food back in the fridge once people have gotten their fill.

Seal off openings to your home

Insects and rodents often enter houses through small cracks in the siding or foundation, or around vents, doors, and windows. Taking a walk around your property and sealing up any problem spots with caulk can go a long way toward decreasing accessibility for pests.

Take out the trash

After feasting, there’s a good chance you might feel too stuffed to move. However, you won’t want to lounge for too long before taking the trash outside, as an overflowing garbage can is one of the quickest ways to attract pests such as ants, flies, and cockroaches to your home. Put trash bags in a large, covered bin outside your home.

Do some final yard work before winter

Northern Utah winters are cold, but if you can get outside and do some last-minute yard cleanup in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday, it can help keep rodents and other pets away from your home. Infestations often start outside and then move indoors with the cold weather, so make sure to mow the grass, pull weeds near your home’s foundation, and keep firewood on an elevated surface some distance away from the house.

Enjoy Thanksgiving without Pests

Don’t let pests ruin your Thanksgiving Day. You can keep them away by following the five steps of cleaning up after the meal, covering your leftovers, sealing openings around your home, taking out the trash, and doing yard work. Preventative pest control services will help ensure your home is pest-free for the holiday season.

At Nature’s Balance, customer service is always our top priority. We treat our customers like our neighbors—because they are. Our technicians provide friendly, honest service and will talk you through the plan from start to finish. We also provide competitive prices and flexible payment options and plans for each of our services. If you need pest control or want to discuss preventative treatment options, contact us to get a free quote.