How to avoid pantry pests

How To Avoid Pantry Pests

Having a food storage system is essential these days. You never know when the next catastrophic event or food shortage will occur, so being prepared is vital. However, when you bring in a stockpile of groceries, you increase the chances of pests. Visit any warehouse that keeps food for manufacturing companies, and you will hear their nightmare stories of fighting rodents and other insects.

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Tips for Avoiding Storage Pests

Alas, by taking preventive measures, you can ensure that your pantry doesn’t get raided by pests looking for a quick meal. Here are some simple tips that can ensure you protect your investment.

1. Use Appropriate Storage Containers

The most crucial thing in ensuring your food safety is to put everything in a sealed container. Mice and rats can still get into cereal boxes, so putting several in a strong plastic tote might be an option.

It would help if you sealed everything, as these open entry points are an invitation. Airtight containers will also help your items last longer, which is also necessary with the even increasing costs of things.

2. Clean Up Spills Immediately

Children are notorious for opening a bag of cookies or a cereal box and not sealing it properly. A mouse can smell any spillage on the shelving by up to ten miles. Did you know that mice don’t only smell with their nose but also another structure?

The vomeronasal organ helps them with their sense of smell, so don’t think that a rodent wandering through your yard won’t catch that aroma of food that your children spilled everywhere.

On a smaller scale, ants are also a huge problem, and their abilities to smell range up to a mile. So, you can see why dealing with both vermin and insects creates such a problem. You must ensure that food is always covered, and any messes are promptly cleaned up.

3. Do Random Inspections

In many cases, your food storage might not be in your kitchen or readily accessible. This is true if you use a garage or basement for your stock. However, one thing you must do is check it frequently. It’s easier to take care of a small problem before it becomes an all-out infestation.

Ensure there are no spills, lids are all on tight, you throw out any expired food, and you rotate your stock. Try to check in at least once a week if you’re not in there more.

4. Use Refrigerators and Freezers for Storage

Having a second fridge or freezer in your home is certainly an investment well spent. Dry goods tend to keep longer when the moisture is removed from the situation. You can store things like:

Nuts
Flours
Oats
Beans
Rice
Cornmeal

Flour is notorious for getting mites, weevils, and beetles in it. The longer you allow these dry items to sit on the shelves, the greater your chance of developing infestations from these pests. Keeping these staples in the freezer will remove the threat of bugs, and it will keep longer too.

If you invest in a freezer, it’s advisable to get an upright versus a chest style. The difference is that things often get tossed in the bottom of the chest varieties, and they can sit there for years. At least with the upright freezers, you can see what stock you have and rotate it correctly. If you invest in a food storage system, you want to ensure it’s done right.

5. Schedule Quarterly Pest Control

You don’t need to be a business to enjoy the benefits of quarterly pest control. With the cost of groceries showing no signs of decreasing, protecting your investment takes on a whole new meaning.

Having routine pest control services come to your home can be very beneficial. Even the best homes can have problems with bugs and vermin. Adding a protective layer can ensure that your home is not as attractive as others. You might feel this service is costly or not something that you need, but when you look at the amount of food you will throw out if a mouse or roach infestation occurs, you will see that it saves you money in the long run.

6. Keep Plenty of Fresh Herbs Around

There are certain smells that pests hate. Some of the most natural detours are:

Bay Leaves
Peppermint
Cinnamon
Mint
Lemongrass
Rosemary

Also, coffee grounds are very fragrant, which can keep pests at bay. Sitting little bowls of herbs or grounds around the pantry can help to detour rodents and other pests from the area. It’s inexpensive and works well, but it’s no substitution for preventative pest control.

The 411 on General Household Vermin Prevention

Sometimes it’s not as much what you do in your pantry but other household habits that count. If you skimp on these areas in the kitchen or dining room, it can cause an issue that will spill over into your pantry area.

Source: https://nysipm.cornell.edu/

1. Clean Up Dishes and Meal Messes Quickly

For instance, if you make a huge dinner and leave all the leftovers and used dishes on the table till morning, you’re waving a welcome flag to pests. Since you know that bugs and vermin can smell a great distance from the food source, you’re increasing the potential that they will move in.

2. Properly Handle Your Trash

Another thing that can cause an issue is your trash. First, your waste needs to be in a covered container, even inside your home. Second, you need to make sure that you take it out regularly.

Trash not only smells up the place but throwing food particles in the receptacle is an attraction for pests. You must ensure that you have a proper container outside covered, as raccoons and other animals will ravage through your trash, causing a significant issue.

3. Don’t Keep Pans of Grease

People have stored bacon grease since the dawn of time. While it makes an excellent flavoring for just about any meal, it’s a beloved smorgasbord for roaches and other bugs. The cockroach doesn’t have as keen a sense of smell as other insects, but they can smell up to 16 feet away. They love grease and will jump for joy if you leave a container out with this treat in it.

4. Sweep and Mop Often

If you have children dropping stuff about, cleaning it up quickly is in your best interest. You might not see that blob of grape jelly your toddler dropped on the floor, but you better believe that every ant within a small radius of your home will detect it in the spring of the year. Do a quick sweeping through the dining area before bed and get any of these spills they’ve left behind.

Takeaway

It’s an uphill battle trying to keep pests out of your home. However, the more preventative measures you take, the less likely your chances of having an infestation in your home. If you’ve done all you can and you’re still you’re plagued by pests, calling a New Jersey pest control company is the best choice.

Remember, the longer you put off the call, the worse the issue will become. This can be a costly loss when you’re dealing with your food storage. Can you afford not to take proper precautions with food prices being so high? Using preventative measures might be a pain and seem monotonous, but it pays off in the long run.