Pest Problems Rural Areas Face

Rural areas are quiet, gorgeous, and relaxing, but they can also harbor pests including ticks, fleas, and rodents — which can be harmful to not only your family but your crops, grains, and livestock as well. Read more to learn about the common pests rural areas face and how you can help prevent an infestation.

Types of Field Pests

Below are some common pests that infest rural areas.

Rats & mice

These rodents are attracted to woodpiles, tall grass, and debris and they carry several harmful diseases including Hantavirus and Salmonella. They can also transmit several diseases to livestock through their waste, parasites, and if their carcass gets into feed.

Fleas

Fleas prefer to live in shady and moist areas. While they’re mostly known to live off of dogs and cats, they can live off all animals. In fact, in severe cases, they’ve caused the death of lambs, goats, and calves because of anemia.

Stinging Insects

While yellowjacket and paper wasp colonies die off in the winter, the inseminated queens will find protective areas to live like under bark, in stacks of wood, and in stumps. When they are active in the warmer months, they will be attracted to sweets and proteins. If they feel threatened or believe their queen is threatened, they will leave a painful sting.

Cockroaches

Cockroaches like warm, moist areas. Once temperatures begin to drop, they’ll start to look for a warmer place to live.

Those are just some of the pests that are common in rural areas. Others include spiders, bed bugs, ticks, and pantry pests.

Pest-Proof Your Property

The best way to stop an infestation is to prevent it. Many of the pests above are small and they can fit into the tiniest spaces. Below are some helpful tips to help you pest-proof your property.

• Inspect your property: walk the perimeter of your home as well as any shops or barns you may have and look for any potential openings pests could use to gain access. This includes cracks in your foundation, air vents, gaps in windows and doors, and chimneys.
• Seal openings: for small cracks you can use caulking. For windows, we recommend weather stripping and for doors, you can apply door sweeps. Roof rats are known to scale walls, so if you have a chimney or air vent you’ll want to use install a screen to help prevent these rodents from gaining access into your home.
• Have an exterminator inspect your property: in addition to all of your efforts, you can also contact an exterminator like Antworks to provide a full inspection of your home. As professionals, they know what to look for and can properly treat it.