When the weather changes from hot to cold, animals go into a panic. They scour the surrounding area looking for safe places to call home to wait out the icy times to come.

But homeowners aren’t running a zoo. The sight of unwanted pests is enough reason to call the exterminator right away.

You can save money doing some of your own pest control by learning how to diagnose the problem before things go to far. Here are 5 bizarre warning signs you have a pest in the house.

1. Grease

Notice a strange trail of grease along a baseboard or floor? No, you didn’t forget to clean the floor.

Rodents are in the house. They usually follow each other along the same path leaving a nasty trail behind them. 

This grease is probably a bunch of things combined, but the key is not having it on your floor by calling the exterminator when you notice this. 

Make sure you use a disinfectant to get the grime off the floor before stepping on it barefoot. Until the problem is officially resolved, make sure you don’t walk on the floor barefoot.

This substance might come from disease-ridden areas in your crawl spaces. If it gets on the bottom of your feet, it can travel with you into bed at night.

2. Droppings

Tiny little black pellets aren’t black pepper. If you notice this in the kitchen, you have a serious problem. 

Rodents and roaches are known for dropping these while the ransack your pantry. Roaches sometimes leave these droppings in the bathroom near water.

Make sure you clean the area in the bathroom thoroughly when you notice roaches have been lurking. They’re very sneaky so it might take some time to realize they’re sharing a bathroom with you.

They’ll go behind shampoo bottles or the soap dish to do their business. You’re left with a mess to clean up and entry points to find.

It’s usually a nearby window but this can change depending on where you live. Older homes are more prone to cracks and crevices where creatures can slip in. 

Wipe up any area where you see animal droppings with a disinfectant. Animals carry diseases that can often be found in animal droppings.

They also follow one another’s scent. By wiping the area thoroughly, you’re erasing the trail for other pests to follow. 

3. Shapes and Holes

Ever pick up a bag of oatmeal only to notice a beautiful design etched into the side? No, this isn’t your grandkids playing a practical joke.

Rodents have chewed through your bags or boxes in very intricate ways. The precision of their teeth is second to none.

It almost looks like someone took a pair of scissors to packages that have been successfully chewed through by rodents. No, this wasn’t a manufacturer’s mistake. Pest control is needed right away. 

Leaving pests to keep gnawing around the house will lead to potential electrical or plumbing issues. Rodents have no boundaries on property damage.

You’ll be surprised at the items they’ll chew through to get closer to areas they need. Your house fixtures are only a barrier to them building the perfect habitat for a growing nest in your home. 

Contact a company like Affinity Pest Control who can get into hard to reach spaces to make sure that damage hasn’t already been done to your wiring and plumbing. 

4. Musty Odor

Another weird way to tell you to have a pest in the house is a musty odor. It’s a common trait of cockroaches. 

They’re masters of hiding and you won’t likely see any until their numbers have multiplied. But you’ll smell them way ahead of this experience.

The bathroom is probably filled with a damp smell, to begin with, but if you smell carefully you’ll notice something unusual underneath. Don’t ignore your nose.

This is the smell of cockroaches trying to make a home in your home. Look for reddish-brown streaks along the countertop in your kitchen or bathroom.

These streaks are part two of learning whether you have a pest in the house. Cockroaches lay eggs at a rate of about 30 to 40 at a time so make sure you call the pest control team right away.

You might have a bigger problem on your hands than you couldn’t hope for. 

5. Holes

Just when you didn’t think an animal was persistent, you found a hole created in the siding to get inside. Birds are common culprits of this issue.

Many people don’t think of birds as pests. After all, birdbaths are a sweet way to enjoy many different bird types while outdoors enjoying your backyard.

But birds are pests, too. Drilling a hole into the side of a home is a good example of why.

Certain species of birds cause more damage than they’re worth to have as neighbors. There is a wide range of ways to drive out birds that make holes in your home.

Snakes naturally help do this job for you if they can hear the birds from the ground. But there are reflective products that draw birds away from your home so you don’t welcome in the ultimate pest–termites. 

Getting Rid of a Pest in the House

There are many ways to get rid of a pest in the house. Your exterminator can advise you on the method that makes sense for your style of home and where you live. 

There may be recurring services needed to get rid of a big problem. For more information and tips, visit our blog for updates. 

Jane