Everything To Know About Household Pests

This week on Survival Guide I'm going to talk about a slightly--no, totally--gross but very informative topic: pests.

I personally am going through a pesky bed bug situation in my apartment, so know that having pests in your home is nothing to be ashamed of. This experience prompted me to provide you guys with information about your rights as a tenant, what you should expect from your landlord, how to get rid of them, and lots more fun stuff (not).

First thing to remember is: it’s not your fault. Because contrary to what you may have heard, pests are not really attracted to dirt; in fact they’re attracted to warmth, food and shelter, which they will unfortunately find in your home.

Right, so let's get to it.

1) First up in the delightful selection of household pests, we have rats.

How do you get them:

--Construction work near your house. For example, the construction work going on at UMass Boston. Don't let this scare you, but just be extra cautious and look out for pests.

--Poor sanitation and garbage near your house. For example, overflowing garbage cans or common plumbing/sewage issue.

--Messy house conditions. Okay, I know I said pests are not primarily attracted to messiness, but if you have crumbs out and don't take out the trash regularly, pests are going to sniff it out and become uninvited guests at your home. Just saying.

--Pet waste/food. Basically just clean up after your pets.

How Can You Get Rid of Them:

--Plug up any openings. Seal up any cracks or holes in the walls and make sure there aren't any pipe leaks.

--Use rats’ feeding habits against them. Basically, use food that attracts them into your home as bait. Side note- I'm not sure about any of you, but while doing pest research, I did wonder if rats really do like cheese, like we've seen on Tom and Jerry, and the results were pretty interesting: while rats will eat pretty much anything with minimum nutritional value, research studies have shown that they prefer sweet food over savory food. Just FYI.

--Traps or Bait. Now that you know rats have a sweet tooth, use that as bait to lure them and then trap them!

What Are Your Responsibilities as a Tenant:

--Maintain a clean and tidy house. At this point, just take it as a given that a clean house is just safer.

--Let your housing maintenance team know. As a student, if you aren't commuting from home, you're most likely renting an apartment with roommates. As a tenant, you have the right to ask your landlord to provide free pest control services.

--Call the exterminator. Have them inspect your house and then start treatment right away.

What are your Landlord’s Responsibilities:

--Have a contract with Pest Control.

--Maintaining livable conditions in the community.

--Act immediately once a complaint is filed by a tenant

2) Next up: Roaches

How Do You Get Them:

--Messy living conditions. We've been over this, guys.

--Hot, humid air conditions. Expect not just roaches, but any pests during the humid Massachusetts summers.

How To Get Rid of Them:

--Clean your house rigorously. Leave no crumbs for them to find.

--Seal up any cracks or holes. Block their entrance. They are tiny and wriggle their way through anything.

--Fix water leaks. Roaches are not afraid of water (fun fact: cockroaches can stay under water for about 40 minutes and still survive) and will find literally any way to get into your house. So make sure the plumbing in your apartment is up-to-date.

--Use baits. If they're already in, baits are a way to send them right out. Here's a link for a homemade bait recipe.

--Pest Control. Call the exterminator and do the treatment ASAP.

--Keep your house as cool as possible. Since roaches mainly become a pest during summertime, this shouldn't be a problem.

--KILL IT! Enough said.

What Are Your Responsibilities as a Tenant:

--Have clean living conditions.

--Let maintenance know. Do not assume the pests will just leave you alone. They don't care about you.

--File a complaint with your landlord. Always, always remember this. Not just for you, but for other residents who live in your vicinity. If your landlord is aware of a problem, they can take action.

What are your Landlord’s Responsibilities:

--Have a contract with Pest Control

--Have clean, livable conditions in the community

--Take immediate action once a complaint is filed by a tenant

3) Our next (unwanted) guests are.... Bed bugs!! Ugh.

How Do You Get Them:

--Messy house conditions. Doesn't mean a ridiculously clean house can't have a bed bug problem, but it's better than a house where there are food crumbs and an overflowing trash can.

--They enter your house through someone/something ...and hide in the furniture. Totally gross, I know. I'm shuddering as I type. But it's true. Bed bugs are minuscule, there's no way of scoping them out unless they're right in front of you.

How To Get Rid of Them:

--Call exterminator, have them do the chemical treatments. The exterminator will do a thorough inspection, set up glue traps, and then do the chemical treatments. The chemical treatments are done in between 2 week intervals for the medicine to take effect. Mind you, it's not as easy as it sounds. On the day of the treatment, everyone in the house will have to clear out their rooms (all your furniture has to be bare, all your belongings need to be stored in trash bags and kept away). Ideally, once the treatment is finished no one should enter the house until 3 hours after.

--Wash all your bedding in hot water and dry on highest dryer setting. The heat from the dryer will essentially kill any bugs that might've been hiding in your sheets. And apart from that, you'll be doing a lot of laundry just trying to get the smell of the medicine.

--Vacuum entire house. Vacuum your bed and the surrounding area frequently.

--Clean out your mattress, box springs and couches. Bed bugs love hiding in the corners and crevices of your furniture. Use a stiff brush to scrub your mattress, box spring and couch to remove any bugs and their eggs (ew, I know).

Your Responsibilities as a Tenant:

--Do not self treat. I repeat: do not self treat. My roommates and I did that in my apartment in the beginning, because we were clueless, and it didn't help. You may think it's a quick and easy way to get rid of the buggers, but it's only temporary. They'll come back, and you'll cry again. It's not worth it. Plus, when the exterminator comes to do the actual treatment and sees the bottle of insecticide sitting on the coffee table, he's not going to be happy.

--Call the exterminator. Yeah, you're going to become fast friends with your local exterminator.

--Let your landlord and maintenance know. They're going to have to check the neighboring houses to make sure the problem doesn't spread.

Your Landlord’s Responsibilities:

--Have a contract with Pest Control

--Take immediate action once complaint is filed. Especially with bed bugs, it's most likely another apartment/house near you has been having the same problem, so it's important for the landlord to do thorough inspections of the effected homes and treat immediately.

--Have clean, livable conditions in the community

4) Next is... wait for it.... Centipedes!! Yay.

How Do You Get Them:

--They can enter your home while searching for food/shelter. As hard as it is for us to be sympathetic toward a creepy-crawly centipede, they're just looking for food and shelter. And we want that for them. Just not in our homes.

--More common during hot/dry weather. As much as summertime is my favorite time of the year, the influx of pests is just... *shudders*

How To Get Rid of Them:

--Seal up all cracks and holes. If you have any, that is.

--Maintain clean living conditions

--Make sure to shut all doors and windows.

Your Responsibility as a Tenant:

--Call the exterminator

--Complain to landlord

Your Landlord’s Responsibility:

--Have a contract with Pest Control

--Take immediate action once complaint is filed by tenant

--Have clean living environments in the community

5) We're almost at the end, guys. Next up are mice:

How Do You Get Them:

--Cold weather causes them to seek out shelter and warmth. Yeah, so while the heat brings in centipedes and roaches, the cold brings in mice. Nice.

--Enter through cracks and holes. Granted, for a mice to enter, that hole's gotta be big, so make sure you get that sorted asap.

--Enter through plumbing. These sneaky little fellas can enter through pipes, so make sure they aren't any leaks in the pipes.

How To Get Rid of Them:

--Seal all cracks and holes

--Make sure windows and doors are shut at all times. It's gonna be cold anyway.

--Keep clean living conditions. No food out for the mice!

Your Responsibility as a Tenant:

--Report to maintenance. As soon as possible.

--Call exterminator

--Set traps or baits. Tiny bits of peanut butter or soft cheese have always worked well. Or just buy a mouse trap on Amazon if baiting doesn't work.

--File a complaint with your landlord

Your Landlord’s Responsibility:

--Have a contract with Pest Control

--Take immediate action once complaint is filed by tenant

--Maintain clean living conditions in the community.

6) One last pest, I promise! Here come the fruit flies:

How You Get Them:

--Fruit flies lay eggs on rotten fruit. Overripe fruit attracts fruit flies. So either eat it, or throw it!

--All fruit flies really need is a moist area to hatch their eggs on. Apart from overripe fruits and vegetables, this includes the garbage disposal, drains, empty bottles and cans, trash bags or cleaning rags and mops

How To Get Rid of Them

--Set up a homemade bait. Here's an easy recipe: Place a little vinegar and a chunk of very ripe fruit in a jar. Then, roll a piece of paper into a cone and stick it into the jar, placing the narrow opening down. The fruit flies will be drawn in, but won't be able to get out.

What Are Your Responsibilities as a Tenant:

--Don't leave anything out. Any subsequently purchased fruit or vegetables should be kept in the refrigerator until the fruit fly infestation dissipates.