What Do Pests Do in the Cold?

 In News

With the clocks pushed back and the temperature dropping almost everyday, it’s beginning to look more and more like winter is coming.  With the impending cold, we know that many of you will start to bundle up next to the fireplace to some hot chocolate and some of your favorite holiday music, but what will those pesky pests do?  Join us today as we cover what bugs do during the cold season, and how you can defend against any potential invaders.

The first distinction we can make with pests in the cold is determining which pests will hibernate, which ones will not, and which ones will try to find warmth.  Like bears and groundhogs, some pests—like yellowjackets and mosquitoes—can stay dormant all winter, waiting for the warm weather to wake them up from their fall slumber.  In addition, ants will also hibernate by finding a nice rock that the colony can fit under, and stay there until the warm weather comes around again.  With these pests, they pose little to no risk for an invasion during this time of year, so there’s no cause for concern.

Some pests during the winter do not even hibernate nor seek shelter somewhere warm—instead, they accept their fate and move on to that big dirtbox in the sky.  Crickets are an example of this, as the female will lay up to 400 eggs right before the onset of winter, and then hop off somewhere to spend her last days.  Sometimes, they will find a way inside your home and continue to live on, but these instances are few and far in between.

Now, there is a group of pests who do not hibernate but actively look for someplace warm to hole up until spring, and these are the pests that you need to keep an eye out for.  Cockroaches, spiders, ticks, and termites are just a sampling of what is trying to get into your home.  For these guys, it is their mission to find someplace warm, so if your defenses are not adequately squared up, you may be prone to risk of an infestation.  Luckily, defending against these critters is not rocket science—check to make sure that there are no cracks in your foundation, siding, or screens (and if there are, fix them), store firewood and other wood debris away from your exterior, and limit the amount of time you have the doors and windows open.  By doing all three, you can drastically reduce the risk of a pest infestation; one that will surely put a damper on the “most wonderful time of the year”.

Hot chocolate, warm snuggles, and incredibly premature Christmas commercials are some of the highlights of the season—there’s no room to add a pest infestation to that list.  Do your part and stay protected this season!

Recent Posts
Showing 2 comments
  • Eileen
    Reply

    What about camel crickets!

  • Eve
    Reply

    I find myself coming back to your web-site only because you have lots of awesome insights and also you happen to be at this a while, which is very imrvessipe and tells me you know your stuff.

Leave a Comment