If you read the back of most mothball packages, they do point out that there are hazards and dangers because of the poison or poison-like effects that may happen if the product is used improperly. It’s a good idea to not sniff or try to eat a mothball.

An adult wouldn’t think to do this but a curious pet or child might because it’s in their nature to smell and taste new things. If you are afraid of this, rid your home of mothballs.

Another problem is that when mothballs are used in the closet many use too many at once raising the potential danger. Air out the closet with an open window. Then clean all the clothes in that closet.

So without mothballs what is one supposed to do to combat clothes moths and carpet beetles that ruin clothing?

First of all, these pests are attracted to dirty clothes versus clothes. Only store clean clothes in closets.

It may be more advantageous to store clothes in sealed containers than leave them hanging. Yes, they could wrinkle a bit more but the these pests as well as rodents won’t be able to ruin the clothing or find the clothing as a source of food or material.

Mothballs and naphthalene have been used as sprays and deterrents in the yard. There are naphthalene-free products that you can use instead that are more natural without the risk of the potential harm.

Pros of the Lantek Mosquito Trap

It will attract mosquitoes because of the CO2.

No extra chemicals need to be used especially ones that could be potentially dangerous.

This trap can run all day long everyday always dealing with the mosquito problem. Sprays and candles will wear off and burn out not always dealing with mosquitoes.

There are not additional trap bags to buy like with some traps.

Cons of the Lantek Mosquito Trap

The Lentek Mosquito Trap needs electricity and propane to operate. This means you have to have an electrical cord out in the yard attached to it. This also limits it’s portability.

The burner is hard to light but once lit stays lit.

No timer or timing mechanism meaning it’s either on or off without a way of controlling how long you want the trap to be active for.

How to use this trap better.

Put the trap between you and the source of mosquitoes. You don’t want to huddle around this trap or keep it under your porch as it attracts MORE mosquitoes to it. Then you are just making yourself more miserable for nothing.

It’s best to keep this trap or any mosquito trap in a darker more shaded part of the yard.

Don’t expect this trap to be the end all of all mosquito problems. Deal with standing water in your yard which is the breeding ground in your backyard to cause much of the problem.

Read Reviews on the Lentek Mosquito Trap.

Grasshoppers will destroy most gardens because they move around in such large numbers, but there are a few things that you can do to help deal with a grasshopper problem and prevent them in the future.

How to get rid of grasshoppers.

One of the best ways of dealing with any garden pest is to attract birds to your yards. Birds will be your natural pest control method because they will go around and eat most of the pests that cause problems in the garden.

Break up the soil around the plants. This will help disrupt the grasshopper eggs to prevent more from coming and eating your garden.

Get rid of weeds because this will only feed the pests more.

Make a spray bottle mixed with hot sauce and water and spray this on your plants everyday. Make sure the first day to only do a test spray in case this happens to be harmful to your plant. In most cases it’s not and will make your plants unattractive to grasshoppers.

Click Here To Browse Grasshopper Control Products.

How to get rid of fleas in the yard.

First you need to get fleas off your pet, off you, and anything else the fleas have got themselves onto. Take care of these first because these are what will be inside your home.

The next step is to go an mow the lawn where the fleas are. This won’t kill too many of them, but it gives the fleas less places to hide. It will disrupt them as well.

You can spray insecticide to kill fleas but these will be left on the grass for quite sometime.

An alternative to this is diatomaceous earth. Get the food grade version and not the pool grade. After the mowing, spread this across the lawn. This powdery material will dehydrate the fleas. There is no possible way of building an immunity to this product so it works well. Keep spreading diatomaceous earth especially in the parts of the yard your pet may most likely be in to keep the fleas away.

How to get rid of garter snakes.

The first step involves changing their environment. Cut the grass nice and low. Trim back all bushes. Stomp down any ground that the snakes appear to be hiding into. Remove rocks that might provide substantial shade.

Garter snakes are actually useful since they do eat pests, insects, and even rodents. But if you work on getting rid of the pests, insects, and rodents then the garter snake will have no reason to stay and you will have no beneficial reason to keep them around. Focus on possible other problems in your yard with pests to get rid of the snakes.

Use snake repellent around the yard where the snakes are. There are products like snake shake away, mothball flakes, and sulfuric smells that will keep the snakes away or at least substantially deter them.

After completing these steps, most of the garter snake problem should be taken care of.

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Most dust mite control methods will also help with bed bugs as well. If you aren’t sure if it’s a bed bug or dust mite problem, just follow these steps to help talk care of a little of both.

Completely wash your bedding. Also vacuum all your carpet. Do this regularly from now on.

You can take your pillows and even stuff animals and put them in the freezer. This might sound a bit odd but this will actually kill off many of the dust mites. It’s a better option than having to go get new pillows.

Purchase some dust mite sprays that will help with the allergic reactions to the pests. Many of these also deal with bed bugs as well. Spray over bedding and carpet at least every few weeks.

Another product to consider are dust mite mattress and pillow covers. These are made to help with any allergy problems due to dust mite problems.

Keeping the home less humid and warm can help control dust mite problems a bit as well.

Look at your home and especially the bedroom for items that just collect too much dust. Consider either dusting those more often or removing them from the room so that you have less dust mite problems in the bedroom.

Click Here for Dust Mite Sprays and Powders to keep your dust mite problem under control.

How to get rid of snakes in your yard.

First you have to remove the habitat the snakes are enjoying. This could be wood piles, large rocks with crevices for them to hide in, garden pots stacked off in the corner of the yard, or any thing else a snake might find as shelter. Also keep the yard mowed and trimmed because snakes are attracted to even 5″-6″ of grass.

Secondly, see if you have a rodent problem or another pest problem that is supplying the snakes in your yard a food source. The snakes could be hanging around because there is plenty for them to eat.

If you have any openings around your home, you should do everything you can to seal those up to prevent snakes in the home as well as other pests finding their way inside.

A common snake repellent is actually cat litter. The graduals are small enough that they can get caught in the snakes scales making them uncomfortable to stay in the area.

Sulfur is another repellent just be careful with this as it can effect the soil which you might want to also be gardening in.

Click Here To Browse Snake Repellent Products.

Use a water hose on the ant hills.

This will flood their home and flush them out. They will move a few times, but keep flooding them out causing them to leave your yard eventually.

Use white vinegar down into the ant hills.

This can be a bit more effective than the water technique but it does have a drawback. The white vinegar can cause the grass around the area to become discolored or to even die. But it’s quite effective at disrupting the ant hill.

Cinnamon

Ants hate cinnamon. Sprinkle cinnamon around the ant hill and the colony won’t want to live in that area anymore.

Peppermint oil

Peppermint oil is another substance that ants hate. Do the same as you would with the cinnamon. Another way of using this is to put it on cotton balls and put them in areas around the house or yard where you want to keep ants away from.

Diatomaceous earth

Diatomaeceous earth sprinkled around ants will definitely take care of the ant problem. This substance basically dries out the ant and kills them. It’s fairly cheap. Look for food grade version of the product.

One option for taking care of a squirrel problem is to use a trap. Some traps can be purchased while others can be made.

Homemade squirrel trap.

The most common trap is using a stove pipe trap.

Get a stove pipe like off of a wood heater. It needs to be more than a few inches in diameter.

Cover one of the pipe with mesh. Make sure it’s connected well enough a squirrel wouldn’t be able to crawl out of that end.

On the other end drill a hole so that it can be held by a nail.

Fill the pipe with some corn that a squirrel would want to get into.

This pipe can be nailed to trees to catch squirrels. It can also be attached to a hole on the home where the squirrels are getting into the attic. Make sure the pipe is vertical because this is what make it hard or impossible for the squirrel to find it’s way out.

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Are springtails dangerous?

They don’t post any harm at all.

When can springtails infest the home?

Since they can stand up to even extremely cold weather, they have a chance of getting into the home any time of year.

What causes springtails to infest the home?

They will come into the home because they find dark, moist, and dirty places. If you have any standing water problems, like in a basement, that is a sure sign of a potential pest problem. Even with high humidity a springtail can infestation can take place.

How to get rid of springtails.

Clean up and taken care of water problems.

The best strategy is to attack the pest directly.

Vinegar splashed onto these pests will kill them. The vinegar is so acidic that it will hurt and kill the pest.

Bleach is also effective when mixed with water and used on them. If you notice them near sinks or the bathtub, run hot water and bleach down the drain to deal with them.

Diatomaceous earth is a powder that can be sprinkled in the areas you have springtail problems. This alone will kill them when they come into contact with it.

Preventing springtail infestations.

Keep your home relatively cool and free from humidity. This will make is so that conditions aren’t something these pests would want to be in. Make sure that you don’t have leaking faucets or other water problems in the house because this will attract all sorts of pests.