When we’re in the midst of the silly season we seem to be doing a whole lot more entertaining. While this makes for an enjoyable time of year, it’s also a time when pests seem to find their way into your home. Mix an abundance of food with warmer temperatures, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a pest infestation.

As an exterminator Brisbane, we see more pests over the holiday period, than any other time of year.

So if you’re looking at how to ensure your home stays pest-free this Christmas, check out our top tips:

Keep “pantry pests” at bay

Pantry pests are drawn to the dried foods we often store in our pantry, including cereals, flour, pasta, pet food, nuts, spices and crackers. And whilst the term “pantry pest” often covers a wide range of species, the most common are beetles and moths. As an exterminator Brisbane, we often see the following culprits invading peoples’ pantries:

• Indian meal moth
• Mediterranean flour moth
• cigarette beetle
• drugstore beetle

And because insects are cold-blooded, their life cycle speeds up in the warmer months, making the holiday period a crucial time to ensure your pantry items are properly stored.

Before having your guests over, take time to go through your opened pantry items to check for any unwanted pests. Throw out all infested products, and take time to put everything which isn’t air sealed in plastic containers. It’s worth investing in good quality, plastic containers which really seal tight. Pests can’t get through plastic, (although they can find their way through tiny holes from ill-fitting lids).

It also helps to completely clear your pantry shelves and give them a good wash with warm water. This helps to ensure any bits of food aren’t still lying around and will dislodge any pupae which can get caught in the corners of your shelves.

Dispose of meat scraps properly

As an exterminator Brisbane, we know that due to the warm weather Brisbane enjoys, meat scraps can cause havoc for homes. Over the holiday period, you will no doubt be cooking many meals, and having to dispose of leftover meat or scraps. And it’s important to do it correctly to avoid pests such as maggots.

If you find yourself with leftover meals and have a dog, consider offering these to the dog to avoid having to deal with it as rubbish. Of course, ensure it’s a safe meat and cut to be given to your dog.

If it’s something like a cooked chicken frame (which is not safe for dogs), don’t just throw it in the bin under the sink to sit there for a few days until bin night. Try to free up some freezer space and freeze any meat scraps until bin night, where you can put it directly in the outside bin and wheel down to the curb. This will ensure no flies are attracted to rotting meat in the kitchen, where they will leave behind eggs (which hatch into maggots).

Don’t leave food out for extended periods of time

Whilst most of our exterminator Brisbane clients are savvy enough not to leave a nice meal sitting on the counter for hours on a 30-degree day, it can be tempting to leave the Christmas shortbread or cut fruit on the counter. Unfortunately, pests like cockroaches are drawn to ingredients like flour, cocoa and other wheat-based goods. What’s more, even if you don’t see any pests near your food during the day, many pests like cockroaches will only come out at night and crawl all over your food.

If your pest problems are causing you headaches over the holiday period, contact David and the team at Progressive Pest Management to discuss how you can be rid of pests through our integrated pest management techniques.