6 common pest control methods you must know about

Did you know of these natural insect repellants? Read this to find out.

By: Tania Tarafdar | | Updated: August 30, 2016 9:15 am

Pests can cause a whole lot of damage—they can spread disease and destroy your homes. You need to employ various pest control methods to deal with them. We get Gautam Kichloo from Ultra Pest Control, Mumbai to explain to us the most common types of pest control methods.

1. Traps: You must have used traps to catch mice and rodents. They are one of the safest pest control methods. While some traps kill the pest as soon as it comes in contact with it, others keep them alive and allow you to remove them from your property.

2. Chemical repellents: They are one of the most efficient ways to get rid of pests from home. With chemical repellents, you can keep away both large pests and insects. Typically, they are specific chemicals that target only specific bugs and prevent them from invading your house. However, they can be harmful as they release toxins in the environment. So make sure that you keep them away from the reach of children and clean the area after using them.

3. Pesticides: Pesticides act as poison and kill pests immediately. However, it is important to know the target insect’s habits before choosing the form of insecticide. For example, flying pests like mosquitoes are best tackled with aerosol sprays while crawling insects are best treated with surface powders. The only downside of using pesticides is that they are quite toxic and should be handled with care to avoid poisoning. Wear a mask before spraying and make sure you wash your hands after using the pesticide. Pesticides could also be harming your unborn child.

4. Poisoned bait:It is a standard method that kills rats, ants, termites and many other pests. It attracts pests to ingest the substance and then kills. However, the pest might become aware of the poison in the food and may avoid swallowing it altogether.

5. Biological pest control methods: They can eliminate pests without causing any serious harm to the environment. Biological pest control uses an agent to monitor and manage the population of parasites around your home and restricts them from growing. The biological agents interfere with their ability to breed, preventing them from growing. For example, you can introduce nematodes into the soil around your home to rid the surrounding area of termites. The use of BTI (a larvicide composed of toxin-producing bacteria) has been successfully used for controlling mosquito larvae.

6. Natural repellents: Rather than purchasing the chemical-laden insect repellent products from the market you can consider using natural insect repellents. For example, adding mosquito repellent plants to your garden can keep away mosquitoes from entering your home. Application of certain oils such as citronella oil also keeps away pests from getting in contact with your skin. These essential oils are also useful as pest repellents.

Image source: Getty Images

Published : August 29, 2016 6:04 pm | Updated:August 30, 2016 9:15 am

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