Unfortunately, pest control is not always as quick and simple, as we would like it to be. In a perfect world, insects, rodents, and other pests would never find their way into our homes in the first place.

However, that is not the case, and these pests often make our home and yard their own. For a wide variety of reasons, health and comfort being among them, the sooner you rid your property of pests the better. If you put off pest removal, the problem is apt to get worse instead of better.

It may seem as if using chemicals to get rid of pests is the easiest method. While chemicals can wipe out your best problem, research has shown that some chemicals are just as harmful to humans as they are to pests. You need to be very cautious when using chemicals to eliminate pests, especially when there are children around.

You can effectively eliminate pests from your property using a number of various nontoxic methods.

One of the best nontoxic methods of pest control is prevention. Start by being as meticulous with cleanliness as possible. A clean home is very effective towards keeping your house pest free.

The smell of dirty dishes and food left lying out attracts a number of insects and rodents. Remember to sweep and vacuum on a regular basis. Even if your floors appear clean, they may not be. Insects can see tiny crumbs far better than humans can.

Your pantries, cabinet’s fridge and stove should be cleaned thoroughly at least once a year. Pull everything out of cupboards, sweep them out and wash them down. Pull the stove and fridge away from the wall and then sweep and wash under and behind them.

A nontoxic and very cost effective way of keeping a number of pests out of your home is screens. Screens on openings to your home such as doors and windows are a simple solution for keeping pests at bay. Screens provide the additional benefit of not allowing easy access to your home for rodents.

You leave insects less places to hide securely and nest by caulking all of the cracks in your house. When caulking, pay special attention to the doors, windows and the entire kitchen.Nontoxic pest control methods that many people like to use are traps. There are numerous kinds of traps available that target a variety of pests. Some examples of these traps are sticky traps for cockroaches, glue boards for mice, flypaper, bug zappers. There are also traps available that specifically target rats, gophers, or moles. Many traps can be purchased at your local Home and Garden store.

Pheromones, which are basically insect scent hormones, can be used in traps as bait. Pheromones can be used to entice males into the trap by giving off the scent of the female insect. Once in the trap, the males are bound by sticky glue. You need to know what kind of insect you are after and plan properly for capturing them using pheromones as insects are only attracted to the scents of their own kind.

Biological control although typically used in agriculture is at times used in the home and garden as a nontoxic method of pest control. Biological control essentially means using desirable organisms to rid your property of undesirable organisms.

By planting certain plants in your garden you can dissuade certain pests. For example, ants are repelled by spearmint while garlic repels Japanese Beetles. Inside the home, spiders eat fruit flies and houseflies, so it may be actually wise to leave a couple of spider webs around.

There are some nontoxic repellents you can use as pest control. The most popular of these are mosquito repellents. A number of herbs, like eucalyptus and wormwood, are known for repelling a variety of animals and insects.

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