You likely never even notice that you have house crickets around your property until they begin coming in your home. You may begin to hear the loud chirping sounds of the males as they attract females during breeding seasons, most often heard at night. These tiny brown crickets can enter your property in huge numbers and can cause ample damage to your carpeting and other fabric materials such as cotton. When you have an infestation on your property, you can literally be attacked by huge colonies of these critters as they begin to come indoors for the warmth, food, and shelter. Here are things you can do to help manage a house cricket infestation.
Control moisture
House crickets love moist areas so you may find them in your crawl space, basement, or damp areas of your attic. Place fans in areas of your home that are damp to not only try to keep these annoying insects at bay but to manage moisture that can cause mold damage as well. You can also open windows in your basement for ventilation if this is where you notice these critters the most.
Turn off the lights
House crickets are attracted to bright lights much like moths are, and often accumulate in areas where you leave lights on. Your garage may be a prime area where they gather due to the warm space and garage light left on most of the night. Turn your lights off in your basement, attic, garage, and other areas that you normally keep a light on. This includes outdoor lights that you leave on at night.
Call an exterminator
Cricket colonies are alarmingly large and can enter your home by the thousands. Calling an exterminator is often the best thing you can do to not only identify how they are getting into your home, but to make sure they are gone for food. Using special traps and chemicals a pest control company can eradicate house crickets that are in your home or outside your property near your garbage.
House crickets can appear difficult to get rid of and can overwhelm your home in a hurry. If you see one, there are likely many more in its company, so don't hesitate to call an exterminator right away. Keep your garbage cans covered and away from your home to keep these insects from being attracted to your property in the future once you successfully get rid of them. Contact a company like Ace Walco & Sons Termite & Pest Control for more tips.
