A pest is a plant or animal that has a detrimental effect on human beings, their living conditions as well as their foods. Pests generally include animals that:
- Bite people. For instance, bed bugs. This pest is quite difficult and costly to control. The bites may cause great irritation to people and become infected when scratched.
- Attack and consume cereal crops and vegetables for instance grasshoppers and caterpillars
- Carry disease causing parasites and micro-organisms, for instance mosquitoes
- Attack and eat the station and farm animals. For instance foxes kill lambs, poultry and other species of native wildlife.
- Damage the stored food. For instance, mice and rats can eat grain in silos, biscuits or rice in homes and shops and contaminate the food with their urine and faeces.
- Damage clothing. For example, silverfish eats hole in the garments.
- Damage buildings. For instance, termites cause significant damage to timber in the buildings.
There are a number of pests that are harmful to human beings. In this blog, let us discuss about the common pests and their living and breeding places.
Flies- Rubbish, dirty benches and tables, food scraps, under eaves, open leach drains, open septic tanks, animal faeces and lawn clippings are the common places where flies live and breed.
Cockroaches-Food scraps, rubbish, drains, dirty tables and benches, behind the fridges and stoves, kitchen and bathroom cupboards, leach drains, septic tanks and under the floors of old houses are the favorite places of cockroach.
Mosquitoes-You can often find mosquitoes in places like dark and damp places, car tins and tyres, leach drains/septic tanks, protected corners of the effluent ponds, water storage tanks and natural water bodies.
Fleas-This pest like to live in sandy areas. They require blood for breeding. They will bite human beings if they find no animals around. A lot of fleas are brought into houses by people’s clothes. They are even transported in bedding. You can generally find fleas on animals such as dogs and cars. So, it’s important to keep these animals out of house if you want to reduce the likelihood of infestation of these pests in your house.
Mice and rats-Exposed food, rubbish, wall holes, kitchen cupboards and storage places are the common places where rats and mice live. They are even found in insulation, pipes, in ceilings, under the buildings and in the tress as well as gardens.
Bed bugs-These pests are generally transported from one place to another on or in a person’s luggage. They hide in the beddings. They bite a person in bed during night and consume their blood for living. Their bites may be quite itchy and when scratched can become infected.
It is very essential to control these pests. Pest control is actually the action that is taken to keep the pest numbers down to a level where risk to people, environment and food is minimized. Many companies offer Integrated Pest Management in North Shore. Contact one of them for your pest control job.
