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Pests can cause a whole host of issues for homeowners regardless of where they live or the type of pest infestation they have. While you might not always be immediately aware of something making itself at home alongside you, sure enough, over time, there will be telltale signs that something is amiss and you have a pest problem. 

If you’re not entirely sure what type of issues you have or whether or not you do have an infestation and are making it up, checking for the following signs can give you a heads-up before calling pest control to help you eradicate your unwanted guests.

Foul Smell

Smelling a greasy or oily smell? This could indicate that you have cockroaches in your home, while a strong ammonia smell is associated with rodent urine and isn’t pleasant. If you have lingering odors you cannot shift, no matter how much you clean, you must identify the culprit and rid your home of your foul-smelling guest.

Nests

Bird nests, wasp nests, or bee hives, for example, are easy to spot visually and are usually found on the external parts of a building. But other nests, such as ant nests or rodents, aren’t quite as easy to spot due to them being under something. Ants will come up through the ground in an opening, and you will usually see a pile of dirt to indicate this, but rodent nests are generally in places such as wall cavities or under floorboards and are much harder to spot.

Damage

One of the biggest giveaways that something is amiss in your home is damage caused by pests. More minor pests might not cause much damage, but larger pests, such as raccoons, mice, rats, etc, will cause damage to your home if they gain access. Look for scratching marks on walls or furniture, items being chewed, etc, to help you identify the pest repressible and take the proper steps towards eliminating them.

Droppings

Pest droppings are typically linked to rodent activity and present like tiny dark specks around your home, often in a trail following wherever they run free. If you notice the appearance of anything similar or something you cannot explain from your daily activities, then this could be pest droppings, and it’s probably a good idea to call in the professionals to help you catch and remove the offenders from your home.

Footprints

If a pest is running free within your home, be it coming and going from the outside sporadically to find food and warmth, or you have live-in issues where they’ve made themselves at home and won’t leave, you will see footprints or markings of some sort. For example, it would be via greasy streaks left by rodents or paw prints from larger pests. And lets face it, no one wants to live with a raccoon in house! But tracking them will identify how and where they are coming into your home and give you a starting point to block their access and give them a permanent eviction notice.

No one wants to live with pests in their home, but sadly, not everyone can prevent pests from gaining access all the time. When you discover evidence of pests in your home, the best thing to do is to call in the experts.