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Keeping birds away from a porch can involve a combination of strategies. Start with cleaning your porch. Remove food, debris, and plants that may be attracting feathered friends. Afterward, install physical deterrents like netting or spikes. Next, top off your porch with a decoy or two—and owl or hawk works. When wondering how to keep birds off the porch, it is always best to use humane efforts that won't harm winged creatures or the environment.

While many pests like rats, mice, ants, cockroaches, silverfish, and bed bugs can damage your home, termites are among the most destructive. By sheer dollar amount, the damage from a bad termite infestation is unparalleled, as they can ruin walls, floors, roofs, and wooden support materials, potentially requiring massive reconstruction. Other highly destructive pests include rodents, carpenter ants, and bees that build hives within walls. If you spot signs of termites or other pests, you should hire an exterminator immediately.

Bees usually have thicker, fuzzy bodies, while wasps have slender, smooth bodies. Behavior and nesting also differ.

Scientists have found that the chemical traces a dying wasp releases can agitate nearby wasps and make them more aggressive. It may not necessarily attract wasps, but it will make wasps in the area more likely to investigate and feel threatened, which leads to more stings. As a result, it’s not a good idea to swat or crush a wasp anywhere near their nest. Once you have found a nest, hire a wasp exterminator.