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Pest Control questions, answered by experts

The smells that keep roaches away include lemon, bay leaves, vinegar, peppermint, and lavender. Mix these scents in a diluted solution to spray in your home. Also, clean your counters and mop your floors regularly. Clean up all food spills, crumbs, and dirty dishes to keep the attractants away, and cover your trash with a tight-fitting lid.

Most spiders are harmless and are more interested in finding and eating insects than trying to bite you or your family members. Certain spiders in your home may be advantageous if you have an issue with insects. Most spiders are non-venomous and have small mouths, so even if they did bite you, it wouldn’t be enough to cause any harm.

However, some species of spiders can cause harm if you are a victim of their spider bite, including the black widow and brown recluse varieties. Both species’ venom is poisonous, and you should seek medical help if bitten.

Bed bugs bite your body to feed on blood. When they bite, they inject an anticoagulant, which is why you may see blood stains on your sheets if you have an infestation. The bed bugs tend to bite in clusters, so the bite marks will look like itchy, red spots in zigzagging lines of three to five bites per cluster on your skin.

The bites are itchy, but for most people, they do not cause serious or long-term health complications. Itching the wound excessively could lead to an infection, and some people are allergic to bed bugs.

It’s possible that skunks will leave on their own. Skunks may appear briefly on your property and move on if they cannot find food. However, waiting them out is not a foolproof solution. If the skunk finds a food source on or near your property and builds a nest, the animal will almost certainly not choose to move. If you can eliminate food sources, you’ll have a better chance of seeing the skunk leave on its own.

Although raccoons aren’t particularly picky regarding food, certain sounds, metals, and smells bother them. You can place these items around your home to keep raccoons away:

  • Place wire mesh screens around and underneath decks and porches to prevent raccoons from nesting. 

  • Put metal sheeting around the edges of your roof or at the base of trees to deter raccoons from coming close. 

  • Place a loud battery-operated radio near the raccoon’s den to keep them from nesting.

  • Keep a bowl of cider vinegar on your deck or porch.

  • Remove old raccoon scents by thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting underneath porches and decks.

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