When most people think about pests and pest infestation, the first thing they probably think of is ants in the sugar bowl or roaches tucked in the corner behind the microwave. Perhaps you think of spiders up in corners or crawling around in the attic.
Pests are interesting, and many people don’t know much about the way they behave. But that doesn’t mean that you want them in your home where you can get to know their habits first hand.
Keep reading to learn some interesting facts about pests and how you can keep a pest infestation in your home from becoming a nightmare.
Rats Eat Regularly
Rodents like rats aren’t very big, but that doesn’t stop them from eating a lot more food than most people imagine. Rats tend to eat about 15 to 20 times per day, often gorging until the food they’ve found is gone.
Despite being small, rats can quickly eat nearly their body weight in food. Hopefully, that food isn’t in your kitchen cabinets or pantry.
Spiders Eat Other Spiders
If you’re like most people, the only thing scarier than a bunch of spiders in your home is a bunch of spiders that are predatory enough to try to eat one another. The fact is that most spiders are predatory, and almost all species will go after smaller, weaker spiders when they need to.
This spider-eat-spider behavior might be what has enabled them to survive for so long. Scientists believe that spiders date back two million years or more, though it is hard to find any fossil evidence of spiders since their bodies are so fragile and tend to get wiped away with the changing of the seasons.
Rodents Are Amazing Swimmers
If the idea of a rodent doing laps in a swimming pool is funny to you, you’re not alone. You don’t want rats doing laps in your swimming pool though, right? You’re not alone there either.
While most rodents don’t spend a lot of time in the water, most rats can tread water for about three days before they drown. That’s pretty amazing, and it explains why they often enter buildings through cracks in the plumbing.
It’s also why flushing rodents—which you shouldn’t do anyway—isn’t an effective way to remove them from your home. They might swim back up and enter another part of your home!
Moths Have an Incredible Sense of Smell
Moths don’t have noses, at least not as defined by animal and insect anatomy. But that doesn’t stop the average male moth from being able to smell a female up to seven miles away when looking for the ideal mate.
These moths are able to find their potential mates through antennae that work like homing signals. This might be an interesting fact about moths, but for most people, moths are just pests that want to eat their wool clothes.
Call a Specialist at Bain Pest Control
Learning a few interesting facts about rodents and pests might help you on trivia night, but learning about them through a pest infestation in your home isn’t the right way to go about it. If you’re worried about pests getting into your home, or if you already have a pest infestation, call the pros at Bain Pest Control as soon as possible.