That noise you hear is not a ringing in your ears…in fact it’s crickets. During the summer months crickets come out of their overwintering spots and unfortunately start to wreak havoc on your home or business. The two most common species that we deal with in the home is the house cricket and the field cricket.
Crickets are attracted to light and warmth. Exterior lighting around homes can play a major role in the “attractiveness” of your home or business. Yellow “bug lights” or sodium lights tend to be less attractive to crickets (and other insects), and therefore replacing your exterior lighting may be the first step in minimizing a potential pest problem.
Once the crickets have arrived at the structure, cracks in the mortar of brick buildings or gaps in caulking around windows and doors can be perfect entry points for crickets. Once inside, they tend to migrate toward areas of warmth such as water heaters, furnaces, or fireplaces. These areas are good places for harborage.
Management of these infestations requires coordination between the home/property owner and the pest management professional. Start by removing any outdoor harborage such as heavy ground cover.
Next, make sure all doors and windows have a tight fitting seal to keep the insects from gaining access to the structure. Focus next on your outdoor lighting by directing it away from the home or building. Also consider replacing the bulbs to less attractive ones (as mentioned above).
Finally, once these steps have been taken, consult a pest management professional so that a proper inspection may be performed and localized treatments can be made.
