BDN speaks to Kirby, Dill about pest management for changing seasons
The Bangor Daily News spoke to Clay Kirby, an associate scientist and insect diagnostician with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and Jim Dill, a pest management specialist with UMaine Extension, for the article “What you can do when bugs and rodents move in for the winter.” When temperatures begin to drop with the arrival of fall and winter, bugs and other animals can move into people’s houses to seek shelter. The article offered recommendations for managing infestations of several of these unwelcome visitors, including ladybugs, fruit flies, cluster flies, mice, bats and spiders. “You can get a cluster of [ladybugs] on the side of a building or a house,” said Kirby. “But if they find a crack or any opening or crevice, they are going to come inside to the warmth.” Kirby recommends sealing up any cracks and scooping up ladybugs with a dustpan to remove them. “That bowl of apples might look good sitting on the counter this time of year, but if they get a little soft or get a bruise on them, it doesn’t take much [to attract fruit flies],” sad Dill. Fruit flies can be kept away by keeping all produce and trash covered and setting out store-bought traps or homemade traps using plastic bottles. And mice can be discouraged by keeping the home clean and secured, according to Dill. “Clean up garbage and food materials so they are not available for rodents. You should also go around your house and look for any and all small cracks and crevices that they can use to get in,” he said. If mice do enter the house, traps can be set where they are most active, the article states.