Tag
What pests and pest control mean for your health, and how to keep kids and pets safe while you deal with them.
Mice & rats · Get Rid of Pests
Set snap traps behind the stove and fridge and under the sink, throw out food in bags or boxes mice could reach, and seal pipe gaps. Traps run about $14; a full kit $57–71.
Mice & rats · Safety & Cleanup
Mouse urine smells musky and ammonia-like. Find it in cabinets and along baseboards, soak it with disinfectant, wipe it up and never vacuum. About $15 in gloves and bleach.
Rats & mice · Traps & Baits
Outdoor rat bait stations kill some rodents feeding by the house but seal nothing. Monitoring plans can run $50–$150 a month; sealing gaps and trapping yourself costs $65–87.
Mice & rats · Safety & Cleanup
No rodenticide is safe for pets. How rat and mouse poison harms dogs, cats and wildlife, what bait looks like, where poisoned mice die, and what to use instead.
Flies & gnats · Identify
House gnats don’t bite. The biting “gnats” are outdoor flies: biting midges at dawn and dusk, black flies by day. Long sleeves, a fan and a $6.99 repellent stop most bites.
Silverfish · Safety & Cleanup
No. Silverfish don’t bite, sting or spread disease. They graze books, paper and starched clothes; sealed bins, drier air and a week in the freezer protect them free.
