Tag
Guides for pests outdoors: the yard, garden and the outside of the house, where most of them start.
Mice & rats · Traps & Baits
A bucket trap only works if the can spins at a light touch and the bucket is deeper than a mouse can jump. How to build one, why most catch nothing, and why to skip the water.
Get Rid of Pests
Mow often, rake out leaf litter, clear brush at the lawn edge and lay a 3-foot strip of wood chips between lawn and woods. Treat clothes with permethrin, dry them on high for 10 minutes after outdoor time, and check people and pets.
Get Rid of Pests
A small paper wasp nest you can reach from the ground is a DIY job: spray it at dusk, wait 3–4 days, then knock it down and bag it. Hornet nests, nests in walls and nests up a ladder are worth the pro’s $525 average.
Mice · Prevention & Sealing
Food, warmth, nesting spots and a gap about ¼ inch wide. Sealing food, pet food and garbage, moving bird feeders and woodpiles, and closing gaps costs little or nothing.
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.
Cockroaches · Identify
A wood roach is a native outdoor roach, ¾ to 1 inch, with pale edges behind the head. It can’t breed indoors and dies within days, so pick it up and toss it. No spray or exterminator needed.
Rats · Get Rid of Pests
Rats need bigger traps and tougher sealing than mice. Here's the plan, step by step, for about $65–87 in supplies; shared pro quotes for sealing jobs run $1,400–$3,000.
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.
Fall invaders · Get Rid of Pests
Spray clusters on the outside wall with soapy water, vacuum the ones indoors without crushing them, and seal gaps 1/8 inch or larger before fall. Indoor sprays don’t help. About $15 in supplies.
Fall invaders · Get Rid of Pests
Vacuum or wipe them up with a damp cloth without crushing them, seal cracks around sunny windows, and keep a 3-foot strip of bare soil at the foundation. About $5 in caulk, no sprays indoors.
Rats & mice · Get Rid of Pests
Rats skip traps that are new, too small or off their route. Bait a rat-size trap unset for a few nights, put other food away, then set every trap the same night.
