There are a lot of things that can ruin Thanksgiving. Have you ever expected a brown, succulent turkey, only to realize that you left it in the oven too long? Have you ever had a wonderful gathering ruined by an unexpected guest? Have you ever had someone you really love cancel at the last minute? What can you do? Stuff happens. The most you can hope for is that you’ve done your part to keep the bad things from happening. Here are three pests that can make a good Thanksgiving bad, and what you can do to stop them.

Pantry Pests

There are lots of bugs that love pantry foods, especially the foods we use for baking. And there is nothing worse than finding a bug in our food. Here are a few things you can do to prevent pantry pests this Thanksgiving:

• Carefully check packages at the store.
• Check the dates of your pantry foods and throw things away that are past due.
• Be aware that some pantry pests are almost invisible to the naked eye. If a pest is infesting your food, the only sign you may get are the webs these insects create.

Spiders

This is the time of year when we start to see more spiders inside our homes. Fall is mating season for many spiders, and this brings them out into our common areas. If you would prefer to not have spiders ruining your Thanksgiving, here are a couple of ideas:

• When webs appear, take a broom to them. You actually make spiders feel unwelcome in your common areas.
• Remember that spiders eat flies. If you have fungus gnats, fruit flies, houseflies, or some other fly zipping around in your home, spiders will take notice. Keep your trash cans sealed and dirty dishes in soapy water to reduce flies–and the spiders that love them.

Bed Bugs

Nothing can ruin Thanksgiving faster than bed bugs. Here are tips for before and after your guests stay the night.

Before: Search bed seams, box springs, bedspreads, sheets, pillowcases, baseboards, and outlets for black patches, black streaks, tiny black droppings, dried brown blood stains, shed insect skins, tiny white eggs, or these insects crawling around.

After: Do the above search. Once you’ve searched, wash all bedding on the hottest temperature. Hot water kills bed bugs in all stages of development.

If you need assistance keeping your Macon Georgia home pest-free* for Thanksgiving, or any other time of the year, reach out to Active Pest Control.