Keep cottage pests from making themselves at home with these tried-and-true tips:
Cottages are notoriously difficult when it comes to keeping out bugs and pests. There’s plenty of nooks and crannies for them to get into places they shouldn’t be. And because cottages are often remote, they entice critters for miles around a source of light, warmth, and food. Stay one step ahead of pests this season and use the following four preventative tips to keep them out:
Sweep It Clean
Keeping your cottage clean will reduce its attractiveness to unwanted visitors. Dust will attract bugs, so make sure to deep clean in all your corners and logs. Any food should also be sealed tight and put away as soon as you’re done eating it.
Seal It Up
As cottages are lived in they naturally start to get cracks, gaps, or other small entry points that can be used by pests. Double-check your cottage from roof to foundation for any holes that pests could squeeze through. These may be hard to find, and in some cases, you may want to schedule an inspection for this purpose. One of the most commonly overlooked entry points into cottages is the top of a wood stove. Make sure you have mesh around the top of your chimney to stop birds from entering during warmer months.
Keep the Perimeter Tidy
It’s tempting to store things just outside entrances to your cottage, like firewood or tools. But for pest prevention, you want to keep the area immediately around your cottage clean. Remove branchy or grassy areas directly around the foundation. And keep large piles of firewood at least 20 feet away. Critters are drawn to firewood and environments that give them protection–and if these are near your cottage it’s more likely that they’ll end up inside.
Edit Your Light Sources
Keep your lights low at night. Switching to yellow or LED lights will also make your cottage less attractive to moths and other light-seeking bugs.
The easiest way to get rid of bugs and pests in our cottages is to keep them from entering in the first place. Start with these four preventative practices–it will be much easier to prevent unwanted critters from getting in your cottage than to get them out once they’ve made themselves at home!