As temperatures begin to cool in El Paso, residents may expect insects to disappear until spring. But the shorter days and cooler temperatures may attract the creepiest crawlers into warm homes.
The mild winters in El Paso mean pests never go dormant, but the types of crawlers and their activity change.
Local pest-control professional with Integrity Pest Control, Omar Martinez, believes that fall is an important time to prepare homes for unwanted insects and rodents seeking shelter from changing weather.
“We do a four seasons kind of pest control, spring, winter, summer, and fall,” Matinez said. “The reason we do that is because, you know, rodent and insect activity change as the seasons change.”
While summer is typically peak insect season, cooler weather can push pests toward garages, woodpiles and homes. Crawlers like spiders or scorpions slow down as the temperature drop and they may seek shelter in protected spaces.
One crawler brings another, and the pest seeking shelter in a warm home can be the pest attracting other hungry pests.
“So if you’re having black widows, well, you have black widows because you have pride crickets, you have something, because that’s what they eat,” Martinez said.
According to Mosquito Squad, rodents and ants might appear in homes as food sources outside start to diminish. To avoid these crawlers, food should be stored in airtight containers, and any cracks or holes in a home should be sealed up at the beginning of fall.
Rodents seeking shelter can squeeze into homes through small openings as their ribcages can compress to fit into crevices. Many rodents experience continuous teeth growth, and Martinez says these crawlers have a habit of chewing on wires in homes to file their teeth down.
“You know, and that’s kind of where the dangers start when they’re in attics and stuff like that, so it’s really important to keep those things at a controlled level,” Martinez said.
Preventing infestations in the fall is also crucial to mitigating pests in the springtime. Mosquito Squad says crawlers will overwinter, or hibernate, in homes and activity will rapidly increase in the spring when they come out of hibernation.
Martinez explains that pest life cycles reflect season changes. Like humans, crawlers will begin to seek shelter and warmth in the fall, then hot summers bring peak activity.
“It’s like a four-season cycle,” Martinez said. “Bugs are born in the spring because they hibernated all [winter]”
Crawlers can’t recognize which homes are newer or which part of the city is best to infiltrate, but older homes that are typically equipped with crawl spaces or basements might be more vulnerable to infestations due to easy access.
“I will tell you, they’re everywhere,” Martinez said. “I mean, we get them on the east, north but the ones that are a little harder to kind of start controlling would be the ones in the downtown area.”
While the transition from fall to winter in El Paso may bring colder temperatures changing which pests’ residents notice most, but it does not necessarily mean the end of pest activity. Storing food properly, sealing small cracks and scheduling a home inspection before peak season can help residents keep unwanted insects and rodents outside.
Kayla Rodriguez is a staff reporter and may be reached at [email protected]