Pest Prevention Techniques for Outdoor Meals, Part 1

Both due to the time of year and certain societal circumstances, meals outside with the family are a more common occurrence across the country right now than they might be otherwise. Many who are trying to stay safely distanced to avoid disease spread will enjoy meals outdoors, plus the wonderful fall season offers prime opportunities here for many.

At Bug Busters, we’re here to help with one small piece of your next outdoor meal: Preventing pests. Our residential pest control services cover a huge variety of pest types, including those who may look to invade your family’s meal. This two-part blog series will look into several tips we regularly offer clients on how to keep pests away from outdoor meal areas, from conditions and locations to avoid and prioritize to food coverage, pest repellant and related themes.

Avoid Water

Our first big piece of advice here: If there are any major bodies of water on your property, do not eat your outdoor meals close to it. This is because many pests, from mosquitoes on up, are attracted to open water sources and will spend large portions of their time in those areas.

This doesn’t just refer to those with ponds or water features on their property, though they’re certainly included. It also means avoiding puddles or water buildup areas – areas you should be looking into remedying anyway, as they may foster pest buildup even during periods when you aren’t outside to notice them.

Food Covering

If water is perhaps the top attraction for many pests, food smells won’t be far behind on the list. Numerous pest types are attracted to food odors, and many of them have surprisingly strong senses of smell given their size.

For this reason, any meal eaten outdoors should involve proper food coverings, especially during high pest season. Just covering the food will go a long way toward preventing the smell from wafting all over the property, keeping bugs as far away as possible.

Trash Location

Down related lines, always ensure there are no major trash sources near your eating location. A leftover bone is fine, and not really what we’re referring to; we’re talking about larger trash sources like your outdoor trash bin or a backyard trash collector, to which many pests will be drawn by the increasing odor of waste over time. Pests are just one reason why restaurants are required by law to keep dumpsters and trash receptacles a certain distance away from the building – this same theme applies here.

For more on how to avoid pests invading your outdoor meal times on your property, or to learn about any of our pest control or exterminator services, speak to the staff at Bug Busters today.