As the weather begins to cool across North Alabama, many homeowners start noticing an unwelcome guest—rodents. Mice and rats become much more active during the fall as they search for warm, dry places to shelter for the colder months. Unfortunately, your home offers everything they need: warmth, food, water, and protection from the elements.

As summer begins to wind down, many homeowners start thinking about cooler temperatures, football season, and spending more time indoors. What many people do not realize is that pests are thinking about moving indoors too.

If you live in North Alabama, you know that mosquitoes are more than just a minor inconvenience during the summer months. With the heat, humidity, and proximity to water sources like rivers, lakes, and creeks, mosquito populations can increase quickly and make it difficult to enjoy your outdoor space.

If you’ve lived in the Shoals for any length of time, you already know—summer brings more than just heat and humidity. It also brings a noticeable increase in summer pests in the Shoals and around your home.

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattodea, which also includes termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. About four species are well known as pests.

Rodents (from Latin Rodere, “to gnaw”) are mammals of the order Rodentia, which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws.

Termites are eusocial insects that are classified at the taxonomic rank of infraorder Isoptera, or as epifamily Termitoidae within the cockroach order Blattodea.