The other night at 3:30 am, Jamie swung the bedroom door open yelling, “Babe! There’s a bat in Greyson’s room!!” I obviously freaked out that there was a BAT in our 6 month old sons room. Luckily, after 15 minutes we were able to successfully trap the bat with a garbage can and cardboard and get him back outside. When you live through your home renovations nothing like that should be surprising. However, I still have the creeps and am now ready to move. 🙂 We were recently contacted to share this Guide to the Biggest Pest Problems in Major U.S. Cities and being we had just experienced this issue, we thought it was perfect timing.
When you’re in the midst of moving into a new home in a new part of the country, one of the first things you’ll want to ask about your potential residence is which pests will you have to worry about invading your home. After all, there’s not much worse than moving into what you think is a brand-new, clean apartment- and then suddenly finding a cockroach infestation hiding behind your kitchen cabinets.
Before signing the dotted lines on a new lease, make sure to know what pest annoyances you might be in for. Big cities such as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles tend to have rat problems; cockroaches and bedbugs are also pests typically found in big cities. In the South, meanwhile, you’re likely to encounter mosquitos, which are usually harmless but occasionally can cause residents to contract a mosquito-borne disease.
When I lived in Los Angeles, unfortunately, my cousins experienced moving into an apartment that was infested with bed bugs. Visually, it was a beautiful complex near the ocean in Hermosa Beach and you would have never guessed something like this would happen in such a nice place. It was a really sad to watch them go through as they lost a lot of their belongings because it could not be saved.
If you live out west, keep an eye out for spiders, scorpions, and ants, all of which thrive in hot, dry climates. Seattle has some of the more unusual pest infestations- slugs and sea lions. Slugs are sometimes found to be endemic in the Seattle area and can damage agriculture and gardens; sea lions, meanwhile, may be an adorable infestation, but they can take temporary ownership of docks and decks, potentially leading to hazards for boaters.
No matter where you live, encountering a few pests is inevitable. However, if you know what you’re up against, you can be prepared to defend your new home against pests that come your way.
