Depending on your family’s holiday traditions, you may have already unpacked all of your decorations, trimmed the tree and hung the stockings. But it is also perfectly acceptable if you are waiting until the last minute, like Christmas Eve, to take part in decorating festivities. One thing that every family should be on the lookout for regardless of when they choose to decorate, are any signs of pests that have invaded the boxes of holiday decorations.

Schendel Pest Services would like to offer residents of Topeka, Kansas City and throughout the Midwest some tips for unpacking and then repacking holiday decorations to avoid any run ins with common holiday pests such as mice, spiders and silverfish.

Unpacking Holiday Decorations

• Take all of your decorations outside before opening the boxes or bags. If there does happen to be any surprise pests then at least they will scurry away outside and not inside. 

• Carefully sort through all of the decorations and watch out for any signs of pests as well as live bugs themselves. 

• Discard any decorations that have been damaged like broken ornaments, those that have gnaw on them, chewed through Christmas lights, or items that have droppings on or around them. 

• If you are bringing in a live tree or wreath then be sure to inspect it carefully for pests (a gentle shake is a good idea too). Also rather then setting it up in the living room right away, consider letting the tree branches settle in the comfort of the garage or basement first. Often times once these “live decorations” warm up, critters will become active and you do not want this to take place in one of the living areas.

Repacking Holiday Decorations

• Instead of reusing the old cardboard boxes and bags, replace them with rubber totes that have tight locking lids to keep pests out during the year. Many department stores have sales on these totes through the holiday season. 

• Wash any fabrics or linens before you store them away for the season. Remnants of crumbs or spills are very enticing to mice. 

• When repacking the decorations, again look for any signs of pests because you don’t want to lock any critters in the tote to have an entire year to wreak havoc. 

• If you have a fake Christmas tree then be sure it is stored in a Christmas tree bag and not just thrown into the attic. Trees are a perfect hiding place for pests to spend their time.

Of course it is possible that even despite your attempts to have a pest free holiday season, some critters may sneak right by you. So if you do find that your Kansas home has been invaded by mice or any other creepy crawly insects, then be sure to contact the Topeka pest control pros at Schendel Pest Services. Our team offers home pest control services to not only get rid of the existing infestation but to prevent future infestations from occurring. To learn more, contact us today!