While the Outer Banks is the ideal attractive vacation destination, its warm and humid climate and bodies of water can also make for an attractive environment for pests. With water surrounding both sides of the island, pests such as palmetto bugs, spiders, flies, mosquitoes, midges, and ants can be prevalent around your vacation rental home, as they commonly seek out food, sources of water, and cooler temperatures.
While many of our homes participate in pest control plans, these pests can still make their way inside of your home.
In order to reduce the presence of these pests, we offer the following suggestions:
- Turn off all unnecessary lights. Lights located under the carport, around the pool, decks, home exterior, etc. are the most common attractors to flying insects
- Make sure all windows, entry doors and sliding doors are closed
- Clear away all trash frequently and make sure no food is left out on countertops
- Empty any containers or buckets with standing water. These sources of water can be breeding grounds for these pesky flying insects.
COMMON TYPES OF PESTS FOUND AROUND RENTAL HOMES ON THE OBX
Midges: Aka 'Fuzzy Bills', aka 'No see-ums'
While midges resemble mosquitoes, they are not mosquitoes. They are quite common in coastal areas and they do not bite nor carry diseases. Midges tend to gather in very large, dense masses on the sides of homes, decks, vegetation and carports, and they are highly attracted to light. In order to reduce the presence of these annoyances, turn off all unnecessary lights (especially exterior lights) and make sure all doors and windows are closed. Pest control of midges has been deemed ineffective by local pest control companies due to the nature of a midge's habitat and life cycle. Click here for more information about Midges.
Waterbugs (aka 'palmetto bugs') vs. Cockroaches
Waterbugs, also known as Palmetto Bugs, are a type of roach that naturally live outside, prefer warm, damp areas, and are often drawn to woodpiles and mulch. Often, humidity and rain can drive them indoors. Waterbugs are usually found in areas close in proximity to the exterior of the home rather than areas such as the kitchen. These pesky insects can even fly (sort of) and are drawn to light. Click here for more information about water bugs.
Ants
As you probably already know, there are many different species of ants. These include black ants, pavement ants, fire ants, odorous house ants, carpenter ants, and even massive hoards of super tiny, frantic ones aptly named “crazy ants”. But no matter the species, they all seem to forage for food and water. Click here for more information about ants.
Mosquitoes
Since the Outer Banks are small stretches of narrow islands with marshy conditions from the sound on one side, mosquitoes can be a problem. Luckily, Dare County has mosquito trucks that perform routine, drive-by sprayings. This is especially useful in the evenings and after it has rained. These trucks put a serious dent in, what would be, a far worse mosquito problem on the Outer Banks. Mosquitoes are at their worst in warmer temperatures when there is a lot of standing water. This makes Spring and Fall the worst seasons for mosquito breeding on the Outer Banks. Click here for more information about mosquitoes.
