Rid your living space of pesky pests
What you need to know:
House pests cause not only irritation but damage for property owners. Rooting them out is rarely easy and demands aggression.
Amos Kalule who constructed a beautiful house in Kilombe- Kirundu, a city suburb realised that he had been invaded by pests six months later after his wife Maria heard a sound that was produced by bats that had hid inside the ceiling. Getting rid of them was hard. They destroyed his sofa set cushions and the clothes that were kept in boxes.
As one thinks of having a beautiful house, he or she should bear in mind things like pests and rodents that might invade the home thus destroying the family’s happiness. There are many homes like Amos’s which have been invaded by pests and the owners are ignorant about what to do with them. They cannot even think of what such pests can cause to their families.
Ms Pauline Kasoma, a sales personnel with Vienna Company, says t the major cause of pests in homes is the poor sanitation “There are many homes I come across that are surrounded with bushes, dirty stained water and rubbish that is mixed with polythene and left overs ” she says.
She explains that in homes, pests are brought by surrounding bushes and from animals that share the shelter with human beings. Animals like dogs and cats carry pests like fleas that are very harmful to human health.
Bedbugs are mostly carried by holiday makers, people traveling in taxis and those that use trains, planes and boat where different luggages are piled together thus sharing them.
Mr John Ssesanga, a fumigator and a dealer in agro chemicals and insecticides, says the moment one notices that there are pests in the house, an appropriate insecticide should be found to get rid of them before the cause harm.
Method
For rats, Mr Ssesanga adviSes that the insecticide should be applied on any eatable stuff like fried fish, chicken or G.nuts and later be placed in places where they pass or hide, say under the sofa to prevent children from eating it. For other pests like cockroaches, fleas, bats, bedbugs and geckos, one should mix the insecticide with the required amount of water and spray them with a bomber.
He further explains that fumigation should be done during the morning hours when all people have gone out and the person spraying should always cover the nose and the mouth to avoid any harm from the chemicals. After 30 minutes, one is expected to clean places where he or she has sprayed and also wash the clothes, bed sheets and mattresses; these should be put under the sun and properly dried before taking them into the house. In case of termites like ants, a hole is dug on the top of the anthill within the area and the mixed insecticide is poured into the hole. And if the termites are inside the house, one is advised to use the same measurements as used on the anthill.
However, Mr Ssesanaga adviSes people to stop staying with animals under the same roof and to always slash the bushes surrounding their homes. To him, left overs should be disposed in a good way and people should always clear clutter that may attract pests like rats. “Wash the dogs and apply sevin dust powder in the poultry feathers and on the bottom walls of the house to avoid fleas.”
Meanwhile, Dr John Sserwada a general practitioner with John Medical Centre, states that pests not only hide in houses as their shelter but also transmit diseases like dysentery, cholera to humans whereas bats’ wastes produce a toxic gas that is harmful to our health.
