ATLANTA — ATLANTA – Our chilly weather is supposed to be a death sentence for pests, and yet some homeowners are still at war with bugs.
After a brief warm spell, we are back to typical winter temperatures in Atlanta. Savannah Richey is one homeowner who believed winter killed off our bug population, which doesn’t explain the ants that invaded her home.
“I would definitely think in the wintertime we would see more ants, but it was definitely more this winter,” says Richey.
Why?
This winter has been plenty cold at times. It turns out that the whole “bugs die off during the winter” thing is a myth.
“All the insects and pests we deal with all survived the ice age,” says Scot Hodges of Arrow Exterminators. “A Georgia winter is not going to hurt them.”
Bugs are less active in the winter and they tend to reproduce less. Some will die off, but Hodges says that’s typically because they’ve reached the end of their life cycle.
The rest are alive and, like you, seeking warmth.
“The weather gets cold outside, they do what we do,” says Hodges. “They go inside.”
Cockroaches can sense when you’ve turned on the heat.
“When you crank the heat no matter how well your house is insulated, they can detect that and see that’s a place they want to be,” says Hodges.
Insects hide in the attic or crawl spaces. When you go to sleep, they emerge to begin their search for food.
So when you tell your pest control guy to take the winter off, just know the bugs are very much on the job.