Summer Is Here: How To Keep Pests From Ruining Your Backyard BBQ!

This post is provided by Super Groups.

Before you look to kickoff the summer with a backyard BBQ, you should prioritize some summer lawn pest control. Basically, look over your yard and see if you can find any telltale signs of pests or pest activity. Below, you will find a rogue's gallery of the usual suspects when it comes to pests that tend to show up in the summer. You will also see what tends to grab those pests' interests and how to make them stop being a problem.

Armadillos

Armadillos are pests for two reasons.

-They can burrow into the ground, causing your back yard to become uneven and filled with holes.

-They carry several diseases that can be transmitted to humans.

The good news with armadillos is they are easy to deal with; they are insectivores that only eat bugs they find while burrowing. One of the easiest solutions to an armadillo problem is to fence in your yard with materials that penetrate at least one foot beneath the soil. This will deter the armadillo and have it going elsewhere.

If you notice your armadillo is a recurring problem, watch for any patterns in its behavior, you may luck out and notice a path that it likes to follow. In this scenario, consider laying down a cage trap and it may just do the trick.

(Fire) Ants

While ants will travel wherever they can find food, often in packs, their mounds are usually easy to find. Look for any holes in the dirt, ideally with ants moving in and out of them. If you happen to find ants, there is no shortage to the number of ways in which they can be dispatched.

-Granules are an option that takes time to work but can end most colonies within a week. One upside to granules is that they do all of the work, you just need to plant them down the hole.

-Sprays require you to actually see the ants you want to kill. This means that they can be of limited use against large colonies and there is also a risk of harming any pets you may keep outside.

If you want to prevent ants from being a major problem, limit how often you keep food served outside. You should also do your best to keep your yard clean before and after a party, the whiff of sugars from a nearly-empty soda or beer can is like a signal flare for ant activity.

Moles

Moles are like a less problematic version of armadillos in that they do not transmit diseases to humans but their burrowing habits can weaken the root systems of your plants and leave holes in your yard. The best way of dealing with moles is to stomp around their holes for activity and keep your yard fenced in.

Mosquitoes

These flying nuisances not only make an annoying sound and cause you to itch after they stealthily snack on your blood, they can also make excellent vectors for a wide variety of diseases. Mosquitoes sense prey by "chemoreception," they can sense chemicals and use that awareness to find blood. The best way to get rid of a mosquito problem is to make sure that you have no pools of standing water on your property.

Even as little as half an inch of water is sufficient for mosquitoes to lay their eggs and produce another generation. If you know mosquitoes are a problem of the neighborhood, use bug spray with an active ingredient like DEET or oil of lemon-eucalyptus is ideal; you can also purchase yard torches that produce this chemical as their fires burn.