With Memorial Day on the way, you’re likely planning a weekend picnic or family barbecue to celebrate the coming of summer and the long weekend. However, whenever you combine food and the outdoors, bugs and wildlife are sure to follow. To make sure your cookout isn’t ruined by pests, follow the animal control tips below.

5 Animal Control Tips to Keep Pests Away From Your Memorial Day Weekend Party

1. Light Candles

Flies, mosquitoes, and other flying insects dislike smoke. Light a few citronella candles or place tiki torches around your patio or picnic site to create a barrier. This discourages flying pests, and it masks the smell of food, which might attract mice, raccoons, squirrels, or other rodents. 

2. Cover Sweetened Drinks

One of the worst parts of eating outdoors is discovering a dead bug in your drink. Serve beverages in lidded bottles or covered cups with straws. If you don’t have lids, cover your cups with aluminum foil. Leave a gap at the rim to sip through, or poke a hole through the center to accommodate a straw.

3. Avoid Sweet Perfumes

Sweet scents attract the attention of every bug in the neighborhood, so skip the eau de toilette before enjoying an outdoor meal. This applies to strongly scented shampoo, body spray, perfume, and deodorant, as well.

4. Set Up a Distraction

Lure pests away from your food table by setting up a distraction well away from your eating area. Make bugs an offer they can’t refuse by placing overripe fruit, melon rinds, or even a container of sugar water (as well as any garbage containers) 20 or 30 yards away from where you plan to serve your meal. Hang some wind chimes near this decoy site; the noise should discourage raccoons, mice, and squirrels so you avoid animal control situations.

5. Create a Moat

Ants can sense a banquet from enormous distances, and they’ll climb a table leg to reach it. Place each of the legs of your picnic table in containers of water to create moats ants can’t bridge.

American Bio-Tech is the most experienced animal control service in New Milford, CT. Since 1971, they have specialized in humane animal removal and wildlife control using safe, eco-friendly techniques and equipment. Visit their website for contact details and directions, or call (860) 355-1231 to discuss your needs with a friendly professional.