Fall is the perfect time to visit a pumpkin patch and pick out some gourds to use as your decorations for the autumn harvest season. Everyone loves having a few pumpkins to set out on their front porch or inside of their home to celebrate fall holidays, such as Halloween and Thanksgiving.
Unfortunately, critters like ants and mice also love pumpkins. They’re a tasty seasonal treat for many bugs and small animals. The crew at Truly Nolen has tips to help you keep your pumpkins from becoming overrun with ants or other insects. As the best option for people looking for carpenter ant removal near me, we can provide some insight onto why critters love your pumpkins.
Halloween and Fall Festivities
Pumpkins are the bumper crop of the fall season. When the air starts to get slightly chilly and crisp, many families drive out to the pumpkin patch to collect pumpkins for the upcoming fall festivities. Families also enjoy carving pumpkins as jack-o-lanterns for Halloween and trick or treating. A freshly carved pumpkin is an enticing meal for all sorts of bugs, so it’s important you understand what you can do to make your pumpkin last longer and not succumb to the insects in your area.
Mice
If your pumpkin ends up destroyed and torn apart, one of the top suspects could be a mouse. Mice love eating pumpkins so much that they may even try to dig up one that is growing in a garden. They enjoy eating pumpkin seeds, the stem and the flesh of this bright fruit.
The most common type of mice that feast on pumpkins is deer mice and white-footed mice. A house mouse may also chew up pumpkins if they are stored somewhere close to them. Once they start eating the pumpkins and leaving holes behind, the smell may attract other critters and insects.
Ants
The next common pest that may be eating your pumpkins is the ant. Standard garden ants may flock to a carved pumpkin or one that has started to rot. Additionally, carpenter ants may also eat a pumpkin for extra nutrients.
Ants can smell the pumpkin from far away and may bring their entire colony over to start eating it. Eventually, they can decimate the pumpkin into a pile of rotten mush. Once a few ants have gotten into the pumpkin and started eating it, it has to be thrown out. They enjoy the flesh and juices of the pumpkin.
Spiders
Spiders may also get into your pumpkin and cause it to go bad faster. While most spiders don’t ingest fruit or vegetables like a pumpkin, they can camp out in a pumpkin and wait for other insects that may already be there.
Preventing a Pumpkin Insect Infestation
To keep your pumpkin fresh and looking beautiful throughout the fall months, you need to do a few things. First, pick the freshest pumpkin you can find at the pumpkin patch. Avoid pumpkins with rot or holes in them. Don’t carve your pumpkin until a day or so before Halloween so it doesn’t attract mice and bugs.
Finding the Best Carpenter Ant Removal Near Me
The other preventative step you can take to keep bugs and mice from eating your pumpkin is to partner with pest control in Burlington, such as Truly Nolen Canada. We offer a four-season pest control service that provides protection from insects and critters in the fall. Our inspections and treatments during the fall could help prevent your pumpkin from being taken over by insects.
Reach out to the team at Truly Nolen Canada to find out more ways you can extend the life of your pumpkin this fall and keep the bugs at bay. We offer year-round service for your home’s protection against pests.