ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – This is the time of year that pests go looking for a warm place to spend the winter. Spiders, stink bugs, and mice are all common problems homeowners face.

Rottler Pest Solutions is still taking over 500 calls a day from customers.

“They come out of the trees and the bushes and the agricultural areas, and our home is kind of a beacon of, I don’t know if you want to call it the insect hotel or what. But they come flying and running in,” said Jay Everitt, the technical director at Rottler Pest Solutions. 

Everitt says the gradual cool-down is ideal for all the pesky critters. 

“Some areas of the home that are kind of vulnerable are those upper parts of the house where the heat escapes. Like up where your gutters, your attic vents, things like that,’ he said. 

If you don’t get ahead of stink bugs, you’ll likely have to deal with them all winter. Treatments should start in September or October 

They’ll slow down this winter, but if we get a warm winter day, they’ll start coming back out. 

“Boom, they all wake up. If that happens, and you see them we generally recommend getting the vacuum out. It’s not really get the pesticides out because they’re going to be in some odd areas,” said Everitt. 

Spider counts are also increasing. 

“The idea there is caulking up those, you know, use the caulks, make sure your screens are all intact. For the large holes, you can even use steel wool,” Everitt said. “Look at the bottom of your doors. If you can stand inside and see daylight underneath your door, you probably need to get one of those door sweeps installed.” 

If you’re worried about brown recluse spiders, a glue board can give you an idea of the population of spiders you may have in your home. 

Lastly, mice only need a quarter of an inch to get inside. 

“That’s typically the end of a pen or a pencil. That’s all they need. If they can get the head through that hole, the body will push through, and they have no problem gaining access,” he said. 

You can set traps near entry points to your home and around air conditioner lines. 

“You’ve got a little bridge or a highway that goes right into your house. A lot of times, that’s right into your basement. And they can have the run of the house from there once they make it in,” said Everitt.