Catseye Pest Control’s Tough Jobs: Getting Rid of Crickets
With spring in full swing, you may encounter pests in your home that we at Catseye Pest Control call “occasional invaders.” One of these occasional invaders is the cricket. The loud chirping of crickets in the house can quickly get annoying!
I once received a call from an elderly woman that lived in New York’s Columbia County. She complained about having crickets in her house. When asked why she thought she had crickets, the woman replied that it was because she could hear the chirping, even though she hadn’t seen one.
Before setting up a treatment, I decided to do an inspection of the home to find out exactly what she was hearing. I wanted to make sure I advised the right treatment plan. After looking through her entire house, including the exterior, basement, first floor living space and attic, I couldn’t find any evidence of crickets. I then sat down with the homeowner to explain the findings of my inspection.
As I explained that there were no crickets to be found, she stopped me and said, “Listen, I can hear them now!”
We sat there for a moment in silence, and sure enough I could hear the “chirp chirp” too.
The chirping sound led me to the ceiling of the basement stairwell, and there was a smoke detector signaling that it was time to change its battery.
I tried to explain that the sound she was hearing was actually a smoke detector in need of a battery, but the woman was adamant that she had crickets. Unable to convince her, I told her I needed to go run an errand and would be right back.
I drove to the local convenient store and bought a new 9-volt battery. When I returned, I kindly told the woman, “I think I figured out a way to get rid of your crickets.”
I installed the new battery, and then sat down with the woman to listen for a bit. When she was sure that she could no longer hear the crickets, she thanked me for getting rid of the insects.
Sometimes the toughest jobs are getting rid of pests that aren’t actually there.