If you have ever heard a loud chirping noise in your garage at night, there’s a good chance you have crickets. These pesky insects can be difficult to get rid of, and can be pretty annoying if they won’t stop chirping!
Luckily, with a few methods, you can be cricket-free in no time!
Aside from creating a lot of noise, crickets can cause untold damage to your home. They chew through paper, leather, and other textiles. They can also spread diseases like salmonella.
We’ll help you learn how to identify crickets and prevent them from entering your garage. More importantly, we’ll cover what you can do to get rid of these chirping insects if they’ve already started to make a home there.
Let’s get hopping!
Do You Have Crickets in Your Garage?
All it takes is a single cricket to find its way inside your home before starting an infestation! If you are hearing a lot of chirping at night, you might have a cricket problem.
Other signs that you might have crickets include finding holes in your papers and textiles, finding cricket droppings around your home, or seeing dead crickets in your garage or house.
The first step is identifying the type of cricket that has infested your garage. There are many different varieties, but each has similar characteristics –long antennae and legs. Crickets usually have a bulky, straight body shape.
Some cricket species are black or brown and others may be greenish-yellow. This depends on their environment (including temperature).
The most common cricket is the House Cricket, which loves moist, dark, and warm places. That’s why they find garages so enticing. Another common species is the Field Cricket, which has wings that can reach up to about half an inch long.
Prevention is Possible
Crickets can enter your garage in many ways, the most common route is through an opening in the door or wall.
However, they can also enter through vents and cracks in the walls and floor. They prefer to hop and walk, but they can also fly. Because of this, it’s easy for them to enter through windows and vents.
Needless to say, if a cricket wants to get in, it’ll find a way!
So, what can you do?
Seal any openings with caulk, metal flashing, or weatherstripping. Use a flashlight to test for any openings that you missed, and make sure the seals are tight with no gaps.
If you think you’ve spotted crickets in your garage, chances are they’re already moving in. You can prevent them from staying by sealing any openings where they could get through.
Old holes may remain from previous pests such as mice.
Mice can get in your garage to search of food without you realizing it, so keep an eye out for tiny entry points like these.
The mice may have done the work, but crickets will take advantage of any opening they can find.
DIY Methods
A cheap way to create a barrier is by using petroleum jelly. You can smear petroleum jelly over the cracks of your garage floor to prevent crickets from entering. The jelly makes it slippery and sticky for them and often means they get stuck before coming inside.
Another DIY option is using peppermint oil. Crickets hate the smell of it, and it’ll also help keep the spiders out of your garage too.
Applying peppermint oil to cotton balls and stuffing them into the holes in your walls should keep them out. You will need to reapply oil regularly with this method, but it’s cheap, easy, and effective.
Reduce Moisture
Crickets are attracted to moist environments, so keeping things as dry as possible in your garage will make it less appealing to them.
There are a few ways to reduce moisture in your garage, but the most common is to use a dehumidifier. A dehumidifier pulls the moisture out of the air and collects it in a container, which must be periodically emptied.
Another option is to use fans to circulate the air and help it dry out.
Regardless of what method you choose to use, you may not be able to prevent humidity.
If it’s humid outside, your garage may never get truly dry. Because of this, sealing off holes is vital to prevention.
De-clutter Your Garage
Crickets are scavengers who feed on decaying matter or leftover pet food dishes.
Limit the places crickets can dwell by keeping your food away from them. Don’t leave dirty dishes or pet food outside where they can feast.
Put household garbage inside a protected trash container with a lid.
If you see cricket eggs on your walls, then it is probably too late for prevention. Crickets lay hundreds of eggs at once so they won’t all hatch overnight!
However, you can still stop more from hatching by removing any potential food sources. This will also help prevent future infestations. Female crickets prefer laying their eggs near a source of nutrition.
Getting Rid of Crickets in Garage
Crickets are nocturnal, so they’ll be active at night and hide away during the day.
Don’t worry if you can’t catch any during the day. Set out traps and check in the morning, and you’re more likely to have a successful “catch”.
There are also plenty of options when it comes to how you can get rid of these common garage bugs.
Sticky Traps
You can use traps with sticky paper inside as bait for catching crickets. This method won’t work unless there’s some sort of food source nearby. Use a few piles of newspaper or cardboard next to the trap as bait.
Glue traps work against insects by using a strong adhesive to trap them on the surface. Once the glue comes in contact with the insect body, it hardens instantly and traps them on its surface.
When other surface treatments fail to terminate bugs, this trap will do the job.
Vacuum Cleaning
Another way to catch crickets is by using a vacuum cleaner. However, this method will only be successful if you’re at the start of an infestation. It won’t work if you already have too many crickets in the garage.
Vacuuming can be effective but it is important not to suck up any live crickets, which can jump out and escape.
If you have pets, make sure you keep them away from the area while you catch the crickets. Some pets might see the insects as prey and try to eat them.
Boric Acid
Boric acid is a substance that slowly dehydrates insects. It is non-toxic to humans, but it can be toxic for pets – so keep your four-legged friends away. The boric acid crystals dissolve slowly in damp environments.
Boric acid creates micro-cuts in insects’ exoskeletons, dehydrating them quickly. Simultaneously, it absorbs into their bodies and poisons their stomachs.
Sprinkle boric acid inside boxes with your paperwork or along the edges of the garage. Boric acid is commonly called Borax. It’s an inexpensive and highly-effective solution as long as you can keep your pets away.
Insecticide
You can use an insecticide to help quickly get rid of pests in your garage. But, each brand and variety is different. When using insecticide, carefully read and follow the instructions. Wear gloves and a mask when using insecticide, and keep it away from children and pets.
If you have a problem with crickets, you can also mix insecticide and Borax. Follow the instructions on the back of the package to find out how much of each item you need. Once mixed, sprinkle it around areas where you’ve seen crickets.
Call a Professional
If you don’t want to kill the crickets in your garage yourself, some companies will come out and do it for you. However, pest control experts can be expensive.
This option may not be cost-effective if your infestation isn’t very large yet (or hasn’t even started).
But, if your crickets in garage infestation has gotten out of control, it’s often worth it to invest in professional pest elimination.
