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Finding mouse poop in a pantry, drawer, attic, or garage is a clear sign that a mouse has been active in your home. What the droppings cannot do is give you an exact mouse count. A single mouse may visit the same spot repeatedly, while several mice may leave smaller amounts across different rooms. The…

You find a small, flat, reddish-brown bug near an upstairs bedroom and assume you have bed bugs. That conclusion makes sense, but it may be wrong. Bat bugs look so much like bed bugs that a phone photo often cannot show the differences clearly. Bat bugs usually begin near bats roosting in attics, chimneys, soffits,…

Finding a dark spider in your basement, garage, or near a window can immediately raise one question: Is it a black widow? Black widows do occur in Ohio, but they are not the only spiders that can look black or nearly black. Ohio State University’s Common Spiders of Ohio field guide covers hundreds of spider…

You may notice a red spot after working in the yard, walking through tall grass, or checking your skin after a hike. When the tick is already gone, the mark can be difficult to interpret. A tick bite mark after tick falls off may be a small bump, a pinpoint scab, or a limited patch…

You apply spider repellent along the baseboards, around the garage, or near a porch light. A few days later, another spider appears. The product may still be working in the area where you used it, but it may not be doing what you expected throughout the rest of the home. Many homeowners picture spider repellent…

Finding a spider in a closet, garage, crawl space, or storage box can raise an immediate question: Is it dangerous? When homeowners search for venomous spiders in Tennessee, they are usually trying to identify one of two medically significant spider groups, brown recluses and black widows. Most spiders use venom to subdue prey, but that…

You may first notice booklice as tiny pale specks moving across a bathroom wall, pantry shelf, windowsill, or stack of stored books. Their name sounds alarming, but these insects are not the lice that live on people. Booklice are psocids, and they usually appear where moisture supports microscopic mold or other organic material they can…

Seeing a mouse during the day deserves your attention because house mice are primarily nocturnal. They usually move around when a home is quieter, so a mouse crossing your kitchen, hallway, or living room at noon falls outside the activity pattern you would expect. Still, one daytime sighting does not prove that a large mouse…

Finding a rat nest in your attic, garage, crawl space, or storage area can make the problem feel sudden. It usually is not. By the time rats have chosen a sheltered location and gathered nesting material, they have already found a way into or around your home and started using the property regularly. A rat…