Fall Leaves and Pests

Playing in a pile of autumn leaves is a core childhood memory. We all remember crisp, cool weekends spent raking leaves and jumping into the ever-shifting heap of reds, yellows, and golds.

When you were younger, you probably didn’t realize that those piles of pure joy had a hidden ick factor. Before you share the leaf-jumping experience with your own kids or pets, be aware that your pile of fallen leaves may be harboring troublesome pests.

Do Fallen Leaves Attract Bugs?

Fallen leaves attract a wide variety of bugs and other pests – some of which can bite, sting, or transmit dangerous diseases. If the leaves are close to your home’s foundation, they can act as a layover for pests on their way into your house. Once inside, they will overwinter in comfort and close to both food and water sources you are unwittingly providing them.

What Bugs Live in Fallen Leaves?

Leaf piles roll out the welcome mat for dozens of shelter-seeking pests… from ants to earwigs and centipedes to ticks. Here are some of the most common:

• Beetles: Beetles are frequent leaf pile invaders. They thrive in decaying leaves which are an excellent source of protection, darkness, warmth, food, and moisture. Like many pests, beetles may treat a leaf pile as a waystation enroute to the interior of your home.
• Roaches: Although they’re thought of as hardy survivors, cockroaches seek shelter when the mercury falls. Like beetles, they use warm moist leaves as cover until they find a more viable location to overwinter. If those leaves are too close to your home, it’s highly likely they will find their way inside.
• Spiders: Leaf piles attract food-seeking arachnids, including black widow spiders. These venomous predators see a pile of leaves as an all-you-can-eat buffet of smaller bugs. It’s no surprise they find their way to leaf piles where they build webs or burrow beneath them and wait for a meal to happen by. Their bites cause painful swelling and flu-like symptoms and may be debilitating or fatal to pets and to humans with venom sensitivities.
• Termites: While termites prefer to consume wood, they will eat anything that contains cellulose – which includes fallen leaves. These destructive opportunists are attracted to the scent of decaying leaves, which can lead them perilously close to your home where they burrow into wood structures to mate, reproduce, and expand their colonies.

Those are just four of the potentially problematic pests that can find their way into your leaf pile. There are many, many more. Any pest that is seeking a respite from the fall weather could take shelter in fallen leaves.

Do Fall Leaves Attract Mice?

Mice and other rodents also seek shelter when temperatures begin to cool. Dark, damp leaf piles full of insects and trash provide everything rats and mice need to survive and reproduce. These piles often include twigs and branches that enable rodents to grind down their ever-growing teeth without leaving their new “home.”

Protect Your Family from Fall Pests

Rake falling leaves often and, if you create leaf piles, keep them as far from your house as possible. Protect yourself when cleaning up leaves: wear long pants, long sleeves, and gardening gloves… and think twice before letting children or pets play in raked leaves.

If you find evidence of bugs or rodents in your yard or home, take action by calling Twin Forks Pest Control®, your Long Island fall pest specialist. Contact us online for a free estimate, or call (631) 324-9020 in East Hampton; (631) 287-9020 in Southampton, or (631) 298-0500 in Southold. We look forward to hearing from you.