Living in a wooded area definitely has its perks. Most homeowners love the privacy and seclusion that come with living in the woods. However, when your home is surrounded by trees, you do need to be more vigilant about pest control. Here are a few key pest control tips for homeowners in wooded areas.

Remove and replace any moist or rotten wood promptly.

In wooded areas, wood-eating bugs like carpenter ants and termites are far more common. They feed on fallen and decaying trees, which is fine, but you don't want them to end up wandering into your home and eating your porches and support beams, too. To help keep wood-eating insects away, make sure you keep a close eye on all wooden structures in and around your home. The minute a fence post, porch board, or other piece of wood starts to show signs of rot, remove it and replace it. Pests are often first attracted to decaying wood and will typically leave healthy wood alone.

Keep the weeds and trees trimmed back around your home.

Heavy brush and trees tend to harbor insects, rodents, and other pests. As such, you want to keep the area immediately around your home well cleared. Brush hog it several times a year, and have any trees that are less than 20 feet or so from your home removed. Even healthy trees, when they are this close to the woods, can allow squirrels and other bigger pests to climb onto your roof. You can live in the woods while still maintaining a barrier between your home and the actual woods.

Keep your vents covered.

Pests like raccoons, squirrels, and bats are a bigger concern in the woods than in other areas. These pests often enter homes through the sewer vents, roof vents, and chimney vents. Luckily, you can easily exclude these pests by making sure your vents have metal mesh covers over them. These mesh covers can start rusting and deteriorating in the elements, so make sure you check on them once a year and replace them as soon as you see signs of deterioration. A desperate squirrel could chew through a partially rusted mesh cover.

Living in a wooded area can be lovely, but you do have to be proactive about your pest control. Reach out to a pest control company promptly if you've had any issues with unwanted pests inside your woodsy home.