When it comes to crickets there’s one surprising fact most people don’t know: they’re bad for our health. Sure, they don’t normally bite, but crickets and their waste are known to spread yucky germs, including salmonella and E.coli.
Unfortunately, the troubles don’t stop there. Crickets are also notorious for carrying worms and parasites, which can cause painful sores and blisters if you come into contact with them. And if crickets make their way inside, you can expect damage to your houseplants, clothing, bedding, furniture, and other fabrics. They’re not shy about feeding on your fruits, veggies, dry goods, or pet food either.
If you’re thinking about simply waiting out those annoying chirps—think again. The average lifespan of a cricket is roughly 90 days, which is a looooong time to have loud, germ-carrying bugs living inside your home. But we’re not going to let that happen to you. Here’s how to get rid of crickets in 3 simple, family-safe steps.
1. PREVENTION
Adopting a few preventative measures can make a world of difference when it comes to controlling and preventing annoying crickets.
- Ensure your home is securely sealed by periodically checking both inside and outside for potential entry points like cracks, holes, damaged weather stripping, broken pipes or plumbing.
- Limit cricket hiding spots by keeping up with lawn maintenance, including mowing, trimming, and weed-eating. Remove unnecessary clutter like lawn clippings, leaf piles, empty pots, unused equipment, and anything else that could collect rainwater.
- Seal and regularly clean indoor and outdoor trash cans—crickets are attracted to the smell of garbage.
- Ensure wood piles and mulch mounds remain distanced from the home, 20 feet or more.
- Keep your gutters free of debris to avoid excess moisture and breeding sites—clogged gutters attract many pests, including crickets.
- Periodically vacuum rugs and carpets to help remove cricket eggs. Seal and discard the contents in an outside trash can and promptly clean the vacuum bag and filter afterward.
- Traditional light bulbs are a major cricket attractant. Consider replacing outdoor lights with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), sodium vapor or halogen bulbs. As night falls, we also suggest closing blinds where indoors lights reach the outside.
- Avoid using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, which not only make your lawn less healthy and therefore more vulnerable to bugs like crickets, but also harm natural cricket predators like lizards and birds.
2. BAIT & TRAP
You can make a natural cricket trap at home quickly and easily. Just place 3 spoonfuls of molasses in a shallow bowl and fill it about halfway full of water. The sweet smell of the molasses attracts the crickets to the bowl, where they eventually get trapped and drown. Next, simply place the bowl wherever you’re experiencing the most cricket traffic. Check the bowl each morning, and empty or replace as needed.
Chemical-free sticky traps are another effective option. After picking up a pack online or at your local hardware store, place the traps in known trouble areas like bathrooms, basements, kitchens, etc. Check them daily and replace as needed.
3. TREAT INSIDE & OUT
Because they often feed on dead or decaying bugs, basic pest control is essential to controlling crickets in addition to other harmful or damaging pests.
To kill common household bugs like fleas, ants, mites, and more, spray them directly with family-safe Cedarcide Original. To help prevent bugs from coming back, spray known trouble spots and entry points weekly or more as needed.
And don’t worry, unlike old school, chemical-based bug sprays, plant-based Cedarcide Original is family and pet-safe, and won’t fill your home with poisonous chemicals.
For outdoors, treat your entire yard and all shrubbery with the Bug-Free Lawn Kit monthly to both kill and repel unwanted bugs. If this is your first application of the season, apply twice the first month two weeks apart and then just monthly moving forward. For warmer regions, this should be done every month unless the temperature drops below freezing for more than a few weeks. If you live in an area known for cold winters, start spraying monthly in late February and then taper off in November as winter sets in.
No downtime required! Because the Bug-Free Lawn Kit is non-toxic, you, your family and pets can safely enjoy your lawn immediately after application.
