How to Tackle a Pest-Free Super Bowl Party

The biggest football game of the year is just a few days away, and we can already taste that delicious game day food. Every party is different, as the main course, drinks, and desserts offered depend heavily on the preferences and ages of the guests in attendance. Whether your party is chock-full of chicken wings or bursting with barbecue, one thing is for sure: pests are never going to be on the guest list. 

It makes sense that a food-centered gathering with plenty of people would draw pests in, especially since the temperature is still cool outside. So, how can we possibly be sure that this Sunday will be free of crawling pests before, during, and after the party? There are two main defense tactics with this ongoing battle against pests: know which ones are most likely to appear, and take the proper steps to make sure that the game day spread does not include invasive pests. Let’s take a look into both and discuss how you can ensure that this Sunday is pest-free!

Ants

It should be expected that when there is a list of food-loving pests, ants will be a shoe-in every time. Ants enjoy most foods that we do, and will not leave a good food source without dispersing their pheromones for the rest of their workers to follow to the same location. These eusocial insects smell with their antennae, so they travel with their heads lowered in order to scout out the best food. They prefer anything sugary or protein-filled, so they will find plenty to love at a typical Super Bowl party. Desserts, sugary crumbs, meat, cheese, and grease are all the most appealing to the general ant population, but they will also eat other insects if they do not have better foods available. 

Ants may not show up to the party when your actual guests do, but the longer that the food sits out, the higher of a risk it is that ants will find it. They are small enough to enter through cracks and gaps in the house, and they commonly invade along vents and pipes due to their love for moisture. But with the front door and sliding doors opening and closing constantly to welcome in new guests, ants may have an easier time getting inside than usual. While the party is happening, make sure the doors are closed when not in use. Check for any food remnants and leftover drinks outside when the party is over, as guests who congregated outside may accidentally leave their snacks behind during the excitement of the game. If you do find a small army of ants in your home, always make sure to take the items with the most ants out to your large garbage cans. By disrupting their trail of pheromones, the ants will not be as organized as usual.  

Spiders

Where there is a warm shelter with insects, there will always be spiders, if they have any say in the matter. Spiders need to eat multiple times a day, like any other creature. They like to live in close proximity to other pests for this very reason since spiders are otherwise independent. They tend to prefer places that are dark, dry, and warm, and there are plenty of locations in a home that fit this criteria. Spiders can often be found in secluded corners, under furniture, in boxes, and on walls. Similar to the ants, since the doors will open and close throughout the entirety of the party, spiders can make their way inside the home more easily than usual. And with the captivating conversations and entertaining game, it is easy to miss lowly spiders making their way to a hidden location.

Compared to the chilly winter weather outside, our homes seem like a paradise to spiders. Between the heater potentially running throughout the party and the heat that multiple people gathered in one room provide, the inside of the home is much better than the outside. The good news with spiders is that they are almost always isolated – unless they have eggs – so finding and squishing one will end the annoyance quickly. Some people prefer to take a possibly kinder approach, and taking any house spiders outside to let them go free. This is actually a more gruesome end for a spider most of the time, as house spiders cannot handle the weather and dangers that are in nature. If you do find that a spider has invited itself to the party, it is best to just squish it and be done. Leaving the spider may provide a bit of natural pest control, but if that spider produces an egg sac, it will only hatch nightmares for everyone in the home.

Fruit Flies

Although a bowl of overripe fruit is not a common dish for a Super Bowl party, fruit flies can still make an appearance due to the presence of other attractive foods. These flies essentially like anything that is fermented or overripe. This includes overripe fruit, decomposing organic material, alcohol, and anything rotting in the garbage. Fruit flies are technically harmless on their own, since they cannot bite or sting us. But they can bring their own issues when they go from place to place. If fruit flies eat from a rotting material in the trash, or even actual waste, before they go and land on a bowl of apples that people eat from every day, the flies will transfer the bacteria from their disgusting feast onto the fresh food. They may be tiny, but fruit flies can cause more damage than we think once they make themselves at home.

At Sunday’s parties, fruit flies can find a few common food sources to start consuming. Any kind of produce that is left out and becomes that off-putting warm, soft texture will immediately be attractive to any fruit flies in the area. The veggie sticks served with dressing, fruit salad, and any organic burger toppings can all be fair game for a fruit fly family. Plus, Super Bowl parties often feature a wide variety of alcohol. If the bottles are left open after the party ends, you may find that your guests are not the only ones who enjoy the taste. These tiny flies are even known to live off of the leftover alcohol in an idle bottle that is not enough to make a full swig. Since fruit flies can start reproducing about a week after they hatch from their eggs, it is best to eliminate them as soon as you find the first few flies. To prevent them, put all food away after the party ends, and make sure any garbage is contained in trash cans. Keep all larger alcohol containers sealed when not in use, and rinse out all bottles and cans before recycling them. 

Roaches

If there is one pest that is not welcome at any party, it is the cockroach. These contaminated pests reproduce often, invade our food and trash, and can create physical symptoms in the people living in the house. Roaches will eat just about anything, including our food, cardboard, glue, waste, and starches. Any kind of food that is left out for too long or an overflowing trash can is perfect for the scavenging roaches to find their next meal in when they emerge at night. They like to stay in locations that are dark and damp, as these nocturnal creatures need moisture in order to survive. Any leaks or spills in the house are also attractive to roaches, especially if they are in the less-visited portions of the home, like the basement or garage. 

The idea that roaches only invade places that have not had a proper cleaning in months is a myth, perpetuated by years of cartoons that depict this exact scenario. Roaches can invade any place that has a hidden area for their home, reliable food, and some form of moisture. With the busyness of a Super Bowl party, there can be plenty of temptations for a roach family, which grows larger by the month. Dirty dishes left on tables, a cluttered sink, crumbs ground into the carpeting, and spilled drinks on the floors are all appealing to the invasive roaches. Plus, with the dangerous pathogens that accumulate on their bodies and their slimy droppings, any food or surface that the roaches touch is now contaminated and should be thoroughly disinfected or thrown out immediately. Take the trash out as soon as it is full, and clean any spills and crumbs after the party ends. Even if you don’t do the dishes that night, try to gather them all in the kitchen to prevent the food from attracting pests to other parts of the home.

Preventing Pests at the Party

Now that we know the typical pest invaders after a lively Super Bowl party, let’s discuss the most important tasks to do both during and after the festivities commence. 

• Do not leave any food out overnight on either end of the party. Start putting the dishes out just before the first guests arrive, and throw out or store any leftovers properly after everyone leaves. Food and drinks that are left out for hours on end have a higher likelihood of attracting pests, especially if there is anything organic. 
• There are certain scents that naturally repel multiple pests, and some are easier to use at a party than others. Basil repels flies and mosquitos, and orange peels drive gnats and mosquitos away. An easy way to use these is to place basil leaves and orange peels in hidden spots, like behind countertop appliances and large bowls of food. As a bonus, they can be a fun conversation starter with your guests! 
• When serving the delicious party snacks, putting them out in waves is better than all at once. This keeps the food fresh for longer and is more fun for your guests than just throwing everything out onto the tables immediately. The longer that food sits out at room temperature, the more likely it is to attract hungry pests who make their way inside. Any order of waves is fine, depending on the specific dishes you’re serving, but one common method is to produce snacks, the main course, more snacks, and then desserts. 
• While the party is happening, make sure there are plenty of trash bags and cans to fit all of the inevitable trash that will accumulate. Take the bags out to the big garbage cans as soon as they are full, and keep that lid closed when not in use. 
• Small crumbs and spills can wait until the cleanup time, but try to soak up any major spills that happen during the party. This keeps the substance from soaking into the surface and potentially creating an odor that humans despise and pests love. 
• Place all dirty dishes in the kitchen and sink at the end of the night. If you don’t wash all of the dishes immediately (we get it), soak them overnight and wash them as soon as you can the next day. 

Cleanup is the least fun part of any party, but it is essential in order to maintain a tidy home and prevent pests from throwing their own party in your house later on.

Green Pest Services Tackles Pest Problems! 

Whether your home is hosting Super Bowl Sunday this year or not, receiving regular pest control services is necessary in maintaining a pest-free home during every season. Just because there aren’t any pests currently bugging you (get it?), it unfortunately does not mean that it will always stay this way. Pests are motivated by three main necessities: food, water, and shelter. Since all of these are available in any home, it is important to be vigilant against pests, like our experienced technicians are during every visit. We personalize treatment plans to fit each pest problem and property, as pest control is not a “one-size-fits-all” occurrence. Contact us to learn more about our eco-friendly treatments that will leave you feeling happy after our services, no matter who takes home the trophy this Sunday.  

Citations

Jung, A. (2021, August 4). 15 super bowl party mistakes you didn’t know you were making. Reader’s Digest. Available at https://www.rd.com/list/super-bowl-party-mistakes/ (Accessed on January 18, 2023).

Piro, L. & Picard, C. (2022, August 11). How to get rid of fruit flies in your house, fast. Good Housekeeping. Available at https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a25042/how-to-kill-fruit-flies/ (Accessed on January 18, 2023).

Talmadge, C. (2016, June 11). 15 best and worst foods for repelling summer bugs. Eat This, Not That. Available at https://www.eatthis.com/repel-or-attract-bugs-with-food/ (Accessed on January 18, 2023).

Ullman, M. (2023, January 11). Solved! What attracts ants to your home. Bob Vila. Available at https://www.bobvila.com/articles/what-attracts-ants/ (Accessed on January 18, 2023).