When people think of pest infestations, they almost always picture an environment filled with rubbish, filth, messy clutter or debris of some kind. So, are pest problems more likely to occur in dirty, or messy homes?

The short answer is, no.

Now, let me qualify that a little, by clarifying that I am speaking about the inside of a structure only, and I’m referring to the types of pests and homes found in Alberta, Canada, and that there is one exception, being flies.

Filth, garbage and debris on the exterior of a structure will certainly attract a number of pests from scavenging birds and mammals to opportunistic insects and arachnids. But on the inside, filth does not play the role that most people think it does, when it comes to pests.

There is a lot of blaming, shaming and stigma that go along with some basic misconceptions about pests and pest infestations. Three of the biggest sources for this kind of stigma are mice infestations, cockroach infestations, and bed bug infestations. These 3 pests are extremely common and make up more than 80% of the problems that I deal with on a weekly basis. All three are often (incorrectly) associated with filth, or unsanitary conditions on the inside of a home or other structure. All three end up leaving people with feelings of shame, and embarrassment, because they somehow feel that they did something wrong. This embarrassment and shame are often the reason that these infestations go unreported and not properly dealt with until it becomes so extreme that other people are affected and then also get involved.

So, here’s the truth as it relates to pests and filthy conditions. Filth, will attract flies. Homes and other structures that are dirty on the inside will attract flies, and filth will allow flies to continue to feed, breed and multiply. There will be more flies present in a home that is filthy, than a home that is clean. That’s it. That’s the totality of cause and effect when it comes to filth and pests on the interior of a home or structure. Adversely, cleaning will get rid of flies. Remove the filth, and the flies will also be gone. This is how you test any equation. This is just not the case for mice, cockroaches and bed bugs. Cockroaches and bed bugs are not found outside. They are not wandering around looking for filthy homes. They can be brought into your home in a number of ways, and they can move into your home and start breeding regardless of how clean, messy, or filthy your home is. Mice, are opportunistic, they will gain access to your home through some sort of breech in the perimeter. And, once inside, they will start to seek food and nesting opportunities. They will go about this same behavior whether your home is clean, messy, or filthy. And adversely, if you clean your filth, you will not get rid of the mice, bed bugs, nor cockroaches. Their existence in your home has NOTHING to do with the level of cleanliness in your home.

Now, having stated that, having a filthy home can have two negative impacts with regards to pest control. Firstly, a filthy home can prevent you from seeing certain early signs of infestation, so you may not know you have a problem as early as you might in a clean home. Secondly, a filthy home may provide many more places to hide for any pests, and alternative food sources to mice and cockroaches, which can lengthen or prolong the treatment process. But that’s it.

So, if filth has nothing to do with acquiring a mouse, cockroach, or bed bug problem, where does this, “pests equals filth”, association come from? Well, it actually has to do with socioeconomic factors. Mice, cockroaches, bed bugs, fleas, and lice are all examples of invasive pests. Invasive as opposed to passive. Meaning their populations will continue to grow and thrive unless acted upon by outside influences. These pests also have a long history with people, and have become worthy opponents. Unless you are very lucky, which can happen, invasive pests will usually require some sort of professional intervention in order to eradicate. These pests also thrive in places with higher population density. People who have very little money can seldom afford to hire professional pest control, which often leads to pest problems not being dealt with at all, or being dealt with poorly, which can spread the problem out, or make it worse. It is the lack of wealth, and lack of access to quality pest control which causes more pest issues to be found in high-density, low-income areas or homes. Other factors that often come along with low-income and high-density areas are, higher instances of shared and second hand items like clothing and furniture, as well as living spaces that are often very small, not leaving much room for extra belongings. So people with older, handed down clothing, or over crowded homes are also (incorrectly) associated with being dirty.

To help mitigate this socioeconomic problem in Alberta, the government has made it clear that landlords, and property owners are the ones who are responsible for ensuring that a structure remains free of pests. This places the responsibility for timely and quality pest control squarely on the landlord or property owners to deal with. In theory, this should greatly alleviate the problem. But it doesn’t. There is still so much stigma and ignorance surrounding pests, that landlords will often make tenants feel responsible, or try to make them pay for pest control, or try to minimize the severity of the problem to avoid having to deal with it. Or, landlords will try to do their own pest control, and then blame the tenants when it doesn’t succeed. And, while it isn’t always the case and there are some very attentive, caring, compassionate and responsible landlords out there, there are also a lot of landlords who don’t understand, or who just don’t care, or who just don’t see pest control as a valuable investment. Unfortunately, I see examples of this everyday.

Pests are extremely common. And I would love to get to a point as a society where we can openly discuss pests issues and pest control. Most pest issues are not anyone’s fault. Bad news, for sure, but they should be talked about in the same way that we talk to each other about our vehicle collisions, or break ins, or vandalism. Instead, we hide pest issues from friends and coworkers the way we might hide a strange rash, or STI. And, in my opinion, there just isn’t any justification for that kind of stigma.

Are Pest Problems More Likely To Occur In Dirty, or Messy, Homes?