Winter pest activity can be less visible outdoors, but heated homes, food stores and sheltered buildings can provide favourable conditions for rodents and some indoor insects. Regular monitoring helps reveal activity before a problem becomes established.
Monitor rats and mice indoors
Continue checking lofts, cupboards, garages, sheds and food-storage areas for fresh droppings, gnawing or disturbed materials. Keep food and animal feed in secure containers and avoid leaving accessible sources of food or water overnight.
Where control is required, choose a suitable product and use it exactly as directed. Browse rat and mouse control products and keep rodenticides and traps away from children, pets and non-target wildlife as instructed on the label.
Check wardrobes and stored textiles
Clothes moth activity can continue inside centrally heated properties. Inspect wardrobes, carpets, rugs and stored natural-fibre items, especially in quiet and undisturbed areas. Pheromone traps can assist with monitoring when used correctly.
Shop clothes moth traps and lures or learn how pheromone moth traps work.
Inspect dry-food cupboards
Food moths can also persist indoors throughout the year. Examine opened and long-stored dry foods for larvae, webbing or damaged packaging. Clean up spilled food and place vulnerable products in sealed containers.
See our food and pantry moth traps and guide to clothes moths or food moths.
Watch damp and undisturbed areas
Silverfish may be found around bathrooms, kitchens, pipework, cupboards and other humid areas. Reduce avoidable moisture where possible and use suitable traps to monitor suspected routes.
Explore silverfish and spider traps.
Prepare for the next growing season
Clean reusable traps where the instructions permit, check lure expiry dates and plan replacements before spring monitoring begins. Review last season’s plant problems so you can inspect vulnerable plants early rather than waiting for visible damage.
Browse indoor growing products, visit our plant care advice, or return to the seasonal pest-control advice hub.
