What You Can Do to Ensure a Peaceful, Pest-Free Thanksgiving
Originally Published November 11, 2021 | Updated Thursday, November 20, 2025
Thanksgiving is one of the most beloved times of year—and for good reason! There’s excellent food, beautiful weather, colorful falling leaves outside, and quality time with friends and family.
However, as Thanksgiving rolls around, the rodents and bugs crawling around Alabama during the fall begin seeking shelter to prepare for winter. And the warmth, smells of delicious Thanksgiving foods, and light from your cozy home draw them in. Keep reading to learn our pest pros’ recommendations for keeping rodents and insects from ruining your Thanksgiving, like using pest-proof food storage containers.
Keep Things Clean
You can do many little things to prevent and drive away rodents and bugs, and most of them involve not giving them a nice meal to accompany their room and board.
- For starters, if you or a guest spills food or a sticky beverage, make sure it’s cleaned up ASAP. Even a few crumbs can attract unwanted pests.
- Speaking of crumbs, make sure you’re vacuuming rugs and carpet regularly to get those hidden messes.
- The food residue left on your dishes is also sure to attract pests. If you can’t do your dishes right away after dinner, use a wet napkin and wipe off as much food residue as you can into the trash. Then, either set them in the dishwasher or submerge them in hot, soapy water to soak.
- Also, ensure you’re cleaning around and under your larger kitchen appliances, like your stove and refrigerator. These hard-to-reach areas can quickly accumulate crumbs and messes!
Use Pest-Proof Food Storage Containers
The methods you use to store your food are as important as keeping it off your dishes and floors. You should keep all food that you are not actively cooking or eating in pest-proof food storage containers.
Storing Your Pet’s Food
If you have pets, try not to leave their food out in the open all the time, and don’t just store it in the flimsy bags it comes in at the store. Instead, take the food out only while you feed your pets at mealtimes, then roll the bag back up, place it inside an airtight, plastic pest-proof food storage container with a lid, and put the container in a dry, cool place.
Storing Your Food
The method should be about the same for food in your cabinets. Opt for hard plastic or glass containers that seal tightly! This will prevent bugs and rodents from smelling your food and keep them out of it.
Instead of keeping your fruit on the kitchen counter, store it in the fridge.
Keep Trash Pest-Free, Too
Speaking of trash, keep your trash cans sealed at all times! Don’t toss food or drink bottles into trash cans without lids, and if you toss something particularly smelly, go ahead and take it outside.
If you have a major problem with fruit flies and gnats lingering around your trash cans, put apple cores, banana peels, etc., into plastic bags before you toss them in the trash.
Need Extra Help Achieving a Pest-Free Thanksgiving?
If you have persistent bug problems that better cleaning habits don’t seem to fix, call 205-663-4200 or click the button below to contact our integrative pest management experts at Vulcan Termite & Pest Control Inc.
We’ve been serving the Birmingham area since 1965 and are here to ensure the only guests at your Thanksgiving are the people and pets you’ve invited—not the pests you didn’t.
Call Birmingham’s Best in Stopping Pests