Everyone loves a good tailgate. The food, the drinks, the games, but some of the smallest uninvited guests can quickly put a damper on your fun.
"The interesting thing about ants and most insects is that they're always going to be foraging. So the second that something's left out, it's like ringing a dinner bell, they're going straight for it." Philip Adams knows how to deal with pests. He fights them everyday as the Service Center Manager for Hughes Exterminators in St. Pete. He says the four most common insects that will join you at your tailgate are: ants, flies, wasps or bees, and of course mosquitoes.
First, ants: "Yeah the biggest thing that you can do is just making sure that if you're going to be serving food that you're serving it in an air tight container."
Next,those nasty flies. "I would recommend bringing a garbage can that's going to be sealed at least as best as possible. and then also not waiting until the trash is overflowing to take it out."
Wasps and bees love sweets. So think about what your drinking or even your perfume. "That's why we always recommend when you're serving sugary drinks that you use in a pitcher with a container, container lid on the top. And same with desserts, making sure that you have an airtight container as well."
And finally, if you're out in the morning or at dusk, you'll be dealing with mosquitoes. "A lot of the items most insect repellents that you're going to be applying to your clothing or your skin is going to contain deet. So just really important that it has that because that's what's going to really repel those mosquitoes from biting you."
So with just a few precautions, you can keep those uninvited guest from crashing your tailgate.