WACO, Texas — As temperatures start to rise, so do the amount of critters seen in local neighborhoods.
“People have been calling us because they’ve been seeing them come into their house and they’re just coming out of the walls flying,” said Tommy Miller with CenTex Termite, Pest, and Insulation.
Experts from Central Texas are warning of an influx of pests in the community this year — specifically termites.
"If you see these termite swarmers — the alates — in your home then that means you have termites in your home,” Miller said.
He says warmer temperatures might be part of the increase of these pests.
“You have to have the right temperature, the right and the right humidity," Miller said.
"When there starts to be a lot of rain and a lot of humidity and then the sun starts to come out, it really spawns off the termite swarmers."
But termites aren’t the only concern in the community…
“Copperheads, water moccasins, rattlesnakes are in our area, we also have pearl snakes,” said Baylor Scott and White ER nurse, Cory Authement.
Local medical experts say other pests such as snakes and scorpions are also on the rise.
Authement says if you’re bitten, there’s a few things you should do prior to seeking emergency medical attention.
"I want you to try to find a marker or pen and outline that bite wound pretty quickly and put a time frame on it so that way we can see what the progression of that swelling and redness is,” Authement said
There’s also things you shouldn’t do…
“We used to see people go and try to cut the wounds so that they could bleed the venom out… please don’t do that either — we don’t want to place any tunicates on those limbs,” Authement said.
Experts in the Central Texas community say now is the best time to prepare your home for those unwanted visitors in your neighborhood.
"Check your thresholds around your doors and around your windows, your pocket, your rock pocket, your brick pocket seals in your house and seal those up — seal off the home and make it a pest free environment,” Miller said.
