Malta, IL Pest Control & Exterminators

Pest Control in Malta, IL

Malta is a village of around a thousand people on Route 38, the old Lincoln Highway, a short drive west of DeKalb. It began as a railroad town on the Chicago and North Western line and grew slowly as a farm service center. Today it is known as the home of Kishwaukee College's main campus, just north of the village, but daily life still revolves around the surrounding corn and soybean fields. With open prairie on every side and few trees to break the wind, Malta homes feel the full force of winter, and animals living in the fields look for shelter in houses, garages and outbuildings as soon as cold weather arrives.

Wide-Open Farmland Around Malta

The land surrounding Malta is almost entirely cropland, flat and exposed. Fields support huge numbers of deer mice, house mice and voles through the growing season. After harvest, those rodents have little cover left and move quickly toward the nearest shelter. In Malta that means village homes, detached garages and farm buildings. Mice can squeeze through gaps the width of a pencil, so worn weatherstripping, foundation cracks and utility openings are all fair game. Homeowners who seal up in late summer and set stations in garages typically see far fewer problems once winter arrives.

Older Homes in the Village Center

Malta's village center holds older frame homes and a few brick houses, many built in the early 1900s. Foundations of that age often have cracks, abandoned openings and gaps around sill plates. Attics with old wooden vents are appealing to bats and starlings, and the few mature trees in town give squirrels roof access. Basements in older homes often stay damp, bringing in house centipedes and cellar spiders. A local pro can seal these older structures and combine rodent control with wildlife exclusion as needed. Because the village has fewer shade trees than most, attic heat builds quickly in summer, which bats tolerate well but many other animals avoid.

Wind, Winter and Wildlife

Because Malta sits on open prairie, winter winds are strong and cold, and any animal that finds a warm spot tends to stay. Raccoons and opossums den in garages and sheds, skunks burrow beneath porches and decks, and Norway rats may settle around grain storage and outbuildings. In summer, paper wasps and yellowjackets nest in eaves, sheds and play equipment. Bats roost in attics and barns, feeding on insects over the fields. Keeping sheds closed, securing trash and sealing crawlspace vents are simple steps that reduce these encounters. Brush piles and old equipment left along fence lines give rodents and snakes cover too, so tidying those spots pays off.

Areas served in Malta: Malta village center, Lincoln Highway (Route 38) corridor, Area near Kishwaukee College, Surrounding farm properties, Rural homes along county roads.