Bugs, mice and other annoying critters were on this earth long before we were, and it’s likely they will be here long after we are gone. However, that doesn’t mean we have to live with them in our homes. It’s easy to get rid of household pests, with a little preparation and a lot of perseverance.

First, let’s define our terms. A household pest can be a bug, animal, or anything that’s living in your home that either isn’t paying rent, or hasn’t been invited. Some of the more common household pests include ants, spiders and mice.

Depending on where you live, there are regional pests. For example, in Florida they have Palmetto bugs the size of small jeeps. And in Texas they often have surprise encounters with fire ants. Regional pests are best conquered with specialized chemicals and equipment from local exterminators. But the following pests, which can be found around the country, offer a few more options for extermination:

Ants

There are almost as many kinds of ants in the world as there are people. Sweet ants or grease ants are small and like to hang out in the kitchen. Slab ants are winged, and usually live under houses with concrete foundations. Carpenter ants can be up to an inch long, and chew up rotting wood to make their homes. You can pick up poison traps at your local home improvement store to get rid of the smaller species. They crawl in, get covered in poison, crawl back home and spread the poison all over the place. It can take a week or two, but they’ll be gone.

Carpenter ants, however, require a professional exterminator to eradicate. We once had a rotting tree removed in order to exterminate a nest of carpenter ants, only to have them move inside our house. Have the exterminator spray all likely spots, including rotting trees, wood piles, and crawl spaces. Be prepared to see dead and dying carpenter ants around your house for the next few weeks, as they carry the poison back and forth to their nest.

Ants are opportunistic little guys. That means if you don’t have the food they like, or the materials they need to build a house, they won’t come indoors. So keep food well-sealed, counters clean and floors swept. Move wood piles away from the house and get rid of rotting trees. And move pet food off the floor if you can; many pet supply catalogs carry special dog food bowl holders that keep dog food a foot off the floor.