How to get rid of lizards from your home
LIZARDS are quite a common sight in our homes. Keeping them pest-free is one way to ensure hygiene and avoid getting startled by them at every corner of the house. Opening your cupboards and drawers, only to find an unpleasant sight of lizards isn’t something that you will fancy.
While most lizards are generally harmless, their presence in the house is not something you should have to put up with.
Many people are horrified by their appearance and sounds, despite them being harmless. But if you have a real phobia of the little critters, or hate their germ-laden poo everywhere, don’t worry, we’ve got an answer to it.
There are several simple home remedies to get rid of lizards that you can employ within your house. Here are a few that you can try for useful results. Balls made of coffee and tobacco mix are an ideal way to get rid of lizards. You can place these balls in every corner of the house, and you may see that the lizards clear out or die.
Place some naphthalene balls around your home, in every drawer, cupboard, or corner. Lizards find the pungent smell of these balls irritable and stay away. Stir some pepper powder in water and spray it around in the house where you see lizards. They are allergic to pepper and will stay away due to irritation.
Lizards love warmth and are primarily found in warm places. A remedy to this is to splash ice-cold water on them, which hinders the mobility of the lizard when you can catch it and dispose of it. Lizards find peacocks intimidating as the latter is known to make a meal out of them. Hence, placing a few peacock feathers in your house, especially near windows and doors keep lizards away.
The next time you have eggs, don’t throw away the shells. Instead, wipe them dry with a piece of tissue, then leave them close to where the lizards often frequent. Lizards don’t like the smell that comes from the eggs. They’ll keep clear of any spaces with that eggy aroma. Eggshells have a pungent smell that makes lizards nauseated. They also give them an impression that there is a bigger creature close-by, inducing fear.
Mix one or two tablespoons of tobasco sauce with water and fill it into a spray bottle. You can spray this on your walls or places where you often find lizards to keep them away. The sulfur in onions gives out a pungent smell that lizards can’t tolerate. You can cut out some slices and keep them around the house or mix onion juice with water and spray it.
Placing garlic cloves around the house will give out a strong smell that will help prevent lizards from coming in. You can also mix some garlic juice with water and spray it for the same effect. Flypaper is as good at catching lizards as it is at catching flies. Stick some of these papers on the wall, and you’ll find some lizards trapped to the adhesive. You can quickly dispose of them later.
You can place phenyl tablets around the house to drive lizards away. These tablets have an odour that is not appealing to lizards, which will keep them away. The citrusy smell of lemongrass is a great option to ward off lizards while keeping your house smelling nice too. Just keep some blades of lemongrass around your home. Lizards get attracted to lights like many other pests. So, turn off your lights when you aren’t in the room or when you don’t need it.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Mumbai, India
