Every home has them, whether you see them or not.

They scurry in the dark, along baseboards and in corners. They seek out the cluttered closets and attics, or nestle in behind walls.

And while many of these unseen visitors don’t bother us, some of them do. Regardless, pests — from spiders, ants and bedbugs to furry invaders such as mice or squirrels — are something most people would just as soon not share their homes with.

Enter Tom Broad. He’s the owner of Bugs-Gon Pest Control in Kamloops and for 17 years he has been removing every imaginable kind of pest from people’s homes.

Rodents, spiders, ants, wasps and termites are his business’s “bread and butter,” he admits, but over the years he has been called to deal with everything from mites to skunks.

“The skunks are always interesting. They are so aggressive, and you don’t want to get sprayed,” he said.

Broad said people have no idea of the vast array of uninvited guests living in their homes.

“Generally, people do not have a clue what is moving in and around their houses,” Broad said. “People think there is nothing in their house, but there is always something. There are always lots of spiders.”

Part of the reason there are pests in people’s homes is the fact Kamloops is a darned good climate for them, Broad said. Many people who move to the city from northern parts of B.C. or other areas of Canada are surprised by some of the creepies and crawlies they find here, especially poisonous ones like black widow spiders.

“Everybody’s tolerance level is different,” he said. “A pest for one person might not mean much, but for others it’s a big concern.”

There is always a solution for pest invasions, however, Broad added, and not all involve chemical spraying.

The simplest way people can keep pests out of their homes is to make sure they properly seal up all the entry points, including gaps in siding, eaves, soffits, and around doorways and windows.

Two bugs that rightfully cause concern in Kamloops are termites and bed bugs, the latter of which has seen a relative explosion in numbers here over the past few years.

Broad said termites have been expanding their range as well, and can now be found from the lowest elevation levels of the city almost to the top of Aberdeen.

They are drawn to damp wood, making it crucial to keep earth away from the sill of the house. It’s wise to keep at least 15 centimetres of concrete foundation exposed, to make it unlikely termites will enter the wood frame of a house from the soil around.

Most people learn of termites in their homes after the insects emerge in the spring, or when they open a wall to do renovations and find signs of the insect. The insects will also leave visible mud tubes on the concrete foundations, another sign of their presence.

Termites can do serious structural damage if left unchecked, Broad said. They cannot be ignored and must be dealt with if found in a home.

Board said another pest that can’t be ignored is a bedbug. They are hitchhikers and arrive in homes via people, luggage, boxes of clothing or other articles and furniture.

“They can get in all kinds of things.”

They can be extremely persistent and difficult to eradicate, requiring extensive work on the part of a home’s occupants.

Broad said there is often no correlation between a home’s cleanliness and the number of pests that might be found, nor is there links to a house’s age.

People with cluttered homes give bugs more places to hide, but Broad said even the cleanest and most uncluttered houses in Kamloops will have the odd bug or rodent scurry through.

“No parts of Kamloops are worse than others,” he said. “It’s a huge and varied mass of pests that can show up.”