The summer months are a good time to see if your attic has been home to squirrels over the cold winter months. As the attic gets hot in the summer, the rodents will leave and take up residence in holes in trees. To see if your attic is home to squirrels, enter the attic without any lights on during the day. If you see light shining through from the outside in small holes, this is likely the entrance they created to get inside. Plug these holes with wire mesh. Just be sure to take this preventative measure in mid or late summer when the squirrels' litters are old enough to vacate the nest to live on their own.

One of the easiest ways to prevent ants from coming into your home is to seal the cracks where they enter. But figuring out where that is can be tricky. Try this simple tip: Cut a piece of cardboard -- a few inches square -- and cover it with a sticky, dark syrup, like maple syrup. Leave it in the general vicinity where the ants have been found. The next day, you'll be able to follow a sticky trail to the entry point. Once you find it, use caulk to seal up the crack and add a few drops of peppermint oil (a natural deterrent) to keep them away for good.

You've heard of secondhand smoking, but did you know there is also thirdhand smoking? The children's health advocacy group Healthy Child Healthy World says thirdhand smoking is when toxic residues left behind from a smoker remain on things like clothes, fabric, furnishings, walls, bedding and other porous surfaces in a room. While the simplest step to protect children is to avoid smokers altogether, that can't always be the case. If you go into a room that has traces of smoke, open a window and use fans to circulate air. Ask people who smoke to change clothes and wash hands before interacting with infants and children.