Tiny Red Dots on Your Windowsill? Meet the Clover Mite.
Seeing red specks on your windowsill? Those are Clover Mites. Learn why you shouldn't squish them (it stains!) and how to stop them outside.
It's spring. You open the blinds. And there they are. Thousands of microscopic red specks moving across your white windowsill.
You squish one with your finger, and it leaves a bright red blood-like smear. "Do they drink blood?!" you ask.
No. That's just pigment.
These are Clover Mites. They are plant feeders. They eat grass and clover (obviously).
Why are they inside?
They aren't trying to invade. They are usually just sunbathing. They love the sunny side of the house.
When the vegetation outside touches your house, they use the grass as a bridge to crawl up your siding and squeeze through the tiniest gaps in the window frame.
Don't Squish Them!
I'm serious. If you wipe them with a rag, you will stain your paint and curtains red. It's a dye that is hard to get out.
The Fix: Use a vacuum cleaner attachment. Suck them up gently. It doesn't kill them, but it gets them out without the mess.
The 18-Inch Rule
If you want them to stop coming back, you need to create a "moat."
Clover mites hate bare soil. Strip the grass and weeds back 18 inches from your house foundation. Put down gravel or mulch. They won't cross the "dry desert" to get to your walls.