Question: I”ve been finding small, very hard droppings, about 1/4 of an inch here and there on the carpet in my basement.

Very hard – at first I mistook them to be small pieces of plastic or something that broke off of my kid”s toys. But as I began to see more and more around the basement, I started to suspect they are droppings from some type of pest.

I”ve also frequently seen crickets in my basement – am I describing something that is commonly associated with crickets?

ANSWER   These do not fit what might come from crickets, but if they are chewing on some strange material, it might come from them. Set some sticky traps out to get the crickets and maybe that will reduce the problem.