Tips For Putting An End To Your Frustrating Ant Problem
Ants can make you frustrated when they invade your home. Some ants are damaging to your home and others can bite or sting your family. However, even the tiny ants that don't bite or sting can be extremely annoying since they invade in large numbers. They can swarm all over your pet's food bowl or get in your pizza before you've had a chance to eat it all. Ants can be hard to eliminate since the ones you kill inside your house can be replaced quickly with more ants from the colony. Here are some tips for getting rid of an ant infestation.
Controlling Ants That Come Indoors
Ants don't always live inside your house. They can live outdoors in large colonies and just invade your home in search of food. Once a convenient source of food is found, such as a sweet donut or greasy pizza abandoned on the table, other ants join in and stream into your house. The trail of ants is actually helpful since it lets you know how ants are getting inside and it might even lead you to the nest. Ants travel in a path because they follow a scent trail. One way to slow them down is to remove the scent.
You can do this by washing the exterior of your home around the entry hole with soapy water or strong-smelling vinegar. You'll also want to caulk the gap so they can't get slip through any longer. However, ants are industrious and it won't be long until they find another way inside. In addition to removing scent trails and sealing your home, you may want a pest control professional to spray pesticides around the exterior of your house. These are not detected by the ants so they walk right through the sprayed area and are poisoned. The exterminator may also put out ant bait that the ants carry back to the colony to reduce its numbers. While it isn't possible to eliminate all the ants in your yard, you may be able to at least keep them from getting inside your house.
Eliminating Ants Inside Your House
If ants have set up a colony inside your house, the exterminator can use pesticides and baits for killing them as well. In addition, you can try to keep food covered or put up as soon as you're finished with it so you eliminate the source of their food. This makes the sweet or greasy bait used in the traps even more appealing. Also, avoid using ant repellents or home remedies when the exterminator treats your home with baits or pesticides. The repellents may keep the ants away from the baits and keep them from being effective.
For more information, contact a company like Be There Pest Control.