How to Win the Fight Against Ants

If you’re a homeowner, then you’re no stranger to the battle of trying to keep ants out of your home. Ants are notorious for being one of the most annoying pests that can enter your home. If you see one, you know you’re in for a lot more. The typical population size of an ant colony is over 100,000 ants. In this blog, we’ll talk about great tactics to help you win against ants once and for all.

How to Win Against Ants

The following are steps you can take to keep ants out of your home:

Location

The first and most pivotal step against eliminating ants is finding the location of entry and then the location of their nest. By finding out how they got inside, you’re able to seal them off and prevent more from finding their way inside. The most common entry points are cracks in doors, windows, and walls. An easy way to locate the nest is to leave some crumbs out in your kitchen, or wherever you spot the ants, you can then see where they carry them; most likely, they will lead you to their nest.

Elimination

If you’re able to locate the nest, the next move would be to destroy it. The best move is to purchase and use a non-repellent pesticide if it’s located outside. A repellent pesticide works by dispersing the colony, which gives it a chance to reform elsewhere and lead back into your house. A non-repellent will put poison directly into the colony and cause the ants to die.

If you find the ant’s nest inside your home, you can use a substance that is poisonous to ants but not to humans. A great example of this would be boric acid powder. You should never spray pesticides inside your home, which can negatively affect you and your family’s health, but a small amount of boric acid powder should not affect any human’s or pets inside.

If you still find some stragglers after destroying the ant’s nest, you can easily clean them up. A quick DIY solution is soapy water; if you spray a small amount on the remaining ants, you should be able to immobilize them and wipe them away with a paper towel.

Preventing A Return

The best way to win against ants is to make sure they aren’t able to enter your home in the first place. The following is a list of ways to prevent ants from entering your home:

• Keep your food in airtight containers. This is important for foods you open and don’t have a tight seal again, like chips, flour, or even your pet’s food. By keeping your food in airtight containers, you are able to cut off the ant’s source of food. If you leave food open, ants will find it. It’s theorized that ants have a better sense of smell than dogs!
• Drain the sink completely. Ants, and other insects, are drawn to still sitting water. A full sink is an open invitation for ants to come get a sip. This can also apply to a pet’s water dish or any spill left uncleaned.
• Get a trash container with a tight lid. You know what they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Your trash might not seem like anything to you, but to a colony of ants, it can be breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you limit the entry point for ants with a tight lid, they won’t flock to your trash.
• Trim back your trees, shrubs, and other plants. When branches are overgrown in your yard, they can brush up against your house; not only can this make scary noises if it’s windy out, it can also serve as a bridge for ants to climb into your home. Trimming back branches helps keep the insects outside.

Calling in the Experts

Most DIY pest control treatments serve as band-aids and don’t address the real roots of the problem. You may think you’ve solved the problem, but it’s bound to repeat itself. Calling in an expert in pest control can be crucial to eliminating the problem. An expert is trained to look for signs, offer solutions, and help you from experiencing the problem again.