bug identifications

There are many types of ants and some kinds are good to have around as they kill real pests like fleas and bugs that may often carry diseases or destroy your home. However, ants are easily drawn with the scent of food and they may come marching down your kitchen and getting all over your furniture and sometimes even biting little children playing around the house.

The good thing is you can get rid of ants or try to deter them from even entering your home with these few tips:

Don’t make your home an easy target

Remember that ants are very tiny creatures and they can have many places to pass through to enter your house. It’s easy to cover big spaces where you can expect them to pass through like the doorway but when you’re getting rid of ants, you also need to make sure that you check the even the tiniest entryways to your home. You can seal windows, doors and cracks by using caulk, which is probably the most cost effective and beneficial way especially if you have kids at home. When you suspect that there is a possible entryway for these ants, use deterrent substances like salt or talc that can be found in chalk or baby powder. You can also apply scents at home that ants hate like vinegar, whole cloves or pepper but be careful if you have pets and children.

End the infestation by killing the ants

You notice that ants march one after the other and there is often a very long line of ants following the other. What you need to do here is first to deter the others from following the ones already inside your house. You may do so by using petroleum jelly to line the entryway. Once you have stopped the others from entering, you can start killing the ants that are already in your area. You can do this by simply using a sponge dipped in water with soap and wiping off the trail picking up ants during the process. In case you have a bigger problem or you found the nest near your house, you can use pest control treatment. However, if you have many things to consider like pets or children, it is best to use organic pest control to make sure that you lessen the harmful side effects of chemicals to everyone inside the house.

Be watchful for scouts

When ants want to look for food sources, the first thing they do is to send a lone scout to look around so if you see one ant walking around your kitchen counter top, squish it so it doesn’t make it back to the colony and tell the others where the big loot is.

Keep the house clean

A clean house can stay ant free especially if everything is in place all the time. Food should be in the right containers and surfaces should not be left with grime or dirt or food stains.

If all else fails and the ant infestation is already too big a problem for you, call a pest control service before it’s too late.