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Having a pest infestation in your home – whatever it might be – is stressful. There are no two ways about it. But, are there certain pests that are less troublesome than others? For example, should you worry if you have ants in your house? Is it a sign of a much bigger problem or is it something that will resolve itself?
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look – including how to find where the ants might be coming from and how to effectively get rid of them for good.
Would you like to learn more? If so, read on and we’ll tell you everything you need to know about ant infestations in the home.
Should I worry about ants in my house?
So, should you worry about finding ants in your house? Simply put: yes! Absolutely. Having any pests in your house is a problem, but even seeing one ant in your home can be a bad sign. This is because as soon as one ant makes it into your house, it means that the colony has already made its way into your home and found access via either the roof, through gaps under the doors, your windows, or even through your garage. Whatever the case, once they’ve found their way in, getting rid of them can be difficult. In fact, with such large numbers of ants, controlling them can feel like a towering impossibility.
How do I find where ants are coming from?
If you suspect that you have an ant infestation, how can you determine where they are coming from?
Again, ant invasions tend to start with just a few lone drone ants (or ‘scouts’) searching to find new food sources for the rest of the colony.
If you spot a few lone ants – you might be able to prevent an invasion before it takes root, but there’s a good chance it’s already too late.
What those ants are doing is essentially leaving a scent trail behind them. That way, when they find a source of food, they can return to their colony, with a clear path marked behind them. That trail will then lead all of the other worker ants straight back into your home and to the food source in question.
In order to find where they are coming from, you’ll need to identify the scent trail, set down some traps, and destroy it entirely.
Of course, the problem with that is, how does one identify a scent trail? Unfortunately, until the ants come back and start trailing along in a line, it’s practically impossible.
So, you can either wait until the ants are marching one by one through your house and take action from there, or try to pre-empt it by looking for possible entry points in the room where you found the original scouts.
Look for cracks or gaps in the walls and floors. If you spot other ants near a gap or potential entry point, then you’ve likely found their original source of entry. What you should do then, is thoroughly clean the area, mop the floors or wipe the surfaces where the scout ants were found, and clean up any potential food sources such as crumbs and spillages. You could even go as far as sealing up the cracks and gaps to be extra safe.
How do I get rid of ants permanently?
Once you’ve determined their entry points and scent trails, how do you get rid of ants permanently? There are several things that you can try but our recommendation would always be to hire the professionals, such as SWAT Pest Control in Brisbane. This will be the fastest and easiest means of getting rid of the infestation permanently.
However, if you would prefer to try and handle it yourself, here’s what you should do:
Once having found the scent trail, lay out some traps. You can lay down a combination of food and ant poison so that the ants will carry the poison back to their colony, thus gradually killing it off entirely.
When you notice the traps have been cleared and taken back to their colony, clean all of the scent trails and scrub the area thoroughly using your preferred cleaner. Again, you can seal the entry points off as well to be extra careful.
This approach should take care of it, but there are never any guarantees. It all depends on the size of the infestation and the type of ant. In any case, we do believe that you’ll have a much easier time of it by outsourcing this job to those who specialise in eradicating pest infestations.
Conclusion
While there are many fascinating things to learn about ants, nobody wants them to infest their home. They aren’t necessarily dangerous (well, most species at least), however, they are generally a sign of poor sanitation.
If you have ants in your home it is because you are leaving crumbs, food waste, and sugary drink spillages for them to find. In this is attracting ants, then there’s a good chance that other pests may start being attracted to your home as well.
So, the first step is to consider pest prevention. Start keeping your home clean and tidy and be mindful of any food waste around the house. If you keep on top of these things, you can safely prevent ants from entering your home – and indeed any other larger, nastier pests such as cockroaches and rodents!
We hope that you have found this article helpful and wish you the best of luck with keeping the creepy crawlies out of your home.
