From a survival standpoint, ants are arguably some of the most successful creatures on the planet. They are highly adaptable and can survive in most climates. Although they have many positive attributes such as providing soil aeration, being a food source and keeping the environment healthy, from a pest control standpoint they can be a destructive nuisance in your home. They can threaten the structural integrity of your home, carry disease and pose serious health risks to those allergic to the stings of certain species. Here’s a little information you may find helpful in case you find yourself faced with an infestation.
Steps to ant control success
In order to gain control over your ant infestation, the following steps must be undertaken:
- Identification of the species is essential to know how to successfully treat for them
- Inspect in and around the home thoroughly
- Identify the location of the colonies
- Direct treatment of the colony is preferable
- For those that cannot be treated directly, the use of baits is advisable
Finding the location of a colony (or colonies) isn’t always feasible, so the use of bait insecticides in the path of the ant trails you find is the most effective way to treat.
Time-Saving Ant Control Tips
Here are a few tips you can employ to find an infestation’s source:
- Check under items on the ground such as planters, paying close attention to things around your home’s foundation
- Check carefully around shrubs, bushes and other vegetation up against your home. Ants will forage for food and nest in areas that are out of sight.
- Mulch beds are a common home for ant colonies. Look for crazy ants and fire ants in your mulch, and don’t allow the mulch to rest up against your foundation.
- And speaking of your home’s foundation, look for ant trails along the exterior walls. They may indicate a colony in the soil nearby.
- Inside your home, look underneath carpet edges, near doors and by windows. Seal any openings that they may use.
Save money, call a professional first!
Many people waste time and money with ant bait, traps and poisons that can be found at big-box hardware stores. Although it may seem like an economical choice at the time, they most frequently find that they’ve merely treated symptoms and not stopped it at the cause of the problem. The technicians at Ambassador Pest Management have the skills, experience and professional tools to eradicate ant infestations at their root – the colony! Call today for a free, no obligation inspection and quote. Your satisfaction is always 100% guaranteed! 866-632-0088
colonies in the vicinity of the home. Parent colonies are often located outside the home, in a pile of rotting wood or in some other clump of wood that’s soaked and soft, while the satellite colonies are more likely to be inside, wherever moist, damaged wood can be found. Do-it-yourself methods will sometimes kill off most of a satellite colony, but leave the other dozen colonies undisturbed.