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Ants are amazing little critters. In all the world, there is no animal as strong as the ant (when you consider its strength compared to its size). A worker ant can lift an object fifty times its body weight! That is pretty impressive. Another amazing fact about ants is that they work together in an intricate way to find food and bring it back to their nests. They do this by laying down a pheromone trail that other ants can track to find the food. As they work to gather food, they continually bump into each other and groom each other, looking for harmful materials. Together, these traits bring ants into our homes and make them hard to control and difficult to keep out. Join us as we look at a few more facts you should know about ant control in Covington. We'll connect the dots and help you to better understand the ant pest control puzzle. While ants are amazing little animals, it isn't amazing to have an ant infestation.
Signs Of An Ant Problem On Your Property
Ants have abilities that allow them to get into your home and hide in places you can't examine. They scale walls, walk across ceilings, slip through gaps in window frames, crawl inside wall voids, explore outlets, come out into kitchens, and examine the tightest of spaces. The most common sign that there is an ant problem is to actually see ants. But, it is essential to see ants before they appear in large numbers within your home. Here are some common ants in Covington and reasons why it is best to catch them before they catch you by surprise.
Carpenter Ants: These large black ants aren't just annoying; they can damage your home. Carpenter ants chew tunnels and galleries inside wood. You can detect a carpenter ant problem by using a flashlight to check dark spaces to find the frass these insects eject from their tunnels. You may also see the tiny kickout holes they create.
Fire Ants: These red ants have an irritating sting. For most people, the sting of a fire ant is just an annoyance. But they can present a serious risk to anyone who has a stinging insect allergy. A severe reaction, such as anaphylaxis, can result from a sting. These ants are also a threat to babies, certain seniors, and invalids. Search for the mounds of these ants near your home, particularly in sunny areas. Learn to properly identify the species. They will be all red or red with a dark abdomen.
Pharaoh Ants: These ants are considered a disease threat. They get into homes in large numbers and are able to transmit harmful disease-causing microorganisms. They're also hard to control as their colonies are prone to budding. The process of budding turns one colony into many. These are tiny ants with orange coloration and black abdomens. Direct identification of workers is the way to detect signs of a Pharaoh ant infestation.
Pavement Ants: These ants are mostly just a nuisance. They cause contamination by spreading bacteria from unsanitary places to areas that you expect are clean. These are little black ants and have much in common with the ants that are actually called "little black ants" (another common species). Both will bring soil into your home to establish an environment suitable for making a nest. Look for soil leaking out of wall cracks.
Once you detect an ant problem and evaluate what kind of ants you have, it is helpful to consider the risks involved. We've pointed out some already. Let's take a moment to expound on them and add a few more that you may not expect.
The Problems An Ant Infestation Can Create In Your Home
It is essential to seek out Covington home pest control when you detect ants. They can create many problems when they enter homes. Some are unique to certain ants, as we explained above. Some are common problems that all ants present.
- Wood damage.
- Fiery wounds.
- Allergic reactions.
- Stomach Illness.
- Diseases.
- Electrical issues.
- Electronic failure.
- Automotive issues.
- Frustration when attempting ant control.
In light of the many ways ants can impact health and damage property, it is best to use outdoor ant control to keep them out of your home. If you would like to speak to a professional about year-round pest control services that prevent ant infestations, call Havard Pest Control. We'll help you zero in on the right solution for you, your family, and your property.
Prevention Is Critical To Successful Ant Control
There are many ways to naturally deter pest ants. These are steps you can take on your own if you don't have a year-round pest control service plan, or you can use them in conjunction with your pest control services to get the absolute best results. Here is a list of our best ant prevention tips.
Outdoors: Ants come into your yard for a variety of reasons. Some reasons may actually surprise you. Ants target things that most Covington residents don't realize. Here is a quick list of prevention tips and why they work.
- Address lawn weed issues. Ants eat nectar and plant sap. When they enter your yard and find weeds, particularly flowering weeds, those weeds will lead them to your home. Consider just how far it is for ants to get from the border of your property to the perimeter around your home.
- Address aphid issues. Aphids create a substance called honeydew, which is a sweet food source for many ants, including carpenter ants. Carpenter ants love it so much, they actually protect the aphids so they can produce this food source.
- Clean all exterior trash receptacles with soapy water. The scent of garbage is a promise of food for ants.
- Reduce insects. Ants eat dead insects, and sometimes insects that are still alive. Consider installing motion-sensitive light bulbs to keep lights off when you don't need them on.
When ants come near your home and find limited food resources, it will limit how quickly they'll grow populations and may deter them from staying at all.
Exterior: When ants explore your exterior, your goal is to keep them out. While it is impossible to find every entry point an ant may use, that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. When you protect your exterior, you reduce the likelihood that ants will find a pathway, or at the very least, an easy pathway.
- Use a caulking gun to seal tiny gaps and cracks, or fill in small holes.
- Use expanding foam to seal larger holes and voids behind joists.
- Patch screens or replace damaged screens entirely.
- Pull your weatherstriping off your exterior doors and put new stripping on.
- Replace old and worn out door sweeps.
- Trim vegetation away from your foundation walls.
- Trim tree branches away from your exterior walls.
Consider every tiny gap, crack, or hole ants may use to get into your home. No entry point is to small or too thin.
Indoors: Once your exterior is protected, it is time to think about indoor ant prevention. All it takes is for one little ant to find food or liquid in your home. That one little ant can mobilize an army. Indoor ant prevention adds another essential layer of protection.
- Sweep your floors and mop up juice stains.
- Clean your counters after cooking.
- Keep food covered on the counter.
- Wipe down shelves and cabinets.
- Keep your interior trash in covered containers.
- Keep indoor trash containers clean.
- Store pantry food in sealed containers.
- Clean your dirty dishes after meals.
- Clean living room furniture to remove food debris.
- Consider only eating food in your kitchen or dining room.
- Repair damaged plumbing and address leaking faucets to remove drinking water for ants.
Everything you do to keep your home free of decaying organic matter or easily accessible food resources will help to prevent an infestation. It only takes one ant to find the food. Use these tips and create a list of your own.
If you don't mind the work, and you have normal ant pressures on your property, you can stay ahead of ant problems with all-natural prevention. But it is a lot of work to make your home resistant to ants. It is nice to know that help is available.
Professional Ant Control Is The Way To Go For Your Home
When you need effective ant control in Covington, Havard Pest Control is the right choice. We know the ants you're dealing with on your property or in your home. Our technicians are highly trained pest specialists with field experience in addressing unique ant problems in a variety of settings. We'll track your ant infestation to its source and eliminate the colonies. Once the ants are gone, we can provide you with options to keep them out of your home, for good, if you want. We've worked hard to create our Pest Shield, Pest Shield Gold, Pest Shield Platinum, and Termite Shield programs to provide broadband coverage of common pests to help our customers keep costs low, and we are excited to share them with you. But no pressure. We're here to help you find the ant control solutions that work best for you! Contact us any time for assistance.
