Come summer, the ant army marching onto your porch and enters your home. And they do not just march into the kitchen anymore. Ants can quickly find shelter in wardrobes, beds, drawers, bathrooms, garden walls and even your vehicles.
It quickly escalates into a relentless force that causes frequent headaches to homeowners. And if you are the squeamish kind, it will become a nightmare.
In Ajax, a few species of structure infesting ants are commonly seen. Some of them are:
- The Carpenter Ant
- Odorous House ant
- Little black ant
- Pavement ant
- Pharaoh Ant
- Thief Ant
All these ants are social and can quickly form colonies numbering hundreds and even thousands at a time. And the ants that you spot in the kitchen foraging for food are only 5% of the colony size. The remaining 95% is hidden away from your view.
Yikes!
The best way to deal with an ant infestation is to contact a pest control company and ask if they provide ant control services. If they do, they will inspect your home, detect the exact ant species and use appropriate measures to control the population. Today, many methods do not require the use of insecticides inside the home. A pest control company uses an integrated pest management plan that prevents the infestation in the first place rather than working to remove it.
How to Deal With an Infestation
Ant infestations are extremely difficult to deal with because of the sheer number that these tiny critters come in. Ignore the problem for a couple of months, and suddenly, you will have hordes of ants invading every nook and cranny of your home.
Some people have had full-blown infestations that have taken years to remove. So, the best way to deal with the problem is to tackle it before it gets out of hand.
Most of the ants that invade homes live outside the house. They may temporarily invade the house to forage for food. An exception is the Pharaoh ant that always nests indoors since it cannot survive in the cold Canadian winters.
Other ant species like the carpenter ant are attracted to moist and damp wood, which provides it with an ideal nesting place. A carpenter ant infestation can quickly burrow through the wood in the house, causing thousands of dollars in damages.
Prevention
Seal all entry and exit points used by the ants to enter the house. Like most pests, the best way to keep the ants out of the house is to make it sterile. It is easier said than done because ants can enter through incredibly minute crevices, and it often takes an expert eye to spot one of these.
You must clean up food and drink spills immediately. All food items, including pet foods, must be stored in sealed containers. You must rinse cans before disposing of them away in the recycle bin.
In Conclusion
If you are dealing with an ant infestation that you cannot control, then it is recommended that you speak to a pest control company today. Contact us and we can help you.