They are every property owner’s headache: ants. They easily invade homes and infest areas where we store our food. Some can even bring diseases and damage in with them. Learning how you can prevent ant colonies from forming on your property can help save you from the nuisances and dangers that ants pose.
Common Local Ant Species
Most local ants you see are relatively harmless. They all crawl around in the dirt and can then crawl around the surfaces of our homes and businesses, but most ants are non-aggressive and don’t pose larger health risks. Some, however, like carpenter ants, can chew through structural woods in the same way as termites, posing far greater costs and risks of collapse. Others, like fire ants and pharaoh ants, pose health risks because of their venomous stings or transmittable diseases. This is why no ant colonies are welcome on your property, because you don’t want to learn too late that the harmless variety you suspected is actually a dangerous or destructive pest. Early prevention is better than reaction, and it all starts with learning what attracts ants to properties and how they get inside in the first place.
How Ants Get Inside
Ants are some of the tiniest pests, smaller even than rodents and cockroaches which also commonly look for ways inside of structures. Unlike other pests, ants don’t have to dig, burrow or squeeze through walls and openings, they can simply crawl in through tiny imperfections in exterior walls or take advantage of the gaps below your front door. That’s why even clean properties can end up with ant populations, they are truly skilled invaders. Addressing these factors can help reduce your risk:
- Landscaping: Keeping your exterior plants from growing too close to your exterior will reduce the highways that outdoor pests use to get inside. Ants typically start as outdoor pests, after all.
- Crack sealing: Insects live in a much smaller world than we do. What looks like an impossibly small hole to us is a wide entrance for tiny pests, so regularly sealing any faults around your exterior is a good idea.
- Moisture control: Ants are attracted to areas with ample moisture (bugs need water to live, too). Water damage can also create openings in your walls or make it easier for scavenger pests to infiltrate.
Ant Prevention Tips For Your Property
Property owners can drive themselves mad trying to plug up every potential access point for pests that are as small as ants are. That’s why the best form of prevention comes from professional solutions, which guard your yard and exterior against the ant colonies that form initially and then work their way inside. However, there are still more things that everyday property owners can do to help their cause, by limiting these factors that attract ants:
- Food access: Ants are scavengers that are attracted by even faint traces of food aromas, mainly attracted by sugary aromas. They can even chew through flimsy food packaging, so consider storing fruits and dry goods in sturdier containers.
- Trash access: Ants will also forage in trash cans, the scraps we toss away contain plenty of food for tiny pests. Make sure your bins are well secured, both inside and outdoors.
- Deep cleaning: It won’t matter how well you store your food and trash if crumbs and spills are accumulating in the unseen corners of your property. Deep clean regularly, especially under and behind heavy appliances.
The Best Control Comes From White Knight Pest Control
The sad truth of the matter is that even property owners who keep up on all of that can still wind up with an ant infestation. That’s how commonly and easily they invade areas throughout the year. Whether they are looking for food, water, or shelter from bad weather and larger predators, ants and other pests know that human structures provide them with all they need. They will stop at nothing to invade, which is why the only guarantees of prevention come from professionals who will stop at nothing to keep them out. At White Knight Pest Control, our proven pest prevention solutions are just a call or click away, and our friendly staff is happy to provide even more tips and tricks for how you can keep pests at bay. If pest populations are already there, contact us immediately so we can eliminate them quickly, before they have time to grow out of control.
For fast, effective, and affordable pest control, contact White Knight Pest Control today.