I’m sure that ant problems are not high on the list of things that you might worry about each day. When you have bills to pay, weight to lose, kids to feed, or health to worry about, having some ants roaming about the outside of your home probably doesn’t keep you awake at night. However, if you knew what kind of damage an ant infestation could do to your food supplies, your home, and your peace of mind, you might be more inclined to search for a preventative solution.
Common Ant Issues In Salt Lake City
The ants you’re going to encounter here in Utah are typically field ants, carpenter ants, and harvester ants. These are the most common and the ones you’ll want to be on the lookout for. While seeing an ant here and there might not be cause for concern, avoiding an infestation is essential to keeping your home, possessions, and health secure.
Here’s what to look for to spot an infestation:
- Any exposed food or crumbs that have been eaten
- Pet food that has been infiltrated
- Stray ants out and about in seemingly random areas (searching for food)
- Frequent sightings of anthills around the outside of your home
Avoiding Ant Infestations
Even if you have just a few ants around your house, this can quickly lead to an infestation if these scouting ants report back to their colony about a sustainable food source. To avoid ant activity in your home, you must commit to habits of general cleanliness. For instance, ants will find any food you might leave out, so, once the meal is done, store leftovers in a sealed container and get all excess food disposed of. Then, wash any crumbs off of the dishes (or at least rinse them before leaving them in the sink). Similarly, you have to make sure you clean up any spilled drinks or dropped food from the ground or furniture. Sweeping the floors and even the occasional mop-session might not be a bad idea either.
Ants will frequently head straight for the pet food and the pet’s eating area. You’ll want to make sure that all of the pet food is properly stored and that pet food crumbs are cleaned from the eating area. Dogs might eat a lot of things off the floor, but they can easily leave a few crumbs around that will attract ants. And for the sloppy drinkers, areas of standing water in the home will bring ants just as quickly as food crumbs will.
Is Sealing Up Every Entryway Enough?
Along with clean habits, sealing up entry points will also help keep these pests out. Ants are criminals of opportunity. If they can’t find an easy way into your home, they’ll quickly move on to the next one. Remember, ants are a big problem, but they’re also very tiny. So, to keep them out, you’ll have to seal up all of the entryways with proper weather stripping. That includes any screen doors or double doors. Make sure to double check the caulking in the windows as well: ants love to crawl through the kitchen window and gain easy access to that chocolate cake you left on the counter.
Even if you can find every entryway and seal it up tight, ants almost always find a way in. Instead of stressing about cleaning every crumb that you and your family leave behind, why not try a solution guaranteed to prevent ant activity in your home? Call the helpful people at Pest Pro Pest Control for preventative treatments or to eradicate an existing infestation today.