Dealing With Ants in Your House and Kitchen

Imagine staring out your window at a beautiful sunrise as you get ready to start the day with a hearty breakfast. But as soon as you get into the kitchen, your good mood turns to dismay when you see your counter – countless ants parading and stealing crumbs from food that wasn’t disposed of properly last night.

These creatures may be tiny, but they can be annoying, especially when they march around your house as if they own the place. It’s even worse when one of them bites you because they were able to go up your shirt or trousers.

Why Do Ants Invade Homes?

Just like termites or roaches, ants invade your home to find food sources. They do this to bring food back to their colonies and feed their communities. This actually plays a significant role in nutrient redistribution and cycling.

It doesn’t mean that humans enjoy the process, though, especially when they’re pestering you indoors. Of course, you also have to consider external factors like rains and floods, which may have relocated ant nests from their original location to near your home. They eventually end up going inside your house to find food when the deluge subsides.

Why Is This a Problem?

Similar to termites, ants can wreak havoc on the structural integrity of your home. While they don’t eat wood, like termites, ants still bore through wooden fixtures and build their nests within them.

More than structural damage, they can also become bearers of disease-causing organisms and can most likely transfer these pathogens into your food. This can lead to foodborne illnesses and harm you and your family.

Steps You Can take to Deal With These Pests

As such, you’ll need to take the necessary steps to deal with ants in your house. Here are some things you can do:

Call a Professional to Deal With an Infestation

If you encounter the same scenario as we’ve described above, you’ll definitely need to call a professional in ant removal to deal with the infestation. For every ant you see, there are thousands more that are roaming within your walls. Even if you kill the ones on your tables and countertops, you still have countless creatures to deal with beneath the surface. Enlist the help of a professional ant exterminator to eliminate nests and colonies that have invaded your home.

These experts have accumulated knowledge and experience on how to track these pests and figure out where they’ve likely built their nests. They also have the right tools to eradicate them safely.

Create a Concoction to Remove Ant Trails

Once you’ve called in a professional to deal with the initial infestation, you should take precautionary measures to avoid an ant swarm again. One of the best ways to do so is to keep an anti-ant trail concoction handy.

You may be wondering how hordes of ants always seem to find their way into bits and crumbs on your tables or floors. They actually have a clever way of leaving a trail, which is through pheromones. The scent that these chemicals leave behind can guide the others to find the location of the food source. Even just one scout can leave a trail, so you have to nip the problem in the bud by erasing these pheromones.

Insecticides can easily remove these chemicals, but they might also cause harm to you and your loved ones, especially if you have kids or pets. Go for natural alternatives like mixing vinegar and baking soda and even cinnamon, peppermint and chilli powder with water for an organic concoction.

Keep Your Kitchen Clean

The best way to ensure that ants don’t invade your home, particularly your kitchen, is to keep it clean. Sweep and wipe any food bits and drops that might’ve been left behind so that pests can’t smell them. Moreover, make sure that you keep leftovers in an airtight container and place them in the fridge once they’ve cooled.

Dealing with Ants in Your House – Conclusion

Ants in your house can cause structural damage to your property and health problems to you and your loved ones if you don’t take action when you spot an infestation. Make sure to contact professionals to help you eradicate ant nests safely.

Afterwards, you should prevent another influx of these pests by creating a mixture that erases ant trails. Keep your kitchen clean as well by sweeping and wiping food crumbs and drops so ants won’t be able to feast on them.