Avoiding Ants

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Quite the blistering heat wave we’re situated in, isn’t it?  With temperatures skyrocketing and breaking all-time highs, everyone and everything in sight is going to be trying to cool off in the nice, refreshing air conditioning.  One such pest that will be looking to do such a thing is the ant, and if he finds his way inside, he and his buddies will set up a quaint little colony that is sure to wreck havoc in your kitchen.  So today, we’ve put together some advice on how to stop the ant invasion from happening, and how to control it if they break your defenses.

As with many things in pest-control, the best way to stop an infestation is to preventing from happening in the first place.  This entails making sure that the exterior of your home is properly sealed, and that there are no chips or holes in the siding, door panels, or foundation.  All three provides an entry way for ants to crawl into, so make sure that they are sealed off.  In addition, keeping up with common kitchen maintenance, such as cleaning up after cooking and promptly sweeping up any messes that occur, will make it less likely for a few ants to venture inside.  After all, they’re looking for a cool place, water to drink, and food to eat.  If you can eliminate two of those, they will have little reason to invade.

Say despite your best efforts, the ants still manage to find a way into your home.  No worries there, as there are several ways you can get rid of them!  When an ant infestation pops up, many people are apt to reach for the commercial baits to quell the invasion.  While these baits are effective, they can pose as a health risk for children and pets, as their contents are poisionous.  Instead, we offer an all-natural solution, that you already have on hand.

Take a bottle of essential oil, such as peppermint or tea tree oil, and watch the trail of ants.  Ants always travel in packs, so if you see a few ants crawling around on the floor, don’t swat them right away—wait and watch to see where they go.  Once you have the path mapped out, spray your oil all over the trail.  What this does is it prevents ants from venturing out on their own, and you cut off the colony’s food supply.  Here’s the science behind the trick:

Ants follow each other based off of the pheromones that they give off—that is the smell each one has.  They travel in a line to follow the pheromones together, as ants work better in a team than on their own.  By spraying a strong-smelling oil on the trail, you disrupt the sensory implications of the ant, causing them to lose their bearing and preventing them from invading your kitchen.  And since an ant colony will only send worker ants to collect food, you will sever their entire food supply, ridding yourself of the ant infestation for good.

Of course, no plan ever goes perfectly, but that is where we are there to help.  If you have an ant problem that just won’t go away, give us a call and we’ll get them out for good—we guarantee it.  

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