Five Things Attracting Ants to your Home

Ants are more than just the critters that ruin your picnic. They also constantly attempt to invade your home. Once you allow them inside, they’re extremely difficult to eliminate. The key to preventing ants from becoming a problem is understanding the reasons they take an interest in where you live. Here are five things that may be attracting ants to your home. Now you’ll be able to get rid of ants before its a problem.

Rain

This one might surprise you since people generally think about scents when they consider what lures ants into a home. What many don’t realize is that black carpenter ants arrive in droves when there’s a lot of rain. This kind of moisture causes wood to decay, and black ants love the damaged trees and logs as potential nests. Once they reach the impacted spots, they need food to survive. Hungry and new to the area, ants smell your goodies and head inside.

Get rid of ants- Close Your Garbage Cans

Once you take out the trash and empty it into the giant gallon tubs, you don’t think about your garbage again. Ants look at the situation from a different perspective. They’re outside your home searching for food. When you place trash in the outside bins, it’s like a delivery service for them. You don’t want ants, but if you don’t cover your garbage in a way that keeps them out, you become their favorite restaurant. That’s why it’s imperative never to leave any of your garbage cans open. If you do, they’ll become overrun with ants.

Don’t Leave Crumbs

The same rules about outside trash apply to the crumbs you drop on the floor. Everyone has seen the cartoons depicting ants carrying pieces of food larger than themselves back to feed their friends. That gag has some truth behind it. Some ants can carry up to 50 times their body weight. Once they locate a ready source of food, they’ll alert their friends, which is why ants can take over your home in a matter of hours.

Whenever you leave crumbs on the floor, you’re cordially inviting ants into your home, knowingly or not. It’s imperative that you get in the habit of sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming on a

regular basis to avoid ant infestation. Otherwise, you’ll have a parade of them in your home.

Open Food Containers

One of the concerns you’ll face if you live in an older residence is that cracks form in your cabinets over time. These small crevices are large enough for ants to sneak into your cupboard and crawl over your food. If you use storage containers, you’re theoretically protected from ants. The problem is that many people forget to seal the lid. The gap in your container means that if you forget to seal it, you might as well not use it.

Don’t Leave Dirty Handprints

Your hands have a subtle scent that you don’t notice, but even your handprints possess it. When ants smell a handprint, they also smell any food you touched that day. That’s especially a problem if you’ve handled sugars or fruits, which attract ants more than most foods. Be careful leaving handprints; wash your hands often, and especially before and after handling food, and it should help.

Get Rid Of Ants

If you have suffered an ant infestation or have pavement ants, there’s only one step to take.  Get rid of ants by hiring a professional exterminator. Call Beeline Pest Control at (801) 544-9200 to make your ant problem disappear.