Bugging Out – A Guide to Handling An Ant Infestation

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There is nothing worse than finding an ant party taking place on your bench, floor, or any surface of your home. They come in huge droves, and sharing your space with these insects can make you feel very unsettled in your own home. Just because there are lots of them does not mean you are powerless against them. If you want to restore your home to its prior ant-free state, follow this guide.

Get pest control on the job

Some jobs are best left in the hands of the experts, and that cannot be truer of pest control in Frankston. This will speed up the removal process enormously, and may even eradicate a few other ant infestations you hadn’t yet noticed. Pest control professionals work with insect pests and vermin on a day to day, so they know the behaviour and the best ways to mitigate their access and damage to your home. Put the steps in place to ensure they are gone the next day, and call a specialist today.

Follow the trail

Your first instinct may be to just spray the infestation. For ants? That serves no purpose other than giving you some short term validation that it has been handled. The ants that plague your home are worker ants, so when they are eradicated there are a few thousand who are ready to take their place. Try to pause and watch the trail before you try and disband it. The trail will lead you to the food source they have found, and where the have come from. This becomes valuable information for your pest control professional and it shows a larger picture of the ‘why’ they are in your home. Fortunately ants are terrible at covering their tracks, so with the trail intact you can find out what’s happening on either ends.

Keep things clean

No one is judging anyone here, but unfortunately the cleanliness of your home comes into play when discussing an ant infestation. It could be that there are only a few crumbs left on the bench in an otherwise spotless home – but that can be all it takes. Sanitation is your best friend when it comes to avoiding pests, and by removing their food and water source – they will have no reason to move in with you. Make sure you are vacuuming each week, and leave no surface with mess or food matter present.

Use ant bait

Thank god for ant bait. Ant bait is designed with the patterns and behaviour of ants in mind, and can be a one stop solution if executed correctly. How does it work? Place the ant bait at various points in the ant trail so that it can be discovered and brought back to the colony by the relentless worker ants. The bait will be presented to the queen ant, killing it and stopping future ant growth. Ant bait is incredibly useful, but it will never solve the issue as quick and thoroughly as a pest professional will.

Manager entry points

Food and mess aside, it should be a challenge for insects and pests to get inside your home. If it is not? You will want to be addressing your entry points and seeing if you can tighten things up. Summer is a time where ants are at their most rampant, so remember to close doors and windows more often and plug any holes or cracks in your foundation. You also want to practise some due diligence on your outdoor spaces, as ants can strike all over the home.

Ants can ruin far more than a picnic if given the chance. From the moment you notice your ant infestation, get pest control on the line and find out what can be done to eradicate the infestation. Your first instinct will be to spray and wipe them away, but not before you study how they got in and why.