Even though an ant infestation in your home is not the worst pest problem that anyone might experience, it is still not a good idea to allow ants to swarm all over your houses interior. And, while there are about 45 classified ant species in North America, only a few species are likely to move into urban settlement areas. And, of these ants, even fewer are likely to sting or bite domestic animals and human beings.
One of the most dangerous ant species is the red imported fire ant. It’s actually a South American native but has been accidentally introduced into the USA. They live in a wide variety of habitats, and their bites are toxic because it contains venom that they use for defense or to capture prey. This venom is particularly potent to sensitive people, and in extreme cases causes death by anaphylactic shock.
Therefore, it is essential to call the Detroit ant control experts to remove any ant infestations that are currently in your living area. Once the ants have been removed, here are five useful ways to prevent the ants from returning.
- Keep your house clean
It is essential to keep your house clean by not leaving dirty dishes lying around, cleaning up food and drink spills, sweeping regularly, and wiping kitchen surfaces to make sure that there is no food residue left on them.
- Use ant bait indoors
Utilizing specially designed ant bait stations indoors to prevent the reoccurrence of an ant infestation is a far superior mechanism to spraying insecticides on the visible ants marching around your home. For these bait stations to be effective, it is important to situate them close to visible ant trails and to ensure that they are the only sweet, sticky substance that is available for the ants to eat.
- Tidy up your yard
While it is a good idea to allow healthy ant colonies to exist in your garden, it is equally important to keep your yard tidy so that the ants are not encouraged to move into your home. Therefore, keep the grass short, rake up dead leaves and grass clippings, throw away all rubbish, and pick up all the broken branches lying on the ground. If you have a woodpile for firewood, stack it neatly against an external wall that is sealed against any possible insect entry.
- Stay up to date with all home maintenance chores
Ants are tiny creatures and can fit through a small space. Consequently, it is essential to make sure that none of the insect screens fitted to external doors and windows have holes in them. Additionally, it is important to patch any holes in the house’s external structure, including the roof, foundations, and basement.
- Be patient
It takes several days, even weeks, for ants to start disappearing once they have eaten the bait. Spraying visible ants and ant trails with insecticide will not kill the queen and eliminate the colony. And, it is also important not to target the useful ants in your garden. Thus, it is essential to wait patiently for a while once the ant traps have been put down to allow time for the bait to be carried down to the heart of the nest.