What Attracts Ants to Your Home & How to Prevent It?
Ants may be tiny, but an infestation left untreated can result in chaos. These pests don’t take long to go from a few to a colony of hundreds, which is why it is important to know what attracts ants to keep them out. Additionally, you can opt for timely inspection and ant pest control for other ways of preventing these pests from infiltrating your home. This guide covers every factor concerning how and why ants enter homes and how you can save yourself from the headache.
Can You Tell What Attracts Ants in Your Home?
You have been seeing rows of ants recently, but the problem is that you don’t know why they have started appearing. Any time you get rid of ants from one spot in your home, more start appearing out of other cracks and gaps that are now magically present.
This is avoidable, and even with ants already in your home, putting a stop to what attracts ants in the house can be an effective move to minimize the infestation. Let’s start with the list of the common suspects in most homes.
Moisture
The comfort that the interior of a home offers is the initial reason behind diseases spread by rodents and why ants make their own little homes within the walls and flooring. Some species, like Carpenter Ants, are particularly drawn to damp environments and intentionally select these places to live and feed.
To minimize what attracts ants, tackle any sources of moisture in your home, whether it is a leaky faucet in your bathroom, puddles in your kitchen, or open drain lines indoors and outdoors.
Food
We are not just talking about any food, as every household has food. One of the leading reasons behind what attracts ants and why they decide to stick around is because of food crumbs on the floors and countertops that are not cleaned up after a meal.
Pet food left lying around too long is no exception to the sustenance ants seek. Also, any sugary and carb-rich food (cookies, cakes, etc) you leave out without proper dealing, ants will ‘sniff’ out. Yes, ants have odor receptors, five times stronger than the human sense of smell!
Trash Containers
What is one of the leading causes of rats sneaking into your home to chew on wires and wood, the same reason why it becomes challenging to get rid of mosquitoes? The answer is simple: you are not careful about the garbage bins inside and outside your home. Overfilled bins and organic waste like fruit peels left open too long encourage ants too.
Outside your home, the solo or communal trash container invites all sorts of pests to feast. If it is located too close to your home’s walls and does not have proper lids, ants are bound to explore and make their way inside soon enough.
Cracks and Gaps
So, your home is free of open food sources, you clean up all spills, and the rubbish bins have airtight lids. Still, there’s that dreaded sight of ants casually crawling around. Why?
The answer is simple: warmth and humidity. Comfort and protection from weather elements are compelling reasons for ants to get in. More importantly, this is possible when there are small gaps in the window and door frames, foundation, tiles, and other parts of your home. What brings ants into the house are the unsealed cracks that allow entrance. Moreover, there is the potential of a secure place with food around!
How Can You Prevent Ants in Your Home?
Once you know what attracts ants to consider your home as the perfect place of refuge, let’s change that. The goal is to keep ants out during any season, from any part of your apartment or house.
Close Off Ant Entryways
Seal all the cracks, gaps, and openings in your home and all entry points in walls and floors. It will take some time and effort to locate as many of these as possible. However, the hassle is worth the peace of mind you achieve once they are sealed. Get expert help from a reliable pest control company if you want to speed up the process. Book this service at least once a year, and you may enjoy a pest-free space during any season!
Clean Up the Mess
Minimize clutter and debris from your home. While pests like ants and cockroaches do not generally discriminate and enter any home, clean or messy, the latter does make it difficult to prevent and eliminate the critters.
Clear Crumbs and Spills Daily
Regularly clean countertops and floors with soap. Quickly clean up any spills, especially sugary or greasy ones. Also, remember to clean indoor garbage cans and empty them daily. Put perishable food in a bag before throwing it away, and keep outdoor trash cans away from your house entrance.
Prevent Standing Water
Ants love bathrooms and kitchens because the dampness makes an ideal environment for living and breeding. So, eliminate the factors that make these rooms perfect for ants. These small creatures are common pests in Dubai homes because of plentiful standing pools of water, so fixing leaky water features and mopping up water often will help keep them out.
Book Annual Inspections
What are ants attracted to when the weather becomes extreme? Comfy homes. Seasonal changes, especially when the weather changes from cool to hot, and ants escape the aridity outside. The perfectly warm and not too cool temperature and some dampness around are ideal living conditions. Book a pest inspection during humid weather to nip an infestation in the bud.
Final Thoughts: When Ants Make Their Way In
Sometimes, you may encounter persistent ants that have built a nest in your house despite all your efforts. Early intervention is the best plan of action, which involves calling a professional pest control company as soon as you spot ants.
At Pest Control Dubai, our technicians are well-versed in what attracts ants and the remedial techniques. In case of a pest infestation, we carry out gel baiting, making sure our measures wipe out the entire colony and address pests at every stage of their life cycle. Give us a call or fill out the application to book a pest inspection with ants control experts today. Overall, a professional pest control company will be able to target the source of the problem and quickly eliminate it. Aptive focuses on eliminating the current infestation as well as future infestations. If the bugs come back, Aptive will too, at no additional cost.
