Here Are 3 Tips to Eliminate Ants in Your Seattle Home

Seattle is home to some common pests. For example, homes in this region can have termites and rodents. They can also have ants. There are a few different ant species that make their home amongst us in Western Washington, including Argentine, carpenter, garden, and black ants. No matter the type of ant, homeowners and pest control companies within the Seattle region have probably seen and dealt with it before!

If you see ants within your home, it’s essential to eliminate them as fast as possible. Without any intervention, ant colonies frequently multiply and become very hard to remove later. If they are carpenter ants, then they can cause significant structural damage to your home, which can lead to thousands of dollars in repair bills. Therefore, the next time you see an ant in your home, keep in mind these three tips!

Set Traps And Gel Baits

Typically, the most effective way to eliminate ants is to eradicate the colony. That’s often impossible to do via physical means because the ant headquarters is hidden somewhere out of your view. As such, to get rid of them, you’ll need a more stealthy tactic.

Traps and baits work by poisoning the ants. However, it doesn’t poison them immediately. Instead, these products work by letting the ants carry the poison back to their colonies, where they pass it around. Eventually, the entire colony dies.

For people with children and pets, kid-friendly traps are your best bet. If your home only has adults, then you can buy the gels, which tend to be a little bit more productive. Place the traps on the door where you see ants frequently. If you’re using gels, put that along the door, baseboard, or anywhere else that you have seen ants. Within a couple of weeks at most, you should see your ant problem drop significantly.

Spray The Ant Trail

Ants have pheromones that they release, which help guide them to food. When one ant discovers a food source (on your countertop, for example), the pheromones released demarcate the pathway for other hungry ants. If you want to stop them from going to the same spot over and over, you can spray the path with a solution that is equal parts vinegar or lemon juice and water. The strong scent and acidity of the vinegar or lemon juice will dissolve this trail. Your house ants won’t keep coming back to the same area!

Keep Your Home Very Clean

Most ants (except for carpenter ants) are looking for food when they enter your home. As such, if you see ants, in addition to laying baits, you should keep your house sparkling clean. Removing as much food residue as possible from your doors, countertops, and other surfaces will ensure that ants won’t keep coming back. One of the problems that people sometimes face is that they eliminate one colony, leave the food crumbs around, and that will attract another wave of ants shortly after!

Once you’ve had one fight with ants, assume that other colonies will find your source of food and clean appropriately!

Take Care Of The Problem Before It Is Too Late!

Ants can establish new colonies quickly and without you knowing. If you see ants in your home, killing the ones you see will likely not solve the problem as that means there is at least one colony filled with hundreds of ants close. The only way to eliminate these small insects is to set baits, throw off their trail, and then keep your home clean so that way these ants don’t show up again!