How To Get Rid Of Ants - Why You Should Not Grab The Insecticide
By Chris Wellerdon
Ant season is on the horizon and lots of people are asking how to get rid of ants.
As the ground warms up in the spring, ants who have been dormant in the earth during the colder weather warm up and come to the surface.
Queen ants fly off to find new nesting areas…and before you know it, ants are back in our world and we want to know how to get rid of ants.
While ants play an important roll in the ecosystem, it is no picnic when they become pests in our world. That’s when we want to know how to get rid of ants.
But all too often, when people have a pest problem they run to the store and buy a can of toxic pesticide, come home and spray the pest.
That is sometimes the worst thing you can do to get rid of ants because some ants will actually scatter and bud into new multiple colonies when disturbed in this way. Then you’ve got a bigger ant problem and want to know even more how to get rid of ants pronto.
Some people like the idea of a "least toxic approach" to get rid of ants. This term means you try to get rid of ants using the least toxic material possible. If the first thing you try doesn’t get rid of ants, then you try something a little toxic but not as toxic as poison.
You keep trying to get rid of ants using progressively more toxic substances until you find something that solves your ant problem.
Why should you bother with a least toxic approach to get rid of ants? For one thing, studies are beginning to reveal the serious side effects of the overuse of toxic pesticides in our environment.
Evidence suggests a risk for some types of cancer and even genetic damage from exposure to pesticides. And perhaps worst of all, children are especially at risk.
Why wait until science finally makes a direct link to damaged genes and pesticides? By that time, the damage could already be done to your genes and those of your children.
To begin solving any ant problem, it helps to understand the ant world. Ant societies have a hierarchy of jobs in the community.
Scout ants go out and look for food and water for the community. When they find it, they come back to the nest with some of the goods and inform other worker ants of their find. Some of the ants will then follow the trail laid down by the scout ant to the food or water source.
The ants communicate largely through chemicals called pheromones. That’s how more ants find your stash of honey once a scout ant reports back to the colony.
If you’ve been invaded, what is the first step to get rid of ants? Before you start killing the ants you see, follow their trail to see how they got into the house.
Once you find their point of entry, seal it off.
If they are coming in the door, use a barrier of baking soda or talcum powder to keep them out.
If they are coming in a small crack or crevice, seal it up with petroleum jelly or caulking material.
Don’t do anything else outside yet.
This is the first step to get rid of ants.
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Posted under Rid Carpenter Ants
This post was written by admin on January 29, 2009
