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Many homeowners in Nashville and other areas close by including Franklin, Brentwood, Hendersonville and Mt. Juliet, TN will soon be complaining about ants as spring is fast approaching. Whether they are odorous house ants, or carpenter ants in the house, these homeowners have never had a problem before, but for some reason their kitchens or bathrooms or whole houses are crawling with frenzied little ants (or even large black ants!). Unfortunately, the warm spring temperatures mixed with spring showers Nashville often experiences will create the perfect condition for ants. Having them inside your house is not that uncommon, especially if the environment inside your home is one that ants can thrive in. What can YOU do to eliminate ants from inside your home? Here are some “to-dos”, as well as a few “don’t-dos” to help you deal with ants inside your Brentwood, Franklin or Middle TN home this upcoming spring:
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Replace window and door screens that have holes or tears; these screens can allow in ants as well as many other insects that may be bothering you inside your house this summer.
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Don’t leave food on your counters. It may seem obvious that food attracts pests, but just one night of leaving your sugar bowl uncovered, or leaving leftovers on the counter can announce to any ants that have come indoors that there’s a free buffet, ripe for the taking. They’ll let their other foraging buddies know and before you know it, it’s an ant free-for-all in the kitchen. Check out our blog post about how to get rid of ants in the kitchen for a few helpful tips.
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Store opened bags of flour, sugar and other pantry staples in tightly sealed containers; just folding over that bag of sugar in the cupboard isn’t enough to deter hungry foraging ants (and other insects like pantry pests).
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Make sure there are no tree branches or shrubs touching the sides of your house. As simple as it may seem, these things can act as ‘bridges’, allowing insects like ants to crawl right onto your home’s exterior, looking for a place to get inside.
As we’ve mentioned in a previous post about ants, don’t go around killing all the ants you see. It may seem illogical, but killing them only brings more ants into your home. Killing the individual ants that you see does not solve the main problems either- which are “where are the ants getting inside?” and “where is the colony that is lurking outdoors?.
Follow the trails of ants, if possible, to see if you can tell where they are getting inside. If this is not obvious to you, then hire a pest control professional; they are trained to find the area where ants are entering as well as to locate the ant colony. You can also go along the exterior of your home and look for any areas that ants may be crawling around on your foundation or along walls to see if you have a gap in the exterior.
These “dos” and “don’ts” are very important in helping to prevent an ant infestation in your TN home. If it’s too late for that and you’ve already got an ant problem, contacting a pest control professional should be your next step, NOT visiting the DIY store for over-the-counter ant control products. Products you can buy at the store for ant control are aimed for general usage and don’t target the specific ants that are inside your home. Some DIY ant products may include baits that the ants pick up and attempt to take back to the colony, but that kills them before they ever reach their destination. This only eliminates the foraging ants and does nothing to get rid of ants inside the colony.
For effective ant control in Nashville and Brentwood as well as throughout Middle Tennessee, contact a qualified pest control company like the professionals at All-American Pest Control. Dave Ramsey recommends us, because we’ve been in the business since 1961 and we’re locally owned and operated. We also offer the latest environmentally friendly pest control and termite control solutions and we strive to deliver reliable services that protect our community from the harmful effects of pests. Contact the friendly folks at All-American Pest Control for more information on all our Nashville pest control services, especially ant control!