Ant control in Los Angeles can be one of the toughest aspects of overall pest control. Ant problems can sneak up on you, especially if you’re used to seeing the occasional ant inside. You might think the ants you’re seeing wandered in from outdoors when they’re actually living with you, which is why ant prevention is so vital. The PEST Group provides effective ant control in Los Angeles to protect local homes and businesses from these tiny invaders.
How Ants Make Their Way Into Your Home
Ant infestations often begin with one worker ant. It might wander into your house by accident, or maybe it smelled crumbs on your kitchen floor or discarded food in your garbage. Once this single worker ant finds its way inside, it will send pheromone signals to other colony members, telling them where to gain entry.
Lines of ants soon form. Sometimes, these ants will take the food they find and leave for their existing nests. However, sometimes, ants will decide your place will offer them a consistent food source, and they set up colonies either just outside or directly inside your home so that they can keep scavenging.
Why Ants Can Be Problematic
You might think ants are just nuisance pests, and you’d be right in many cases, but in other cases, you’d be very wrong. For instance, having pharaoh ants in your home can leave you vulnerable to exposure to several different strains of dangerous bacteria, including salmonella, staphylococcus, and streptococcus.
Carpenter ants are another ant variety you do not want in your home. These ants tunnel through wood the way other types of ants tunnel through dirt. As you can imagine, this behavior can weaken the structural integrity of the wood, similar to termite damage. Though carpenter ants do not wreak the same level of havoc as termites, they can still do costly damage to your home.
Five Prevention Tips To Keep Ants At Bay
Since there’s no way to decide which ant species you end up with, your best strategy is to prevent all ants. The good news is that you don’t have to overhaul your entire life to make your home less attractive to these annoying and sometimes dangerous pests. You just have to make a few key lifestyle changes:
Cover your garbage. Ants often use trash as a food source, so make sure all your garbage cans are covered with tight lids.
Properly store pantry food. You should always keep pantry foods in airtight containers to mask smells and cut off access.
Clean up after meals. Never leave dirty dishes sitting out, not even in the sink. That goes for pet bowls, too. Feed your pets and put their dishes away.
Fix moisture issues. If you have problems like plumbing leaks, clogged drainage, excessive humidity, or condensation, these may attract ants.
Seal potential entryways. Inspect your home’s exterior and seal up any cracks and holes you find. Fix torn window screens and install weatherstripping and door sweeps.
Following these ant prevention tips can make your home an inconvenient place for ants to live and encourage them to move on.
Complete Ant Control: Call The PEST Group Today!
Ant control is virtually impossible to do on your own once you have an infestation. That’s why you should contact the experts here at The PEST Group at the first sign you may have an ant problem.
Our ant removal experts can help you figure out what species you have, where they are entering your home, and how significant your infestation is. Best of all, our professional-grade products are designed to eradicate ant infestations, not just temporarily reduce ant numbers. So don’t wait until ants take over your home. Click or call today!