When you get ants and other pests in your home it can seem as though they just materialize in your house like magic. Even worse, they tend to ruin things when guests visit for things like cookouts and other get-togethers.
If you want to combat insects and other pests trying to get into your home or make your lawn unpleasant here is a simple battle plan from Maureen with The Home Depot Community Forums. This plan will help you go on the offensive against pests.
Know Your Enemy
There are many types of ants and unfortunately ants can do a devastating amount of structural damage, especially the Carpenter Ant.
The behavior of one type of ant may not match the behavior of another, so you need to know just what kind of ants (or other pest) you are dealing with. It helps to take a picture of the ant and then send it to a local extension service to identify what kind of an you are dealing with.
This will help you use methods specific to that kind of ant to get rid of the rest that are trying to invade your home.
Clean Up
It is an irrefutable fact that if you have a messy home you are more likely to have an ant problem. Ants thrive in a messy environment whereas a clean environment is too hostile and sterile for ants to survive.
One of the best things to do if you have indoor pets is to use a mixture of water and vinegar around their food bowls. This will repel ants from trying to steal food rations. You also need to be sure that you are not simply leaving food around for ants to go after.
Create a Perimeter
You can use an outdoor insecticide spray to create a perimeter around your home’s foundation. You need to make sure that the insecticide that you used is labeled as a barrier treatment to ensure that is effective.
Get Rid of Their Tracks
If you have found a few ants in your home then you can rest assured that there are more on their way. Ants leave behind a scented trail that can be smelled by the rest of the colony. This is how they are able to carry large quantities of food.
You want to use a one part water and three parts vinegar mixture where you’ve seen the ants because this will throw the rest off of the trail and leave them disoriented.
Destroy the Source
You can kill as many ants as you want to but you are only dragging out the problem if you do not eliminate the source: the entire colony. If you have seen scout ants then leave behind some poisoned ant bait. They will take the bait back to the colony and soon your ant problem will be kaput.
Take Back Your Yard
Remember that is your yard. You can take the ants head on by using a family and pet safe insect spray attached to your garden hose. You can also spread insecticides across your yard to ensure maximum protection.
If you can stick to the supplied steps then you can eliminate the pests that have taken over your home and yard.