Summertime in North Carolina means enjoying the sunshine and beautiful landscapes that can be found statewide. However, a great summer day can be soured quickly due to an ant infestation in your home. Whether they’re marching their way along your countertops or going to contaminate your food, an ant infestation can be a source of stress that no homeowner wants. Thankfully, there are ways you can best deal with your ant problem.
From home tactics to professional treatments, there are a variety of ways you can better your odds of keeping ants away without breaking the bank in the process. In this blog post, our Clegg’s Pest Control team will discuss how to prevent and deal with common ant species found in North Carolina this summer.
Why Is It Important To Keep Ants Away?
The first step to proper ant control and removal is knowing why it’s important to keep ants out in the first place. According to the EPA, an ant infestation can bring a litany of issues and concerns, including food contamination and property damage. However, some ant species, such as fire ants, are harmful to humans and will bite if provoked. These concerns are the ultimate reason why keeping ants away is of the utmost importance.
Common Types of Ants in North Carolina
As you understand what problems an ant infestation brings, it’s time to understand what ants you will most likely encounter in your home. After all, different regions of the country will bring about various kinds of ants. Here are some of the regional species of ants to look out for in your North Carolina home.
- Acrobat ant. Found near water sources, these ants get their namesake from their ability to raise their abdomen over their head.
- Argentine ant. Often found in urban areas, this species is drawn to human activity and food sources.
- Carpenter ant. A destructive species of black-colored ants that excavates wood and leads to various property damage issues.
- Fire ant. A reddish-brown ant species is often found in fields and lawns, which can damage your yard.
- Pavement ant. Commonly found on sidewalks, driveways, and other pavement, these black-colored ants can be quite a nuisance when they bring their colony along.
Signs of an Ant Infestation in Your North Carolina Home
Once you know what ants you’re likely to encounter in North Carolina, the question becomes how you’ll be able to spot a problem. The most telltale sign is the frequent appearance of ants, whether it’s a singular ant or a group of them huddled together.
However, there are various other signs they can leave behind that can lead you to detect a potential problem. These infestation signs include sawdust trails, wood damage, piles of soil in your yard, and hollow sounds. If you notice any of these signs frequently occurring in your North Carolina home, it’s time to take action.
How To Get Rid of Ants
You can use several remedies and tactics around your home to help keep your ant problems at a minimum. After all, the best way to remove an ant infestation is to prevent one from happening in the first place. There’s also no better opportunity to work around the house than during the great summer weather. Allow our team to show you some of the best practices for ant control in your North Carolina home.
Keep Your Home Clean
Since ants constantly pursue food and shelter, it’s best to remove as many opportunities for ants to find the resources they need to live as possible. One of the most effective ways is to keep your home clean. This can range from vacuuming and sweeping floors to wiping countertops, taking your garbage out daily, and sanitizing frequently touched areas of your home, such as your kitchen.
Eliminate Food Sources
One critical part of keeping your home clean and deterring ants is to remove any open food sources. This involves keeping food sealed and stored away from the reach of an ant colony. An occasional clean-out of the pantry can also help reduce your odds of an infestation.
Remove Water Sources
Being another essential to their survival, access to excess moisture such as water is another lure for ants to enter your home. By implementing good moisture control habits, you can better your odds against ants and other pests. Proper moisture control includes fixing broken pipes and sinks, cleaning up spills, and removing other sources of standing water, such as puddles.
Maintain a Trimmed and Clean Yard
Even though keeping a clean home interior is a critical part of ant control, so is maintaining a keep yard. Several species of ants prefer to make their base in your yard and hitch rides on firewood and lumber to get indoors. Some of the methods involved in proper yard maintenance include mowing your lawn regularly, trimming trees and shrubs, and clearing debris.
Seal Off Entry Points
Whether you find their base indoors or outdoors, ants can journey from inside your home and back outside with access to entryways such as gaps and openings near doors, windows, and around your foundation. By sealing these openings with caulk, you further eliminate ways for an ant infestation to enter your home and get the resources they need for survival.
Call on Professional Ant Control
Though there are several preventive measures you can and should take to better your odds of an ant infestation, they are also far from a guarantee. To yield the best results in ant removal and prevention, your ideal option is to go to professional ant control services for help. A team of pest control technicians will work to identify and diagnose the extent of your ant problem and develop a specialized treatment plan to keep your ant problems out in the long run.
Get the Best North Carolina Ant Control Service With Clegg’s Pest Control
Looking for the best summer ant control in North Carolina? Look nowhere other than Clegg’s Pest Control for help. When you turn to our pest control for your home, you gain the services of our top-notch team of technicians who will work hard to get to the root of your ant problem and apply preventive treatments to keep them out. We also offer same-day availability and weekend services to help keep ants out of your home when you need them gone the most.
Find your nearest service branch or complete a contact form to request our North Carolina summer ant control services today!
