Content:
- Ants: When They Come Crawling into Your Home, Garden, and Yard
- Getting Yourself Acquainted With the Intriguing Ant and Its Home
- The Hidden Dangers of Having an Ant Infestation in Your Yard and Home
- How to Get Rid of Ant Piles in Your Garden, Yard, and Home Safely
- Avoid Using Poison When Getting Rid of Ants
- Top 6 Completely Natural and Organic Ways to Get Rid of Ants in Your Home and Yard
When it comes to the smallest bug we know we often think of the little hardworking ant. Some species of ant can be quite large depending on where you live in the world. Not all ants are venomous and some can actually be quite harmless.
While everyone is familiar with the painful sting and bites of fire ants or the destructive nature of carpenter ants, we often ignore or harm other species of friendly ants that only wish to do their share in nature. The odorous house ant and pharaoh ants are simple sugar lovers who don’t bite or sting.
However, any ant can still be a problem due to some of the diseases they may carry.
Ants: When They Come Crawling into Your Home, Garden, and Yard
Ant infestations are a common occurrence in many homes, especially during the hot summer months and rainy seasons. Before giving those ants in your yard or garden the boot you may want to keep them for their usefulness instead. Ants like many other insects do serve a purpose in nature.
Ants are nature’s little cleaners. They help decompose organic wastes such as plants, dead insects, and even dead animals. These little guys, with their extensive underground tunnel networks, also help aerate the soil.
Ants are a major source of food for many types of birds, insectivorous insects (insects who eat other insects), and even bears. This is why it is important to use an organic way to kill ants.
The carpenter ant species is useful for helping break down rotting or diseased wood and dead trees. This means if you find these little guys in your home, it might be time to replace the wood in your home. Ants can help you get rid of other disease-ridden pests such as flies and fleas. While they may not be great in your home, they can definitely be a great asset in your garden.
There are over thousands of different species of ant in the world and oddly enough many species of ants can make for great pets. Especially for anyone who can’t have furry animals due to allergies or housing limitations.
Getting Yourself Acquainted with the Intriguing Ant and Its Home
As you may already know ants love to live in colonies and can mass produce quickly in a matter of days. An interesting fact about ant piles is, once you’ve destroyed one ant pile the ants will no longer come back to that area. Instead, the ants will move to a new place and build their next ant colony.
There are three types of roles ants play within an ant colony. The queen, which produces all of the ants. The worker ants, which tend to always be female and the ones you will most likely see most. And last but not least, the males, who are used for reproduction.
So how do those tricky little ants always know where to go and how to get home? Worker ants use pheromones as they walk along an area. When it comes to finding a source of water or food, ants will send out a few scouts to make trails and then the rest of the worker ants will follow suit.
The Hidden Dangers of Having an Ant Infestation in Your Yard and Home
While some ant bites can be deadly or life-threatening, not all ants are venomous, in fact, most ant species are fairly harmless as far as venom goes. But it doesn’t mean ants aren’t dangerous in other ways. Some ant species can do you and your family harm.
One way is by spreading disease, pharaoh ants are known carriers of salmonella. Ants may also carry other types of bacteria that would be found on a decomposed animal or plant. Carpenter ants and acrobat ants can cause structural damage to the wood in and around your home.
Other types of ants, such as the red fire ant and Asian super ant, like to live around warm electrical areas. This can cause serious damage to your home’s appliances and become potential fire hazards.
How to Get Rid of Ant Piles in Your Garden, Yard, and Home Safely
Using one of the many offer organic ways to kill ants will ensure your yard is ant-free for the summer. You will have to repeat some of these methods throughout the summer and definitely every year.
The main goal for getting rid of an ant problem is locating their colony, setting up a toxic ant trap, waiting for the ants to bring the toxins to their queen, and then letting the colony die out all on its own. This can take up to a week in most cases, so patience will be needed.
A faster way of getting rid of ants is using water to drown out their colonies. Once you have succeeded in your ant removal conquest you will then need to seal all water and food sources. Ants need both water and food to survive so they will seek it out and build an ant colony near their favorite sources.
What Precautions You Should Take When Having Ants in Your Garden
Not all ant species are as nice as those sweet little sugar ants. Fire ants and harvester ants are definitely the two main ant species you will want to get rid of fast or stay away from. If you are one of those people who doesn’t want to harm the ants due to their usefulness in your garden, there are a few safety precautions you will need to take.
- To prevent yourself from being bitten or stung, make sure you wear long-sleeved clothing, gloves, socks and closed-toe shoes when working around your yard or garden.
- Make sure you check yourself every so often for ants while you are outside. This will ensure that you don’t have any crawling on you or any accidental bites on your neck and face.
Fire ants and harvester ants have been proven to be fatal for anyone who has an ant allergy. These two species of ants are known to attack anyone who threatens their colonies.
Prevent Ants from Coming into Your Home
Once you have figured out what type of ants you are dealing with you will then need to remove them. Some people choose poisons and exterminators while others prefer organic ways to kill ants.
Either way, once the ants are gone you will need to inspect your home, garden, and yard for possible entry points.
Other points to consider:
- When it comes to your home you will need to seal any cracks in your windows, doors, wood paneling, basement and so on. Using chalk dust around your newly sealed areas will also help keep those pesky ants out of your kitchen.
- Make sure you seal up all pet food, uncovered food, and any empty food packaging.
- Make sure you wipe down all counters and never leave any dirty dishes in your sink or around your home
- Try to keep your home clean of any table crumbs
What to Do if You Get Bitten by an Ant?
Being bitten or stung by an ant can be a fairly painful or annoying affair. There are ways to deal with an ant bite should it become uncomfortable to deal with. First, you should elevate the limb or place if you can above your body to help reduce swelling. You can use an ice pack, lemon juice, and other soothing natural remedies for ant bites.
If you are someone who has an ant allergy, make sure you use your EpiPen and see a doctor immediately. Ant bites, especially from fire ants and harvester ants, can be life-threatening for people with ant allergies.
Avoid Using Poison When Getting Rid of Ants
When it comes to using poisons for ant population control there are a few things you should be aware of. Many chemical insecticides can actually be deadly for many species of birds. Although there are some safer chemicals and poisons, they aren’t exactly the safest tool to use when you have pets and children around.
Types of chemicals to be very wary of are organophosphate and carbamate. These insecticides attack an ant’s nervous system which will then cause respiratory failure and death. But when birds and many other creatures are exposed to these chemicals, a similar effect can happen to them as well. Bees, earthworms, fish, and even humans can all be harmed by ant poisons.
Other chemicals to avoid are bendiocarb, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon. These chemicals are all toxic to birds and humans. In fact, many pesticides on the market are extremely toxic and carcinogenic.
Top 6 Completely Natural and Organic Ways to Get Rid of Ants in Your Home and Yard
There are many ways one can get rid of ants, from insecticides to using an organic way to kill ants.
Here you can find the top 11 organic ways to kill ants in your home, yard, and garden.
1.) Coffee grounds
Got any leftover coffee grinds? Well, repurpose those grinds as a nice organic ant-repellent.
The coffee grinds can be used around any cracks or crevices in your home. It will repel the ants and make them move their colonies away from your yard, home, and garden.
2.) Vinegar
Vinegar, specifically white vinegar, masks the ant’s pheromone trails.
So all you need to do is put equal part vinegar to water in a spray bottle and spray around all the areas where you found ants.
3.) Chalk
Oddly enough, ants do not like chalk and will not go near it.
This means all you have to do is take some chalk and draw along the seals of your windows, door, and cracks of your home. This will make it hard for ants to enter your home.
4.) Borax, water, and sugar
This is one of the most common organic ways to kill ants.
All you need to do is use a ratio of 1 part borax to 3 parts sugar (1:3 ratio), add a few drops of water for a gel-like consistency then place it where ever you found ants.
Since borax is toxic to more than just ants, it is recommended to keep this away from pets and children.
5.) Peppermint
Place some peppermint oil on some cotton balls. Place the cotton balls in areas where you have found ants. You can use the peppermint oil as a spray and spray around your home twice a day for a week to keep ants away.
Peppermint plants will also keep ants away and make a great addition to any garden.
6.) Food Grade DE (Diatomaceous Earth)
This is a great organic way to kill carpenter ants.
The dust, when ingested by the ants, ends up cutting up their insides and results in death.
