Most people love having visitors, but you will definitely not enjoy these visitors! Ants can invade Texas homes and yards throughout the summer months and become a huge problem for homeowners, individuals, and families alike. Some of the most common and bothersome ants in the area are fire ants, carpenter ants, and odorous house ants.
Common Ant Identification In Texas
Fire ants are by far the most dangerous to humans and pets. These pests can be ruthless, both inside and outside your home. They travel in packs, and they cause multiple stings that inject a toxin under the skin. The area of the stings will be painful and itch for about an hour or so, then leave a blister. A secondary infection can happen if the blister is broken open. You can usually find fire ants nesting in mounds outdoors that can be home to up to 500,000 ants!
Carpenter ants are typically not dangerous to humans or pets; however, much like termites, they can do some pretty significant damage to wood inside your home. They burrow into wood to make their nests, ruining furniture, walls, floors, ceilings, personal items, and weakening the structure of your home in the process. Typically, carpenter ants will nest outdoors in firewood, tree stumps, fence posts, and dead fallen trees. They actually help decompose much of the dead tree matter that lays on the ground; however, once inside a home, they are a menace and the damage they can cause can be significant.
Odorous house ants are also not dangerous to humans or pets, but are considered a nuisance. They live in large populations and constantly forage for food, day and night. Once they have discovered a plentiful food source, they will continue to raid that source until it is gone as they go back and forth endlessly from the food to their nest. The trails that they leave behind for other ants to follow to the food will leave a nasty rotten coconut odor all along your floors, cabinets, counters, and throughout your kitchen and pantry. Once they have contaminated a food source, it should be thrown out entirely, in case they have carried any bacteria inadvertently to your food and contaminated it. Usually, odorous house ants will build nests in grasses, bogs and, forests, but inside, they will nest under floors and inside walls.
Common Ant Prevention Tips
In order to prevent ants in and around your home, you can use the following tips; however, you will most likely need the help of a professional to rid your home of ants and be assured that they will not return in the future.
- Fire ants are particularly hard to eradicate. You will need to leave their nests completely undisturbed, keep foods covered, and use ant baits. These tips may help, but they will not effectively eliminate and prevent them. Fire ants are dangerous; you should not try to eliminate a nest on your own. You will require the help of a professional with the appropriate tools, gear, and methods to completely get rid of these pests.
- Carpenter ants are also quite difficult to get rid of; you may not be able to find them hidden within the wooden structure of your home before they cause significant damage to your home. To help keep them out, you should seal all entry points and keep the area around your home free from damaged wood and organic debris. To avoid costly damage from carpenter ants and ensure that they are completely eradicated, call the professionals that know how to get rid of every single ant and stop them from coming back.
- Odorous house ants can also be hard to get rid of. To eliminate these pests, start by sealing off all entry points. Even after implementing preventative measures, you will need to contact a professional pest control company to effectively eliminate these ants before they lay down a trail for thousands of more to follow straight into your home, kitchen, and pantry.
Explore Your Home Pest Control Options
At this point, you understand that despite the type of ant infesting your home, they are difficult to get rid of. The most effective way to completely eliminate is to call the experts at Innovative Pest Control. We know that you will enjoy your home better without annoying, destructive, and dangerous ants around. Contact us today to learn more about our residential pest control options.
Categories:
- Carpenter Ant,
- Home Pest Control,
- Fire Ants Prevention,
- Fire Ant Control,
- Ant Control,
- Ant Prevention,
- Ant Identification,
- Odorous House Ants
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