As we all know, ants are attracted to food. We also all know that nothing spoils a picnic at the park or makes your kitchen seem dirty quite like an ant infestation. But what types of foods attract ants the most? How can we prevent ants from getting into our homes? Keep reading to find out and to learn more about ant removal in Bartlesville, OK:
- Sugar: Most humans like sugary treats, but it’s safe to say that nobody likes sugar as much as ants do! Since it can be hard for ants to digest solid foods, these pests particularly like sugary drinks, melted popsicles and other forms of melted sugar. You’ll be interested to know that just because a food is sweet, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will attract ants. An ant needs the carbs found in natural sugar to survive, so aspartame and other artificial sweeteners without these basic carbs do little to attract them.
- Salt: Just like humans, ants need salt and other electrolytes in their diet. Recent studies have shown that ants, especially those living more than 60 miles from an ocean, might be attracted to salt more than sugar. It’s not just imperative that you keep your sugar sealed; keep that salt shaker shut, too!
- Carbs: As mentioned above, an ant needs its daily carbohydrates for energy to ensure the colony’s growth. Breadcrumbs and any dry pasta left out are major targets for a hungry ant looking for a meal.
- Water: Good old H2O is the building block of life here on Earth. Without it, we’d all die. While ants don’t need as much water as most living things, they still need to drink. An ant isn’t as attracted to water as it would be a cold soda, but they’ll still drink water anytime they get a chance. Folks living in arid climates need to be more concerned about ants breaking in to get a drink of water than those who live in a wetter environment.
Prevent infestations
If you’re looking to avoid unintentionally inviting ants into your home in the first place, keep the following tips in mind:
- Seal your food: The easiest way to keep ants out of your kitchen is to keep all of your food sealed or stored safely in the fridge. While they are clever little pests, ants can’t open your refrigerator door or open a sealed container of food.
- Call an exterminator: When it comes to ant control, you’ll find tons of preventative tactics and DIY removal methods online. Many of these tricks work to some extent or another, but nothing can eliminate ants altogether like an exterminator. We kill ants and use powerful pesticides to ensure they don’t come back.
If you have an ant problem, now is the time to be proactive and call us for ant removal in Bartlesville, OK. The longer you wait to have your home treated, the worse your ant problem will get, and the more expensive it’ll be to remedy. If you call today, one of our pros at Excellence Pest Control can eliminate all the ants from your home and treat your house so the ants don’t come back anytime soon.