Common Springs Pests in Your Macon Home

Common Springs Pests in Your Macon Home

Macon Pest Control: Preventing Spring Pests

A household pest is any undesired animal that has a history of living, invading, causing damage to, eating food from, acting as a disease vector for, or causing any other harm to a human habitat. While most are considered a nuisance, household pests become dangerous when they pose a risk to health, property, or lifestyle.

While they can be common year-round, some are common in the spring months. Here are a few common spring pests you can find in your Georgia home:

Termites

Termite swarming season begins in the springtime. Swarming season is when young termites leave their current colony and go off to find mates and establish new colonies. If you begin to see swarmers, it might mean a colony is nearby.

Ticks

Ticks are problematic to humans and pets because they spread diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. You might begin to see an increase of tick bites in the springtime. The mild winters in Georgia don’t help with keeping ticks away for long, so you should always be aware of ticks at any time of the year.

Ants

With heavy rainfall in the early spring, you can expect to see ants finding their way inside your home. They will begin to search for food and water, which your home has plenty of.

Flies

These pesky pests will find their way inside once the weather begins to warm up. They can spread many pathogens by picking them up on their feet when landing on different items.

Prevent Spring Pests:

  • Keep windows, doors, and vents sealed
  • Use garbage cans with sealed lids
  • Keep plants and tree limbs cut away from your house
  • Fix leaks to prevent excess moisture
  • Wear insect repellent
  • Keep home clean and free of crumbs, especially the kitchen
  • Keep up with quarterly pest control

If you’re ready to begin prevention of these spring pests, reach out to your local pest control company to receive a free quote and the best plan of action to keep pests away!

3 Reasons You Need Ant Control in Ft. Myers

3 Reasons You Need Ant Control in Ft. Myers

Ft. Myers Pest Control: Signs of an Ant Infestation

Ants are small, annoying, and can sometimes lead to health risks. Finding them infested in your home is always alarming! There are several ant species found in the Fort Myers area, including ghost ants, white-footed ants, and carpenter ants. Once these pests infest your home, it can be extremely difficult to get rid of them. Check out our top 3 signs you need ant control for your home.

Noticing Sawdust Trails

Carpenter ants are known to nest in damaged wood, especially wood that is damp from water. Their damage includes excavating wood to create their nests and creating holes. If you notice small trails of sawdust around, inside, or outside the home, it’s likely that you have ants.

Look for piles of sawdust near wooden beams, window ledges, skirting boards, and wood flooring. If you find sawdust or even the holes they create, it’s a sign that carpenter ants have infested.

Discarded Wings

Did you know that some ant types have wings for a short time? These ‘flying ants’ will usually swarm during the summer when a younger queen leaves the nest to start their own colony. If you notice discarded wings on the floors, windowsills, or doorsills, an ant colony could be inside the home.

Wooden Structures are Damaged

One of the more serious signs of an ant infestation is noticing that your home’s wood structures are crumbling when touched. This is a sign that the home structure is weakened, sometimes caused by ants. Often, the wood can look normal from just looking at it, but a tell-tale sign if ants have infested is finding hollow-sounding wood that is weak under pressure.

To prevent ants, utilize these preventative measures throughout your home,

  • Seal any gaps or holes leading into the home.
  • Trim back tree branches and shrubs away from the home to eliminate access points.
  • Reach out to your local Ft. Myers pest control company to provide you with the best prevention and treatment options for ants.

Request a Free Ant Control Analysis

3 Ways You’re Letting Ants Inside Your Home

3 Ways You’re Letting Ants Inside Your Home

Having an ant infestation is a nuisance to any homeowner, as it can be difficult to control them once they’ve found their way inside. These pests tend to infest areas such as the bathroom and kitchen, searching for a place to nest and a food source. Ants are sneaky pests, often finding their way inside our homes without us even knowing. Check out the top 3 ways you attract ants inside and how you can prevent them in the future.

Gaps & Holes

Ants are very small, making it easy for these pests to get through the smallest hole or gap. Your home’s doors, foundation, windows, and even utility lines can have holes or gaps, creating a way inside for ants. Foundation gaps that aren’t solid concrete blocks can lead to spaces for ants to enter. Likewise, ants will enter through doors or windows that aren’t sealed properly. Take some time and inspect the home’s interior and exterior for these openings.

Inside the Floor

Did you know ants can travel inside your floors? These pests often establish routes underneath carpets, tiles, and hardwood, making it difficult to spot them entering! Ants will often utilize subfloors, which are made up of pieces of plywood that provide enough space for ants to get inside. Often, these pests will enter through the floors when they’ve spotted a food source, such as leftover crumbs on the floor.

Toys & Houseplants

Many times we can bring these pests inside our homes by mistake! Ants can gain access inside by homeowners bringing in a toy or yard item that was left outside long enough for an ant colony to establish inside it. Plants can also carry ants inside when we bring them into our homes for the winter. Other items ants have hitchhiked on include used furniture or appliances, storage boxes, hoses, and even groceries!

There are many opportunities for ants to get inside the home, but with some DIY preventative measures in place, you can help prevent a major infestation. Here are some easy tips on preventing ants:

  • Trim your tree branches and shrubs away from your house
  • If you have holes or gaps, utilize weatherstripping or caulk to seal them
  • Thoroughly clean countertops, pantries, cabinets, and other kitchen surfaces
  • After a meal, wipe up any crumbs or spills immediately

If you notice an ant problem bigger than you can handle, contact your local pest control company, where they can identify entry points and recommend a treatment and prevention plan.

How to Get Rid of Ants Outside of Your Home

How to Get Rid of Ants Outside of Your Home

Ants are known for being annoying and persistent, especially when taking over your yard. It’s important to know what type of ant you’re dealing with to determine how to get rid of them outside your home. Removing them from your yard will lessen the chances of seeing them inside your home. We have broken down the most common ants found in the South and how to remove them from your yard.

Fire Ants

These bright or dark red ants love the warm climates of the South. They’re one of the smallest ants around but can be found in very large groups. Since they love the warmth so much, you’ll see fire ants building large underground nests in the sunniest parts of your yard.

They typically don’t become household pests, but because of their sting and the large groups they are found in, they deter families from enjoying time outside. They are known to attack in groups and their sting can become very uncomfortable.

Get Rid of Fire Ants:

  • Douse the fire ant mound with boiling water. This old-school approach works about 60% of the time, but it won’t hurt to try.
  • Bait worker ants in order to kill the fire ant queen. Ideally, the worker ants will pick up bait that is placed around the mound and bring it to the queen.
  • Hire professional help. If you have tried everything and it didn’t work, be sure to reach out to a local pest control company to provide the best fire ant control and prevention method.

Pavement Ants

These types of ants can be red or black and can often be mistaken for carpenter ants, although they are much smaller. They only have two parts to their body instead of the usual three. Often found in driveways, along sidewalks, or in other concrete structures, pavement ants can eventually become house pests.

They become house pests due to their continuous search for food and shelter. If they end up inside your home, that usually means there is a nest nearby. They aren’t as aggressive as the fire ant, but they can bite.

Get Rid of Pavement Ants:

  • Keep tree branches and shrubs cut away from the home. This allows them to access your home.
  • A store-bought pesticide should be enough. Spray the perimeter of your yard and home to get rid of these types of ants.

If the problem of ants has become more than you can handle, be sure to reach out to your local pest control company and they’ll be able to come up with the best plan of action to rid your yard of ants.

Why Do I Have Ants in My Kitchen?

Why Do I Have Ants in My Kitchen?

The kitchen is one of the most common rooms in your home to have ants, closely followed by the bathroom. The most common ants found indoors are odorous house ants, also known as nuisance ants. While these ants don’t cause structural damage and aren’t considered dangerous to humans or pets, they can contaminate your food and become quite a nuisance to deal with. Carpenter ants are larger black ants that can also get into your home. These ants do cause structural damage by boring through the wood components of your house.

The ants you find in your home don’t actually live there; they build colonies outdoors and come in looking for food and water to take back. These elements are necessary for the colony to live and grow. Scout ants who find these sources leave a pheromone trail for the rest of the colony to follow which is why you will often see ants traveling in a single line. Because they can scale walls and travel between stories in your home, they can spread quickly and be extremely difficult to get rid of.

Ants are attracted by a number of things found in your home. They use crumbs, spills, loosely sealed food packages, dirty dishes, and even pet food bowls to find food. They use leaky pipes, pet water bowls, and standing water for hydration.

What can you do to keep ants from taking over your kitchen? Prevent ants by:

  1. Sweeping and mopping floors regularly.
  2. Cleaning up crumbs and spills immediately.
  3. Wiping down counters and stovetops daily.
  4. Not leaving dirty dishes out overnight.
  5. Emptying trash regularly.
  6. Using trashcans with lids.
  7. Throwing away uneaten pet food or putting it in a sealed container overnight.
  8. Storing pet food in sealed containers versus non-sealing bags.
  9. Cleaning around your pet’s food and water bowls often.
  10. Dumping and replacing pet water frequently from their bowls.
  11. Storing pantry food in sealed containers versus boxes and bags when possible (e.g. cereal, grains, sweets). This also helps prevent other common pantry pests.
  12. Getting rid of overripe food stored on counters.
  13. Repairing leaky pipes.
  14. Eliminating standing water.
  15. Repairing cracks and gaps in foundations.
  16. Not storing firewood next to your home.

Killing just the ants you find in your home won’t eliminate the entire infestation. You must eradicate them at the source – at their colonies. These ants can be difficult to eliminate because individual colonies can number in the thousands and they can be spread out all over your property. For assistance in dealing with ants or any other pests you may find in your home, contact your local pest control company for an evaluation.

 

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