Ant infestations can be irritating annoyances. Ants enter your home to look for food and water and get inside through the tiniest crevice, including under doors and through any small holes around your windows. Once they are inside, they may nest, depending on the kind of ant you have. Also, they can build nests in a lot of outdoor locations, and simply enter your home for food and water. If you are dealing with a full-blown infestation, the issue can easily escalate and become harder to deal with. That is why you should contact ant exterminators before the problem becomes more difficult to handle. Here’s what exterminators do to get rid of ants:
Identify the Cause and Species of Ants
Exterminators need to determine the species of ants you have in or around your home to use the right kind of treatment that suits your specific issue. Once they identify the species, they will investigate how you are drawing ants to your home and advise you against it to prevent future infestations.
Assess the Kind of Ant Infestation
Typically, the treatment used for eliminating ant hills and other pests may have adverse effects on pets, children, and adults, so Pointe Pest Control exterminators address these concerns before doing anything. Sometimes, ants may be harmful to woods, so exterminators will evaluate crawl spaces and other areas. Such inspections will ensure the technicians perform their job thoroughly and address any related problem.
Administer the Appropriate Treatment
Professional ant exterminators usually use gel bait insecticides to control and get rid of small ants from homes. They place small beads of a gel bait, mainly in areas where ants have been spotted feeding or trailing. Also, they may place baits on small pieces of cardboard or contained inside an ant bait station. Be sure to consult experts like pest control Beaverton as well.
Most exterminators prefer bait because to get rid of the ants you see, you must eliminate the ants you do not see. The ants you spot inside your home are worker ants who are scouting for food and taking it back to the nest to feed the queen and her young. Killing these worker ants is not enough to kill the colony as more workers will take their place. So, it is best to place bait along the trails the ants follow. Once the worker ants find the bait, they will take it back to the nest and feed the queen, eradicating her and future populations.