What It Takes To Get Rid Of An Ant Infestation In Your Jacksonville Home
Have you had those “whatever it takes” moments in your life? For example, as a teenager, you may have struggled with acne and were willing to change your diet, use products, facial scrubs, etc., to get clear skin. In other words, you were willing to do whatever it took to enjoy clear skin and, hopefully, attract that special someone.
No one wants ants inside their house. Walking into the kitchen and observing a line of ants marching along the baseboard is embarrassing. When you are eating, and ants crawl across the table, you may quickly lose your appetite. Knowing there are ants inside the house makes you feel itchy. You are probably reading this article because ants are crawling around in your Jacksonville home, and you will do whatever it takes to get rid of ants.
Secure pest control in Jacksonville from Wildlife and Pest Control Experts to remove those pesky insects from your home. Our techs have the knowledge, expertise, tools, and experience to end your ant invasion.
How To Tell If You Have An Ant Problem In Your Home
Ants surround our Jacksonville home, and they should since they are a necessary part of the ecosystem. So, how do you know if you have an ant infestation or if a lone ant somehow wandered into your home? Here is a list of the signs of an ant infestation, followed by a brief explanation:
- Ant hills or mounds
- Ant trails
- Ant swarmers
- Ants skeletons
- Pinholes in wood
- Sawdust-like material outside wood pinholes
- Live ants
Let's briefly examine each sign to determine if you have a problem with ants in your home.
Most ant species create nests underneath the soil consisting of a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers; a mound of dirt and other materials is above the complex tunnel system. Some ant nests have a single opening, while others have multiple exit points. Most nests are small, but fire ants create mounds two to four feet in diameter next to landscaping timbers, foundations, trees, etc. Inside a house, you often find nests in humid areas near water pipes, damp areas, wall voids, underneath insulation, and behind masonry or wood facades.
Carpenter ants do not create nests in the dirt but bore smooth tunnels deep into moist woods, usually in the basement, crawl space, or underneath wood porches or decks. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not consume wood for nutrition. Instead, they push the wood shards to the front of the nest opening, leaving a sawdust-like pile. The presence of pinholes and sawdust-like material nearby indicates carpenter ants are in the home.
When ants find a food source, they deposit pheromones to create a trail to guide other ants. When you see a line of ants, that indicates they have found an entry point into your home and are following the chemical trail to food sources in your home.
Many ant species create satellite colonies through swarming. Initially, an ant colony has a queen ant that produces offspring and sterile worker ants that forage, create tunnels, and tend to the young. When an ant colony matures (i.e., has enough worker ants), the queen produces male and female winged ants capable of reproducing. In the spring, usually after a temperature increase and a heavy rain, these ants fly from the nest, mate in the air, and land to begin a new colony. You will often see swarmers around outdoor lights at dawn or dusk.
Ants are insects that have an exterior skeleton (exoskeleton). As they progress through growth stages, they must shed their shells to enable their body to expand. Discarded exoskeletons indicate an infestation.
Ants are insects that have six legs, clubbed or bent antennae, and a three-part body (head, thorax, and abdomen) with a narrow waist. Swarmer ants have four tinted brown wings, with two front wings longer than the rear wings. Most ant species in our area have a 1/16 to 3/8 body; carpenter ants have up to a 5/8-inch body. Witnessing multiple ants
indicates you have a problem.
If you see ant infestation indicators in your home, you need help from the ant control service near your home, Wildlife and Pest Control Experts. We can remove whatever Jacksonville ant species is crawling through your house.
An Ant Infestation Is A Bigger Problem Than You May Think
All ant species are a nuisance when they invade homes. Ants create embarrassment for homeowners when they walk across cooking and eating surfaces or people. Some ants, like the odorous house ant, produce a rotten-coconut odor when crushed, creating more of a nuisance.
Have you ever wondered how ants climb vertically up walls? They can do these gravity-defying feats because of the tiny claws on each of their six legs. While this feature enables ants to access numerous places, it also causes disease-causing organisms to stick to their feet.
Ants forage in garbage, compost piles, and other unsanitary places to eat protein, fat, or carbohydrate-rich foods. Bacteria and other pathogens that thrive in these areas stick to their feet as they consume food in these unsanitary locations. These disease-causing organisms transfer to surfaces while the ants travel through the house. Although only the pharaoh ant species spreads disease in our area, which usually occurs in medical facilities, all types of ants contaminate items in a home.
Beyond being a nuisance and contaminating surfaces, one ant species, carpenter ants, cause physical damage to homes. These ants bore smooth tunnels deep into damp wood underneath the house. Since this wood is often structural support beams, years of a carpenter ant infestation may cause sagging floors, warping window and door frames, and collapsing structures. Carpenter ants create new colonies, and a homeowner may have several active carpenter ants nests with workers weakening timber in the house.
Some ants bite when threatened or cornered, resulting in temporary minimal pain or discomfort equivalent to a bee sting; however, a wound from some ants causes long-lasting effects. The most notorious ant in the Jacksonville area is the imported red fire ant. These ants bite to anchor themselves to their victim, but the real pain is from their stinger. Because they have smooth stingers, fire ants can hurt their victims repeatedly and inject venom. A fire ant sting results in a fluid-filled white blister that itches and burns for several days. For those with allergic sensitivities, the injected toxin can trigger severe reactions necessitating medical attention.
Wildlife and Pest Control Experts provide ant pest control treatments to protect your family from painful ant stings and your home from damage. We give you peace of mind knowing you must no longer endure the embarrassment of ants in your Jacksonville home.
Why Do-It-Yourself Ant Control Often Fails
When we see a line of ants marching through the kitchen, our natural inclination is to purchase a store product. Although you will feel initially satisfied as the product causes the ants to die, your happiness is usually short-lived because the product fails to address the attractants and entry points. Furthermore, if the ants have a nest inside wall voids, the product will not remove the eggs, and soon a new generation of ants will march across the floor.
While most ant species create new nests through swarming, some ants in the Jacksonville area spread by a process known as budding. If you treat an ant colony that uses this method, you may inadvertently cause the creation of many new nests and end up with a bigger problem than when you began.
Wildlife and Pest Control Experts succeed with ant pest control where store products fail. Ants inadvertently take our treatment product back to their nest, where it wipes out the colony. Thus, we end current and future ant infestations.
The Best Way To Get Rid Of An Ant Infestation
The best solution for ant control in Jacksonville is Wildlife and Pest Control Experts. When you call and explain your situation, we dispatch a highly-trained technician to your location. Our tech will investigate your home for attractants, entry points, and hot spots; we will also identify the species invading your property.
Once we gather data from our interview with you and our inspection results, we will formulate a strategic plan to eradicate the offending pest. We use sprays, baits, traps, and other treatment options to end the infestation. We will stop ants inside the house and provide ant control in your yard.
While our treatments will end the infestation in your home, you can prevent future problems by doing the following:
- Close indoor and outdoor garbage cans
- Seal cracks in the foundation and roofline
- Prune shrubs and tree branches away from the house
- Repair holes in window and door screens
- Install door sweeps on exterior doors
- Fix leaking pipes and plumbing fixtures
- Remove pet food from bowls before retiring to bed
In addition to these ant prevention tips, our expert technician will work with you to remove attractants and entry points into the home.
Contact Wildlife and Pest Control Experts today to learn about our customizable treatment plans and schedule your free no-obligation inspection.
