Ant Eaters

    So I am sure some of you are thinking I am going to write about the mammal that is known for eating both ants and termites. Anteaters originate from South and parts of Central America and can some species grow up to 1.8 meters or almost six feet! After all this is a blog about pest control, so why not talk about an animal that exists on earth thanks to the pests it consumes as part of its daily eating habits? But since Anteaters are not native to America, perhaps it is better that I stick to the ants who are eaters of the foods we leave in our kitchens.

            Whether you live in an apartment or single family home a neighborhood or downtown, it is likely that you have come across ants in your kitchen at one point in time or another. All insects have certain conditions that make them more prevalent to humans, and when it comes to ants, those conditions just happen to most often take place in kitchens. Almost all ant species, whether big or small, are attracted to two things, sugar and water. Water is a necessity to all matters of life and next to water is food, and for ants, food often comes in the form of sugar. Any product containing sugar is highly palatable ants almost year round, so it is no surprise when you find ants in the sugar bowl in your pantry or raiding a banana left on the kitchen counter.

            Chemical sprays are often the best forms of pest control to use in and around structure to keep the bugs at bay. But kitchens are different. Because most of the surfaces in a kitchen have the potential to be exposed to food, it is important to try to stay away from liquid and aerosol pesticides on those surfaces. Instead, when it comes to insects and in particular ants, we use baits in kitchen to help eradicate the problem. Baits are a great choice because they can be self-contained and are very clean applications to use in the kitchen on counter tops or pantries where food may be present.

             A bait station such as the InTice Gelanimo is bait that comes pre-packaged in ant stations that contains highly attractive sugar gel bait. Bait stations are perfect for placing directly on counter tops or other flat surfaces not only keeping the bait away from food, but also allowing easy access for the ants.

            Some situations in the kitchen do not allow for easy placement of bait stations. This is when I prefer bait gels that typically come in a syringe like container and is used to place the bait directly on the surface where the ants are being seen.

            Whatever the problem is you are having in your kitchen, there will always be an ant product out there. Just be sure to research the product before you buy it. One last word of advice is in order to help the products work more effectively, you will want to make sure the surfaces where you are placing the bait is clean of any sort of chemical spray. Whether it is 409, Windex or a pesticide, if you do not use a wet rag to wipe the surfaces down, the ants might just not take the bait.