How to get rid of ants after rain? It might be the question you ask yourself after every rain. Ants are a common sight after heavy rain. Let’s find out the answer in this article. First you need to know why they invade your home after rain. Here is the answer.
Why do ants come into my house after it rains?
Once the living habitats of the ant’s flooded by the rain, they tend to invade your home. As you may already know, ants live in tunnels underground and they find comfort living there. However, once the spring season comes, their living places could get inundated with flood water and it will make them leave their living space and come out of the ground.
If they experience a severe rainfall, chances are that the entire ant colony will have to shift from there to somewhere where they can stay protected. This Means the entire colony will go in search of a shelter. So, eventually they would end up reaching your home, particularly if there is an unsealed crack at your home.
How unpleasant it would be to spot a swarm of ants in your kitchen or in the bathroom at your home. Almost all people are not fans of ants as they are not clean. In fact, they can walk through feces, decaying animals and on other unclean elements which you avoid.
So, once they invade your space, chances are that they would have come to your place right after walking through those surfaces.
How to get rid of ants after rain ?
First and foremost, you can consider using a mild solution of vinegar and water as it would disrupt them. Usually ants form in larger colonies. Hence it is important that you act fast and try to get rid of the entire colony.
Besides, There are several homemade or store-bought remedies which you can use and solve the issue easily too. However, I do not recommend applying a spray right on top of the ants as it is very unlikely that you can get rid of the ants queen ant by doing it.
Ideally you need to bait the worker ants so that they would take it to their colony and then consume. Once they bring it to the colony, chances are that the queen ant will also eat them and end up perishing. If they keep coming out after a rainfall means, there is a severe ant invasion in your home. It could be due to lapses of the way you treated them and due to maintenance problems as well.
However, if you cannot get rid of them despite what you do, I suggest you consult a pest removal service and get their instructions. They would look for the root cause and fix the problem faster.
How to prevent ants from getting into home ?
Seal all the cracks and the gaps at your home.
If there are any gaps in your home, especially around the doors and windows, ants would feel welcome to reach your space through those entry points. Moreover, they can sneak to your home through tears in screens, through plumbing etc. So, best is to always keep inspecting these places and seal whatever the openings you can spot. That will make it difficult for the ants to navigate your space.
Further check for hitchhikers
Once you bring something new from outdoors, you should observe those properly to see if you can spot any hitch-hiking insects. For example, if you bring any new box or fresh flowers, plants or any other supplies, closely check whether there are any ants hidden in those. Best thing is to keep them outdoors for some time and then bring them indoors.
Avoid giving free lunch for ants
Ants have basic requirements such as food, shelter and water. So , let them go deprived of these at your home whenever possible.
So that it will prevent them from invading your space. Here is what you need to,
- Observe your kitchen and bathroom and see whether you can spot any leak or condensation. If you spot any, immediately attend to it and fix them.
- Always ensure that you keep the cleanliness at your home to the best. For example, clean all your kitchen surfaces well. You need to specially look at them once you complete having meals.
- Make sure that you wash your dishes daily
- Always store food in tightly fit containers. Do not leave them open.
- Keep doing the regular vacuuming , sweeping, and mopping
- Ensure that you keep all your home appliances such as microwave, oven clean
- Dispose all the garbage / trash in a proper way and get rid of them on a daily basis
You can further consider having an insect barrier also so that they cannot sneak into your space.
What do ants do when it rains?
As aforesaid, once it rains, they would tend to go for a place where they can get some shelter which would most probably be your home. Further experts have discovered that ants can sense rain. Once they would tend to look for more food, build higher walls around the nest and try to close them prior to the rainy season coming.
If they accidentally get caught up in the rain, they tend to walk on the water. Further if we consider fire ants, they would tend to make a raft also. They will not even drown in such situations. If the ants get caught with rain during foraging, they will first try to complete the task first particularly if the food is available beneath a roof. Even if they get hit by a raindrop, they will still manage to hang in there.
Where do ants go when it rains?
They would simply try to look for shelter and it could most probably be your home. Ants would not stay in the same place as simply they would go out foraging and chances are that they would get caught up in rain during this process.
Read Next : Rats And Heavy Rain | Super Interesting Facts |
