House Ants

It’s summer in Crown Point, Chesterton, and Valparaiso!  It’s time for favorite activities like bike rides through the park, Frisbee and baseball.  Summer is also a time for picnics and cook outs, and those always unwelcome guests:ants.  But ants can crash an indoor party just as easily as one outside.  How do you get rid of your army of pests?  Follow this trail of crumbs:

1. If you’re able to follow the trail of ants you’ll eventually get to the source of your troubles, meaning some crumb of food in the bottom of a cabinet, in the trash can, under the sink with the recyclables, wherever.  Ants don’t just show up for the fun of it.  There’s something at the end of the line that’s got their attention.  Whatever it is, however small it is, get rid of it!
2. Thoroughly clean counters, backsplashes, sinks, floors, cabinets (inside and out), under the sink, inside the trash can, anywhere the ants have been.  This will remove any residual food scents they have been hauling from the source back to their home.  There are two trouble spots to pay particular attention to.  First are hard to reach areas like under the sink.  Second is the trashcan.  Often bits of food end up on the lip of the receptacle, or even on its side.  This is especially true if you have young children who, despite their best efforts to help clean the dinner table, can sometimes miss their mark when disposing of food scraps in the trash.  Take the can outside, hose it off and scrub thoroughly.
3. If you set ant traps you want to place them along the ants’ supply route, which is to say between where they are and where they’re headed.  If you’ve caught them on the floor along the floorboard on their way to the trash that’s where you need to place your trap.  Also, as much as possible, put them in an inconspicuous space.

The object is to get rid of the pests AND keep them from returning during your (indoor) summer festivities.