Earth Guard's Blog

Our friends at Sacramento News 10 called recently about a story they were doing on how to get rid of ants without harming the environment. Long story short, it seems one of the newscasters had woken up that morning to find ants in her kitchen!

The news team gathered some home remedies from their Facebook fans, such as baby powder, cayenne pepper and cinnamon, white chalk and even dried cream of wheat. Then they turned to the experts!

Earth Guard Pest Management manager Barbara Romig and technican Lito Marquez from our excellent team of Sacramento pest control professionals were happy to share information about Earth Guard’s line of green pest control products, which include botanical oils that stop the ants without the use of toxic chemicals that can get into the air or water. Here’s a link to the clip on Earth Guard’s YouTube channel:

We’re still getting calls about ants with every shower. This great article about a 2001 Stanford study of 69 California households explains that bug spray and ant baits simply won’t stop them. The culprit is weather: The study concludes that ant “abundance is highest in winter when the weather is cold and wet, and there is a second, smaller peak in the hotter, drier part of summer.”

 The article goes on to discuss the ecological impact of the Argentine ant that has successfully invaded California. Among other impacts, the Argentine ant has decimated native ants that are a food source for the native horned lizard found in the San Diego area. The Argentine ants are so successful in part because they do not fight among their own species but rather treat other Argentine colonies as part of their extended family. Hmm, maybe a lesson there for our human species…

Great article in our industry trade magazine re: pest control do-it-yourselfers. A study by Orkin found it depends a lot on what kind of pest is buggin’ you: “87 percent of adults are more likely to call a professional to control termites, followed by cockroaches (58 percent), rodents and bed bugs (56 percent), ants (27 percent) and spiders (24 percent)….

Our Sacramento pest control company often gets the call when do-it-yourself remedies don’t get the job done.

“What’s alarming is the amount of pesticide applied by homeowners compared to professionals. Homeowners spray everywhere and with increasing frequency and concentration in response to poor control results. Not only do DIY-ers expose their families to high levels of pesticides, but they often spend as much money as if they hired a professional. Read more at: http://www.pctonline.com/Article.aspx?article_id=42356

You remember that old song we used to sing on school field trips or at summer camp—“The ants go marching one by one….” The chorus ends: “And they all go marching down—to the ground—to get out—of the rain—boom boom boom.”

As in many fairy tales and childhood songs, there is a kernel of truth in that verse: Rainy weather does send ants scurrying, long columns of them rushing here and there, searching for any crack or crevice that will take them out of the drowning wetness, into someplace warm and dry.

Our Sacramento pest control company recently got a frantic call from a woman who had put off dealing with an enormous ant infestation on a large crepe myrtle tree that hung over her driveway. On a recent rainy morning, she walked out through her garage to pick up the morning paper, only to step, barelegged, into a swarm of ants that were using the concrete seam in the center of her garage floor as a highway under the garage door and into her dry garage.

Once ants are present in large numbers, they can be exceptionally difficult to eliminate. Inspection and identification of the type of ant is critical to effective treatment—and may be an argument for calling on a trained pest control professional rather than depending on a can of spray and a prayer. (For more information about common Sacramento-area ants, visit my blog post at http:// http://earthguardpest.com/blog/?p=13.)

For customers who choose a “green” pest control solution, which most often involves placing baits that the ants carry back to their colonies, follow-up monitoring, refilling of bait stations and reinspection are required, and it usually takes longer to be completely ant-free.

If you find yourself, like our customer, with ants crawling up your legs, or you walk into your kitchen to see a trail of ants across the floor and up your cabinet doors, here are some immediate steps to take—instead of grabbing for a can of bug spray:

If ants have been attracted by a food source, locate the source, remove it and clean the area thoroughly.

• Clean the trail with soapy water or spray cleaner and wipe up or vacuum up ants.
• Try to determine where the ants have entered your home, and caulk the opening or plug it with petroleum jelly.

With the rainy season upon us, ants from your yard or garden will be looking for ways into your warm, dry home. Take a look around your foundation, doors and windows; check around spas, storage sheds and garbage cans. Take quick action to prevent ants from moving in for the winter!

For more information about ants and other household pests, visit www.earthguardpest.com, or call us at 916-457-7605.

Spring and summer is high season for ants and for ant pest problems in our homes and gardens.

There are some 200 species of ants in California, but fewer than a dozen are common household pests in our area. Of those, the most common is the Argentine ant, a dull-brown ant about 1/8-inch in length. Less common but also significant pests are the pharaoh ant, the odorous house ant, the thief ant and the southern fire ant. If you step on an odorous house ant, which is dark brown to black and about the same size as the Argentine ant, you may recognize it by its strong odor. Carpenter ants are black or red and black and larger than the Argentine ant at ¼ to ½ inch in length and, because they hollow out and nest in wood, can do significant damage to homes and buildings. Our L.A. neighbors are dealing with a serious problem from the red imported fire ant, which has recently established a population there; they have not yet been found in Northern California.

Most of the ants we see are easily recognizable. However, in the warm spring months, mature ant colonies produce winged ants, which travel away from the nest to mate and form new colonies. For that reason, ants are sometimes mistaken for termites.

Inside your home, ants may feed on sweets such as sugar, honey or fruit juice, or on fats and meats. Your first sight of ants may be of a long chain of them leading from the food source inside your home to their nest outdoors or in the cracks and crevices of your home.

Ants often make their trails on pipes or wires and enter buildings via cracks and crevices. Caulking can help prevent ants from entering your home. Rinsing out soft-drink and juice containers before putting them into the recycling bin and storing sugar and syrups in airtight containers also helps.

Your local pest control professional can assist you by identifying the type of ant or pest problem you have, assessing the best way to eliminate it and prevent future invasions, and helping you decide upon the right combination of pest control services for your household or business.

For a free pest assessment and estimate from our licensed, bonded and certified pest control professionals, contact Earth Guard Pest Services, (916) 457-7605 or toll-free (877) 328-4468, contact@EarthGuardPest.com.  

Source: University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program