Spring is here, and with the sunny, warmer days come the return of things like ants emerging from their underground winter homes, looking for readily available food and water. This is why you might be finding that your pet’s food bowl is suddenly being plagued by an ant brigade. So how do you stop it?
Placing pet food bowls in a shallow tray of water is the most common weapon in the anti-ant arsenal. The moats work well in theory — because ants can’t swim, they can’t reach the food bowl island, right? It should work, except that ants are very resourceful, and will often use their dead, drowned brethren to create a bridge to the bowl. Hey, it’s an ant-eat-ant kind of world sometimes.
Pets add to the problem, accidentally dropping food in the water, which can then be used as stepping stones. Vigilance — regularly cleaning the moat and changing the water — may help. Some people recommend putting petroleum jelly around the edge of the moat or bowl, but the first ants become mired in the goo, and those behind climb on their bodies to reach the food. It also gets all over your pets.
There are dozens of ant-proof items on the market. A popular one is a bowl that appears to float off the floor. It’s actually sitting on a base that elevates the bowl slightly, so the ants must crawl under the bowl to the supporting base, climb up the side, make a U-turn to head down the opposite side, then summit the lip and up the outside of the bowl. Apparently, they get baffled at the U-turn and never complete the journey.
To stop the ants before they get in the house, experts suggest using outdoor-grade silicone caulk to fill cracks and gaps in your foundation and siding, sealing up anything larger than a quarter inch. Door sweeps can help with gaps at entryways, as will patching or replacing damaged windows and screens.
If you can track where the ants are coming in, you can sprinkle cinnamon or talcum powder over the entrance. And instead of using ant spray to kill the ants, use Windex or Febreeze. They will kill the intruders, but won’t harm your pet.
Lastly, keep the feeding area spotless, cleaning up any dropped food and picking up the bowls when not in use. This will make it less tempting to the ants.
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Photo Credit: Impact Photography / Shutterstock.com