Where Do Ants Hide? Let’s Find Out

If you enjoy reading this article, why not check out our articles on Why Do Dead Ants Attract More Ants? Everything you need to Know and Tiny Ants in the Bathroom? The EASY Way to Get Rid of Them

Where do ants like to hide?

Ants are a rather tricky subject. They reproduce by the thousands -yes, thousands- and they can be found everywhere. Unlike other insects and pests, ants do not shy away from sunlight and have no problem working whether it is day or night. What’s worse, they are diligent, team players and ferocious. If you believe you are facing an ant problem, there are a couple of places you need to check on.

How do I find where ants are getting in?

The first thing you want to do is check any plants you might have brought home recently without inspecting it – it might be ground zero for your ant infestation, and their first hiding place. Afterward, you can move on to the most common places where ants hide: the kitchen and the bathroom. Ants, like many other insects, favor dark and musty places when they are choosing a home.

Before going to these two common ant hideouts, it’s best to look for other less common ant nests around the house: Inside your walls, under floor cracks, window frames and inside AC units. Any of these places are also a common hideout for ants, and they have little holes ants use to come and go from. Anything with rotten wood is a great place for ants to thrive in. And your AC filter -if left unchecked- might be filled with ants as well. Once you have ruled out all of these places, check your basement or attic if you have one.

But if none of these places seem to be filled with ants, you have to move to the two insects’ favorite places to live in: your kitchen and your bathroom.

Where do ants hide in your kitchen?

You might think of your kitchen as just a simple kitchen. But this is not the case for your everyday ant. Your kitchen is an ant’s paradise. A human’s kitchen has plenty of food to feed an ant’s colony for days on end. And it has a sink – a constant water source, something unusual in the ant’s world. Once you have realized this, you might understand why the kitchen is the most common place where ants decide to settle.

The most common places where ants will hide in your kitchen are the food cabinets and the fruit bowl. Anywhere where there is a food container poorly sealed or any spills -such as grease spills or juice spills- is a great place to attract ants. Water buildups, near the sink or due to leaks, are favored by ants as well. If you store your pet’s food in the kitchen, you have to make sure it is properly sealed and there are no leftovers from the day before, ants make no distinction when they are looking for food and your dog’s food will be just as good as human’s food for them.

Where do ants hide in your bathroom?

Even though ants would rather be in your kitchen surrounded by food, they will settle for your bathroom as well. Ants need water to survive, and your bathroom is a prime source for it. They also favor moisture immensely, a sure thing to find in a bathroom. If you have ants in your bathroom, they are probably nesting near a water leak or the drain.

Check behind your sink and toilet, as they are the darkest places in your bathroom. You should also make sure your shampoo and other bathroom goods are properly sealed and stored, as ants get attracted to their fruity scent. If you have anything made of wood inside your bathroom, the constant moisture might be rotting it slowly. If you have anything made with rotten wood, there is a high chance ants will be there as well. If you want to read a whole article about what to do with the ants in your bathroom, here it is: Tiny Ants in the Bathroom? The EASY Way to Get Rid of Them.

Where do ants hide in your car?

As you have probably realized, ants do not discriminate when it comes to looking for food. An unusual but possible place for ants to hide in is your car. Whether you have an infestation in your home and ants traveled to your car or you parked on top of an ant’s nest – if they found food in your car, you have trouble.

If there are ants in your car, the first thing you want to do is remove any source of nutrition for ants: old food, food packages, a trash bag you might have inside the car, even that sticky thing near the seat. Afterward, you have to look for common ants’ hideouts: dark and moist places. Inside your car seat, under the carpet, and inside the AC. Look for ants and vacuum everywhere – don’t let them hitchhike inside your garage and eventually, inside your house.

Where do ants hide in the winter?

When the winter hits and temperatures fall greatly, ants stop their everyday activities and hibernate. Before the weather gets cold, ants start to look for a place to survive the winter in. They look for a warm, secluded place where their colony can lay in and wait for the frozen weather to be over. Your house might be just the place.

During the winter, ants won’t go looking for food or water like they’d do in the summer, so you probably won’t see ants in your kitchen or bathroom. They’ll go for secluded places, like your basement or attic. They will favor isolated locations, such as in between walls or inside window frames. They will go under wooden floors if they are poorly maintained as well. Do you want to know more about what ants do in the winter?? Lucky for you we’ve got an article about it! Do Ants Hibernate in the Winter? Let’s Find Out.

What attracts ants in your house?

There are three things that an ant goes out of their way to look for: Food, water, and shelter. If your house can provide any of these three things, any ant will promptly go back to their colony and get more ants to get the rest of whatever it found in your house.

If your house can provide shelter -moist, secure, isolated places- for ants, that will attract them. If there is water available for ants -such as a leaking sink or a bathroom with poorly maintained pipes- ants will go there. If your kitchen is not properly cleaned -and you have breadcrumbs all over, your fruit bowl isn’t taken care of, your kitchen cabinets are not properly sealed- ants will make themselves feel at home there as well.

How do you find where ants are entering your house from?

The best way to get to know where ants are coming from is following the ants. This can prove tricky and difficult as ants can get to places where most humans cannot, but with patience and diligence, you can eventually get to know where they are coming from.

Remember not to follow one single and -that ant might be lost or looking for new food sources- but follow trails of ants leaving your house. A great way to fasten this process is to leave bait -little amounts of food in the open for ants to grab- and wait until ants come to take it back home. Follow the trail of ants who took the bait and you’ll know where they are coming from.

How do I prevent ants from getting into my house?

If you don’t want to face an ant infestation, there are two things you have to do.

• First of all, make sure your house is not an attractive place for ants to scavenge or settle in. This means removing anything that ant may favor in their scavenging travels.
  • Food and water sources need to be out of an ant’s reach. This might seem simple, but it’s easier said than done.
  • You have to keep your kitchen -and every room that has food- perfectly clean, there should be no drink spillages or food crumbs around your house.
  • Make sure your food containers are properly sealed and there are no ways an ant may access the food inside your house.
  • No matter how tiny. You should fix any water leaks and moisture issues you may have around your house, as water is an important thing for ants.
  • Make sure the pipes and drains in your bathroom are working correctly. And you should have no mold inside your house if you want no ants in your home.

• Even if you have taken care of everything inside your house, ants might find themselves settling in just because they need shelter.
  • That’s why you need to shut down any possible point of entry for ants as well. Any small cracks in your walls, windows, and doors need to be sealed.
  • You should protect any possible point of entry -like doors or windows- with ant deterrent, talcum powder works wonder for this scenario.

I have found a few ants in my house, is this bad?

If you found a few ants inside your house, there is no reason to believe you are in trouble just yet. But it is best to prevent a small issue from getting out of hand.

Follow the prevention tips to avoid more ants coming in. If you still find yourself with ants inside your home after you took care of everything around the house, you might have an ant colony inside your house or nearby, and it is best to call a professional to deal with the issue. There are home remedies to be used found all over the internet, but when it comes to ants, it’s best to trust those who know how to take care of the issue professionally.

If you enjoyed reading this article, why not check out our articles on Why do Dead Ants Attract More Ants? Everything you need to Know and Are Ants Active at Night?