Home // Unwelcome Guests: How Ants Infest NZ Homes – and What to Do About Them

Unwelcome Guests: How Ants Infest NZ Homes – and What to Do About Them

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Ants are a nuisance that all NZ homeowners dread. Their nests can destabilise the very structure of your home, and they can damage everything from your food supplies to wires and appliances.

As New Zealand’s ant control experts, we at Carpets and Critters are uniquely positioned to teach you how to get rid of ants, but before we do, you must know how they infest your home in the first place. See here for more:

How do ants infest NZ homes?

Ants are tricky creatures, and can easily enter NZ homes through small cracks in your walls, doors, windows and even your foundations. They are attracted to the warmth of your indoor environment, including the food and water to be found there.

When ants scout out these food and water sources, they leave pheromone trails behind. These pheromone trails draw other ants into your home, where nesting sites are then created underneath floors and behind your appliances. This marks the beginning of a fully-fledged ant infestation in your home.

And, for NZ homeowners that are particularly concerned, yes, some of these NZ ants can bite! The most common species invading homes in New Zealand are the white-footed house ant, and the Argentine ant. Both can bite when provoked, which is why ant control is generally best left to the professionals – like us at Carpets and Critters.

What can I do about these ants?

Aside from calling pest control professionals at your earliest convenience, there are some measures homeowners can take to both prevent ant infestations and treat them whilst they’re ongoing:

1. Seal the entry points into your home

Because ants break into your home through small cracks and gaps, it’s important to plug and seal as many as you can find, inside and outside the home. The best way to do so is by using caulk, which provides a durable and strong seal.

2. Maintain as high a standard of cleanliness as possible

Ants are drawn towards food waste, so you must also maintain as high a standard of cleanliness as possible in your home. The cleaner it is, the less ants will be drawn there! This is particularly relevant to your kitchen and dining areas, where food and spills are often left out in the open.

3. Spray natural remedies as deterrents

Natural mixtures of either vinegar, lemon juice or essential oils can be diluted with water into a spray bottle, and applied to the areas in your home where ants are most active. This will disrupt their pheromone trails, and ward them away from these places.

For ant control in New Zealand that you can depend on, look to Carpets and Critters. From our home in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, we have long rid NZ homeowners of the most aggressive and pervasive ant infestations. To find out more about our ant control services for both domestic and commercial properties, please get in touch with us today.

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Here are a few words from some of our satisfied customers.

 Paula Kurei

Got Tony and his services in to help.eliminate cockroaches. He did a marvelous job of getting rid of them and we've nothing since then. Also got him to help with mice and rats and once again a marvelous job.. our house is critter free.. Thanks Tony & crew

 Peta Browne

Thanks Tony for the couch clean. My gosh what a difference you’ve made. It’s brilliant. I don’t let the kids on the couch now to avoid it getting dirty again! Hands down recommend carpets and critters if you need your couches cleaned. I’m positive Tony will do an amazing job on anything else you need also. Thank you!

 Erna du Preez

Shout out to Tony from Carpets & Critters. He cleaned and flea treated our carpets after we moved out of our rental. He was excellent in communication, patient and did a fantastic job. We would DEFINITELY recommend them and use them again in future!

 Katie Worthy

Amazing service! Super friendly and helpful. A late pre-Christmas request and it wasnt a problem. Highly recommend.

Chris Joubert

Tony had a tough job with the state of our carpets due to two messy large dogs, but he got them looking good as new and smelling fresh again. Amazing service and highly recommended!

 Clare Lowrie

Tony did such a great job cleaning our carpet where the cat had peed. Very quick, efficient and friendly service and the cleaning products smell nice compared to others we’ve used.

 Serai Stockman

We had Tony out to do a fly extermination at our place and it’s been an absolute game changer. We haven’t seen a fly since — the one that did sneak in didn’t last long at all. Excellent service and already recommended him to the whole family!

 Petra Parkinson

Tony has done a great professional job in placing a patch in our carpet where the fire place was removed. It looks amazing and I can’t actually see where it is joined in. It’s perfect! Thank you for a wonderful job.

 Sara Davie

We used Carpets and Critters and we were very impressed with their communication and their service. They came when they said they were going to come, they did a great job and there was excellent communication throughout. We are very happy with the finished result. Thank you so much