Spring is a time for warmer days, restorative rain and the start of garden season. But, for many people, springtime means more pests as insects, plants and animals become more active.
Fortunately, there is a safe and effective way to deal with pests that helps lessen the use of pesticides: integrated pest management. Integrated pest management is a practice that focuses on pest prevention, combines multiple pest control tactics, and turns to pesticides as a last resort.
Oregon State University has created a resource, Solve Pest Problems, to help people tackle many common pests in the Pacific Northwest. The website provides effective, low-risk, science-based information for preventing and dealing with pests.
Solve Pest Problems shares recommended practices to deal with specific pests such as mice, rats, weeds, yellowjackets, spiders, ants, aphids, moss, mold and more.
How does integrated pest management work?
Let’s look at how this practice would deal with ants. Ants are especially active in the spring when they are looking for a warm place to grow their colony. Often these colonies will send out scavengers to find food to take back to their home.
Once they do, they will bring more and more ants to the food source, leaving a distinct chemical trail along the way.
Step 1: Identify the pest. The first step is to identify what kind of ant you are dealing with. Solve Pest Problems has images and info to identify the two most common ants in our region, the odorous house ants (Tapinoma sessile) and pavement ants (Tetramorium caespitum).
Step 2: Assess benefits and risks. An important part of integrated pest management is deciding your threshold for action. Are the ants in the garden or are the ants in the kitchen? Ants are an important part of the natural environment, but they can be a nuisance, ruining your food and damaging your property.
Step 3: Take action? There are benefits and risks in both action and inaction. Solve Pest Problems suggests acting to address ants by cleaning their scent trail at a minimum. The risk of not acting means more ants will gather and the problem will grow.
Sugar crumbs are an attractive food source for ants. Removing these cookies and crumbs will help deter ants.
Step 4: Solutions. The website emphasizes prevention practices as well as removal practices. For ants, that means sealing cracks outside your house to prevent their entry, addressing any moisture problems or water leaks that could drive ants into your home, and removing attractive food sources such as sugar crumbs.
After taking those steps, then monitor for foraging ants. Don’t forget to check indoor plants for hidden ants. If you see a trail of ants, use an over-the-counter product that contains less than 5% boric acid ingredients.
Ant bait traps are the most effective method for eliminating ants from your home. Wait 3-5 days for bait to work. In rare cases, add more bait and wait another 3-5 days. Then caulk and seal any gaps and clean the area with soap and water.
Spraying insecticides should not be considered for ants, as ants need to take the bait back to the nest to eliminate the issue. Solve Pest Problems recommends carefully reading the product labels and using personal protective equipment when using any potentially harmful material.
If you use insecticides, store them in a cool, dry place out of reach for children and pets. Never pour insecticides down the drain. If you want to dispose of unused insecticides, take them to one of Metro’s household hazardous waste facilities.
For more tips to deal with ants and other pests, visit the Solve Pest Problems website. For information on household hazardous waste disposal, Ask Metro at 503-234-3000 or message Metro's waste prevention experts online.