Understanding Tick-Borne Diseases in NJ and How to Stay Safe

Tick-Borne Diseases in New Jersey and How to Protect Your Family

New Jersey ticks are more than just a nuisance. They are transmitters of serious diseases that can affect you, your family, and your pets. Our state is considered a hot spot for tick activity in the U.S., making understanding tick-borne diseases crucial.

Precise Termite & Pest Control is here to help you get a handle on New Jersey ticks and prevent diseases before risks ever occur through education, prevention strategies, and targeted exterior tick control services

Why New Jersey Ticks Are a Problem

New Jersey is known for its lush woodlands, abundant wildlife, and temperate climate. These are ideal conditions for ticks to thrive, and our state has a long history of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.

Ticks are most active between spring and fall, although some tick species survive year-round. Ticks climb onto brush, leaves, and tall grass as they wait for hosts to pass by. Then they latch onto unsuspecting animals and people and can transmit pathogens directly into the bloodstream.

Common NJ Tick-Borne Diseases

Here are some of the most common NJ tick-borne diseases to be mindful of:

Lyme disease: Transmitted by infected ticks and can cause fever, rash, fatigue, joint pain, and chronic health problems
Anaplasmosis: Results in flu-like symptoms like muscle aches, fever, chills, and headaches
Babesiosis: A malaria-like infection that affects red blood cells and can be severe in people with compromised immune systems
Rocky Mountain spotted fever: Less common among New Jersey ticks, but still possible, and can cause a rash, fever, and headache

How Tick-Borne Diseases Spread

New Jersey ticks spread diseases after feeding on wildlife that carry pathogens and becoming infected themselves. They can then transmit these pathogens to humans and pets.

Many tick-borne diseases are transmitted after ticks remain attached for approximately 24 to 36 hours, as pathogens can enter the host’s bloodstream through prolonged contact. For this reason, immediate tick checks after outdoor activities are crucial, as the sooner a tick is removed from the body, the less likely it is to transmit disease.

Tick-Related Symptoms to Watch for

The symptoms of NJ tick-borne diseases can vary from one illness to another and among different people. However, here are some of the earliest indicators that you may be suffering from a tick-borne disease:

Fever
Chills
Fatigue
Muscle aches
Rash at the bite site
Headache
Neck stiffness
Joint pain and swelling

How to Prevent New Jersey Ticks

Fortunately, there are practical ways to prevent tick-borne diseases even if you love outdoor recreation activities in New Jersey.

First, keep a tidy, well-maintained yard that is free of leaf litter, tall vegetation, and excess brush. Ticks love shaded, moist areas around the edges of a yard. By eliminating these attractive tick habitats, you’ll help prevent them from becoming established near your home’s exterior.

Next, create natural barriers or buffer zones between your lawn and wooded natural areas using wood chips or mulch. These buffers make it harder for ticks to migrate into your personal space.

When you spend time outdoors, wear light-colored clothes so it’s easier to see ticks that may latch onto you. Use EPA-registered tick repellent, and after spending time outside, check yourself, other people, and pets for signs of ticks.

Professional Tick Control Services

In addition to these precautionary measures, Precise offers outdoor-only professional tick control services in New Jersey. Our tick treatments focus on targeted exterior applications up to 4 feet in from the property perimeter, where tick activity is most commonly found.

If you are concerned about ticks in your area, please contact us for a free inspection and consultation. It is our goal to give New Jersey residents peace of mind that they are safe from ticks and to do everything possible to prevent tick-borne diseases.

Tick Control 101: Where Ticks Hide and How to Prevent Them

A Homeowner’s Guide to Tick Habitats and Prevention

Ticks are certainly tiny, but they can cause serious problems when they take up residence around your home and yard. From itchy bites to severe Lyme disease symptoms, it’s crucial to understand the basics of tick control if you live in New Jersey.

At Precise Termite & Pest Control, we are here to help you feel confident and educated about tick prevention to protect your family and property. So, here’s a lesson in Tick Control 101 that you can refer back to during any season of the year.

Tick Habitats Around Homes and Yards

Ticks thrive in moist, shaded areas with high humidity and nearby viable hosts (such as wildlife, pests, and people). Although many people assume that you only encounter ticks in the deep woods, you also often find them in residential yards near wooded areas, tall grass, brush, and leaf piles. These hiding spots provide ideal places for ticks waiting to latch onto unsuspecting hosts.

You might also find ticks hitching a ride on your pet’s fur after spending time outdoors or on clothing you wear outside. Once ticks move inside, you might find them hiding in cracks and crevices, in carpet, and around baseboards. Understanding these types of hiding spots can help you focus your tick control efforts where they’re most effective outdoors, where tick populations typically originate

Peak Tick Season and Behaviors

In New Jersey, ticks are most active during the summer months. However, some tick activity extends into the spring and fall as well. Ticks require blood meals to survive and reproduce. So, they often attach to warm areas of the body, such as behind the knees, around the waistband, and inside the ears.

After spending time outdoors, make a point to regularly inspect family members and pets to improve early detection and strengthen your tick prevention strategy.

Practical Tick Prevention Tips

However, effective tick prevention involves more than just removing ticks after they latch on. It also requires making your home and yard less attractive to these pests in the first place.

Here are some tick control strategies to try at home:

Keep a tidy yard, including trimming grass short, removing fallen branches, and raking leaves
Create barriers around lawn edges and play areas with gravel, wood chips, or mulch to discourage tick activity
Landscape strategically to remove potential tick habitats around decks, patios, and playgrounds
Try EPA-registered repellents to deter ticks from your skin and clothing
Perform full-body checks of people and pets to check for ticks after spending time outside

Contact Us for Professional Tick Control

Although these at-home measures can be extremely beneficial and effective, nothing beats professional tick control for the most comprehensive defense. Precise Pest Control’s technicians can identify problem tick areas and apply targeted exterior treatments up to 4 feet in from the property perimeter, focusing on areas where ticks are most likely to live and breed.

At Precise, we offer outdoor-only tick control services that help you be proactive about tick prevention and avoid dangerous diseases with long-term consequences. It is our goal to provide you with peace of mind about your yard, so you can enjoy more time outside and make memories with the ones you love.

We have decades of experience managing ticks in New Jersey landscapes and can customize tick control solutions to your specific needs. Please contact us online or at 866-971-2847 to learn more about our tick prevention and to schedule your free inspection.

Where Do Winter Pests Go? A Complete Guide to Bugs, Rodents & More in Cold Weather

Seasonal Habits of Common Winter Pests

It’s easy to assume that insects and rodents hibernate or disappear during the cold winter months, since we start seeing fewer of them here in New Jersey. But in reality, many pests remain active throughout the winter and may even move closer to and into your home as temperatures drop.

So, where do bugs go in the winter, and where do mice go in the winter when they’re less visible day to day? The experts at Precise Termite & Pest Control answer these questions to help you tackle common winter pests and stay one step ahead of them year-round.

Where Do Bugs Go in the Winter?

Some bug species migrate in winter, while others hide in dark spaces and enter buildings for warmth. Insects like carpenter ants and stink bugs commonly take up shelter in homes after slipping through small cracks around windows, doors, and insulation. Insects like mosquitoes may go dormant in a hibernation-like state during the winter to conserve energy in protected indoor spaces.

Ants may retreat deep underground to their insulated chambers in the winter, while spiders find shelter under leaves, logs, and rocks. Termites tend to remain active year-round, infesting wooden structures and living in warm soil.

Meanwhile, ticks can stay active on mild winter days above 40 degrees and hide in tall grasses and wooded areas. Extreme weather doesn’t eliminate tick populations; in fact, snow can insulate and protect them, ensuring their survival until spring.

Where Do Mice Go in the Winter?

In the winter, mice love moving into your home and raiding your pantry while staying safe and warm. Mice and rats love indoor environments in the winter because they provide food, water, shelter, and heat. Mice commonly enter through attics, basements, garages, and wall voids.

Rodents continue breeding year-round, even during the winter. Mice that remain outside commonly nest in wood piles, burrows under porches, and in sheds and garages.

Common Winter Pests to Watch For

Here are some of the most common winter pests to keep an eye out for this season because of how they stay active in cold weather and near homes:

Spiders
Silverfish
Mice & Rats
Rodents

Protecting Your Home from Winter Pests

Once you understand where common winter pests go during the colder months, you can focus on troublesome entry points, accessible food sources, and areas with excess moisture. You can also tidy up the exterior of your home to prevent winter pests by moving firewood away from your home, trimming branches that touch your roof, and clearing fallen leaves.

Contact Us for Help with New Jersey’s Common Winter Pests

Indeed, the most concerning insects and rodents don’t simply disappear just because it’s winter in New Jersey. But this is why Precise Termite & Pest Control is available to help you with your pest concerns year-round.

It’s crucial to stay ahead of winter pests and shield your home before they have a chance to settle in, reproduce, or cause damage. At the first signs of winter pest activity, we recommend calling us at 866-971-2847 or filling out our online form.

We offer free inspections and prompt, professional extermination service to help you enjoy the winter season in comfort and peace.

Is Winter Pest Control Necessary and How to Pest Proof Your Home

Do You Need Pest Control in Winter?

When local temperatures drop in New Jersey, many homeowners assume that pests magically disappear until spring. However, the opposite is often true, and it is an unfortunate reality that residents often learn the hard way.

Not only is winter pest control necessary, but it’s also among the most important steps you can take to protect your house from costly damage. When you address pest control in the winter rather than ignore it, you can avoid frustrating infestations that pose health risks and enjoy a safer, cleaner season while spending more cozy time indoors.

Why Winter Pest Control Is Essential

Winter pest control services, like those we provide at Precise, are helpful because many pests move indoors in search of warmth and shelter. Rodents and insects can squeeze through tiny spaces and find everything they need to survive right inside your home.

Common household pests like mice are notorious for reproducing rapidly and not necessarily waiting until spring to have their babies. It’s common for other pests, such as carpenter ants and stink bugs, to go dormant inside your home during the winter. These pests may stay hidden until outside temperatures rise, and then surprise you when you least expect them.

Ultimately, year-round prevention strategies like winter pest control can help you detect problems early so you’re not dealing with an influx of rodents and insects in the spring.

Best Approaches for Pest Control in the Winter

The process of preventing winter pests begins with good home maintenance and mindfulness about how you store food, monitor entry points, and handle moisture buildup. To start, inspect your home for potential entry points through small openings. Common areas are foundation cracks, doors, windows, utility pipes, rooflines, dryer vents, and attic openings.

To be proactive about pest control in the winter, always keep food tightly sealed and stored away in air-tight containers. Since many nuisance pests thrive in damp environments, reduce moisture in your home by fixing leaking faucets, ensuring good ventilation in the kitchen and bathrooms, and keeping outside gutters free of debris.

You can protect the exterior of your home from pests by keeping firewood at least 20 feet from your home, promptly removing leaf piles, and repairing or replacing damaged screens and shingles. If you’re like many people and cook more in the winter, make sure your food prep surfaces are wiped clean of crumbs and spills, and tightly seal garbage to prevent pests.

How Professional Winter Pest Control Can Help

Even with the best DIY prevention protocols in place, pests still find their way indoors in the winter. This is where Precise Termite & Pest Control steps in to provide thorough home inspections, professional extermination services, and safe, targeted treatments you can trust. Our highly skilled technicians offer ongoing monitoring to keep your home protected all winter and customized plans based on your risks and pest history.

Contact Us for Pest Control in the Winter and Year-Round

We hope that you now understand the answer to “Do you need pest control in winter?” and are motivated to take the best care of your home and family this holiday season. Unfortunately, cold weather doesn’t stop pests – it actually drives them right into your home.

To enjoy a pest-free season with less stress and fewer hassles, contact Precise for all your winter pest control needs. You can call us at 866-971-2847 or contact us online to schedule your free inspection and to learn more about pest control in the winter from our pros.

Understanding Professional Mice Removal

Mice Removal: Our Approach to Professional Mice Extermination

Mice can be highly frustrating household pests because they reproduce so quickly, gnaw through wiring, contaminate food, and carry diseases. Prompt and effective mice removal is essential to protect your home and family, and it requires more than just setting a few traps.

Precise offers professional mouse removal services to help you live pest-free in your home and prevent rodent infestations from recurring.

Why You Need Professional Mice Removal

At the first signs of mouse activity, many homeowners turn to DIY methods such as store-bought traps and rodenticide baits. However, these strategies often fail to deliver comprehensive and long-lasting results.

Our integrated approach involves everything from sealing to trapping and baiting, to ongoing monitoring and homeowner education, to reduce future risks through preventive measures.

Step 1: Find the Entry Points

The first step in our mouse extermination work is a thorough survey of the interior and exterior of your property. We look for cracks, gaps, holes, signs of gnawing, insulation damage, droppings, urine stains, and other signs of mouse activity that often get overlooked by the untrained eye.

Step 2: Exclusions and Sealing

Once we identify problem areas, we move forward with exclusion work by blocking mice’s access routes and installing rodent-proof materials, such as steel wool and wire mesh, that they can’t chew through. To prevent mice from entering your home, we seal wall and foundation cracks, close gaps around vents, and secure areas around utility lines.

Step 3: Strategically Place Traps and Baits

The next step in our mice removal process is to place targeted traps and bait stations to catch mice that are already living in your home

Step 4: Monitor and Adjust Strategies for Ongoing Prevention

Since mouse control issues are rarely a “one and done” endeavor, our professional mouse removal process involves ongoing monitoring and follow-up with our customers, making adjustments as your needs change. We offer peace of mind year-round, as we regularly check traps, remove dead rodents, and assess sealed entry points to prevent recurrence.

Before and After Your Mice Removal Treatment

Before we eliminate mice from your home, we recommend decluttering potential rodent hiding spots, such as basements and garages. Ensure that all food is stored securely and note any observed signs of mouse activity, such as droppings, scratching sounds, and chewed wires.

To prevent mice from returning after our mouse removal treatments, ensure that all food sources remain inaccessible and that no new entry points are introduced. We can also help you patch new holes and cracks that develop in the future, helping you avoid new mouse activity.

You Can Trust Precise with Your Mice Removal Needs

If you suspect mice in your home, don’t delay contacting Precise right away. We service Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Sussex and Essex counties and can arrive at your home quickly to handle your mice removal.

When & Where Mice Are Most Active: What Homeowners Need to Know

Understanding Mouse Activity in Your Home

Mice are highly adaptable rodents that enter homes through tiny spaces and creep throughout a home. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand when and where they are most active so that you can prevent infestations, even before the first signs of mice activity.

In this Precise Pest Control article, we cover the places where and times when mice make their moves so you can stop them in their tracks and live in a pest-free environment.

Daily Activity Habits of Mice

Mice are primarily nocturnal, which means they move around the most after dusk. This is when human activity typically decreases, and people feel safer venturing out to search for food. The prime times for mice activity are 30 to 60 minutes after your household quiets down. For example, mice commonly start moving throughout a home between 10 pm and 11 pm.

However, mice are also known to move within a house during the daytime, especially in areas with low human activity that remain undisturbed during the day.

Seasonal Patterns of Mice

Mice become very active during the fall, as they begin to seek warmth, shelter, and a consistent food source before winter. In New Jersey, our “mouse season” typically runs from September to November.

Mice in our area often remain indoors between December and February once they find reliable food and nesting areas. Mice remain active year-round and frequently breed in attics, basements, and wall cavities.

In the summer, mice breed, and young mice may venture out into the wild on their own.

Where Mice Prefer to Live

When mice are active indoors, they tend to gravitate toward basements, attics, crawl spaces, and wall voids. You may also notice mouse activity behind appliances and inside cabinets.

Other common areas for mouse activity include sheds, garages, HVAC shafts, and places with plumbing pipes. In the winter months, you may notice mice migrating towards warm places like furnaces and near open water sources.

Timing Your Pest Control Strategy Right

The fall season is a critical time to take preventive measures to control mice. This means sealing entry points, inspecting high-risk areas, and eliminating open food containers. However, it’s crucial to inspect your home for signs of mouse activity regularly and to repair structural vulnerabilities throughout the year periodically.

The best times to place traps and monitor mice activity are in the evening and early night hours. Before mice’s peak movement hours occur, you can increase your chances of catching them during this time frame.

Precise Can Help You with Mice Extermination and Prevention

For peace of mind that you aren’t living among mice in your home, contact Precise for a free mouse inspection. Our experienced, licensed technicians will implement proven mouse extermination methods and proactive prevention strategies to eliminate active infestations and identify entry points.

Whether you are already noticing the signs of mice activity or want to safeguard your home before they arrive, Precise is here for you and all your pest control needs.

Please contact us to learn more about our mouse control techniques and to schedule your appointment. With our extermination team on your side, you can enjoy a cleaner and healthier mouse-free home at all times of day and all months of the year.

How to Rodent-Proof Your New Jersey Home Before Winter

How Can I Rodent-Proof My Home Before Winter?

As the seasons change, many homeowners are starting to ask, “How can I rodent-proof my house before winter?”

As temperatures start to drop, mice, rats, and other rodents begin searching for warm places to live with easy access to food. Your house might be an ideal target for rodent activity in the winter, which is why preparing your home now is crucial.

Precise Termite & Pest Control can help you take proactive steps to protect your living spaces with DIY tips, all-natural rodent repellant treatments, and traditional mouse control services.

Why Rodents Are a Winter Problem

To learn how to keep mice out of the house in winter, you need to understand rodent behaviors as the seasons change.

Rodents often move indoors during cold weather to find warmth, food, and safe places to nest. Once established inside, rodent infestations can quickly escalate and evolve from a minor nuisance to significant property damage. Mice and rats in a house can damage insulation, chew electrical wires, and contaminate food sources. They can also make you sick as they spread bacteria and allergens, diminishing the air quality inside your home.

DIY Rodent-Proofing Tips for Homeowners

How can I rodent-proof my house before winter using low-cost and straightforward DIY methods?

Seal and Protect Entry Points

First, it’s essential to seal any areas where rodents may enter your home. Check your home’s foundation for cracks, utility line areas for gaps, and vents for openings. It may be necessary to repair damaged weather stripping, use steel wool or caulk to seal gaps, and install door sweeps to prevent rodent entry.

Maintain a Clean Environment

Throughout the year, aim to maintain a clean home that is less attractive to rodents. Ensure human and pet food is stored in airtight containers, and quickly clean up spills and crumbs so that hungry rodents don’t gravitate to those areas.

Outdoor Prep

As you take DIY action, inspect your outdoor spaces for clutter and trash that may attract rodents. Clear away stacks of firewood and piles of leaves near your foundation, and ensure that trash bins are always closed and tightly sealed.

Professional Rodent Prevention Options

When these DIY methods aren’t enough to keep rodents away, Precise’s professional services will help you figure out how to keep mice out of the house in winter.

Our All-Natural Rodent Repellant Treatment

We offer a safe and effective seasonal solution for eco-conscious homeowners. Our all-natural rodent repellant treatment features an organic, oil-based formula that we apply to the exterior foundation of your home.

This professional treatment is eco-friendly and safe for use around children and pets. It provides long-lasting protection throughout the winter, deterring rodents from entering the premises.

Traditional Rodent/Mice Control Services

Our traditional rodent and mice control services include a variety of extermination methods, including bat stations, traps, and ongoing monitoring. New Jersey homeowners trust us with their rodent control needs because we offer long-term protection against rodents and peace of mind that infestations are fully managed.

Signs It’s Time to Call a Professional

If you notice any of these early warning signs, it is time to call Precise for professional rodent help:

Fecal droppings
Scratching noises
Gnaw marks
Chewed wires
Nests with fabric or shredded paper
Actual rodent sightings inside your home

Why Homeowners Choose Precise

Precise specializes in rodent prevention and control, with eco-friendly solutions available to keep your family and pets safe. We are the local extermination experts you can rely on for fast and responsive service performed by knowledgeable and friendly technicians you can trust.

Don’t Wait — Schedule Your Winter Rodent Protection Today

With winter just around the corner, now is the time to take immediate action to protect your home from rodent pests.

We hope that you now better understand how to keep mice out of the house in winter and will contact us for your free inspection today.

The Health Risks of Mice and Rats in New Jersey Homes

What New Jersey Homeowners Should Know About Mice and Diseases

Many types of rodents, including house mice, deer mice, field mice, and rats, carry diseases that can be spread to humans and pets. Fortunately, there are proactive measures you can take to reduce your disease risk and keep your home or business free from rodents throughout the year.

Precise specializes in rodent control and offers rodent repellant treatments to keep you feeling safe and healthy year-round.

How Rodents Spread Diseases

Rodents are vectors of various pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Humans can contract these pathogens through directly touching live or dead rodents and from the excrement they leave behind.

People can also get diseases from rodents by inhaling contaminated particles in the air. Touching contaminated surfaces can also lead to the transmission of disease between rodents and humans.

Diseases Rodents Often Carry

Hantavirus

Hantavirus is a disease commonly carried by deer mice. The early symptoms of hantavirus in humans are muscle aches, fevers, fatigue, vomiting, nausea, and headaches. Severe cases can lead to respiratory problems and even death.

Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that rodents spread through their urine and by contaminating surfaces. People who develop this disease may develop liver and kidney damage, as well as organ failure and meningitis.

Salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is a foodborne disease that people contract after consuming food contaminated by rodents. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, chills, and muscle aches.

Rat bite fever

Rat bite fever affects people after they’ve handled or been bitten by a rodent. You may experience symptoms such as a rash, joint pain, muscle aches, chills, fever, and headaches with this disease.

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus is a viral infection carried by rodents, which is associated with fever, fatigue, and neurological damage in humans.

Lyme disease

Rodents can transmit Lyme disease if they are carrying fleas, ticks, or mites on their bodies. Early symptoms of Lyme disease include fatigue, pain, and swollen lymph nodes. Weeks or months later, people may experience issues with arthritis, neurological problems, heart palpitations, conjunctivitis, and difficulty concentrating.

How to Avoid Getting Diseases from Rodents

If you discover signs of rodents in your home or business, it’s essential to exercise extreme safety while cleaning up the messes they make.

For example, open nearby windows and doors to ventilate areas affected by rodents before cleaning up. Wear protective, disposable gloves and a mask to protect your skin and lungs.

Avoid sweeping or vacuuming rodent nests or droppings because dust can become airborne and cause respiratory harm. Instead, spray rodent areas with a disinfectant, such as a bleach-water mix, to prevent dust from spreading.

After you’ve noticed rodent activity, also disinfect all counters, floors, and other surfaces that may have been contaminated. Always wash your hands thoroughly after dealing with rodents, even if you’ve been wearing gloves.

When It’s Time to Call a Professional

Rodent infestations are often too extensive and dangerous to handle safely on your own. That’s why we recommend calling Precise to have one of our expert technicians remove all rodents and their messes for you, while taking preventative measures to keep them from returning.

Here are some signs it’s time to call us for professional rodent control help:

You have many rodents and a large number of rodents
You feel unwell after dealing with rodent removal yourself
You don’t have the right tools and equipment to clean up droppings or nests safely
Your DIY efforts aren’t stopping mice from returning to your home

How Precise Can Help

At Precise, we have over 30 years of experience in keeping Northern New Jersey homes and businesses rodent-free. We offer free inspections and are ready to address your rodent situation quickly and professionally.

If you live in Bergen, Passaic, Morris, Essex, or Sussex County, we are here to help you maintain a healthy and safe environment in your home or business, free from rodent activity and disease risks.

Please contact us to schedule your free, no-obligation inspection today to avoid and prevent these dangerous rodent-spread diseases.

How Ants Get In and What Attracts Them

How Ants Enter Your Home and What Draws Them In

Ants are tiny insects, but they’re also resourceful and resilient ones that frequently cause headaches for New Jersey homeowners.

Life’s simple necessities of food, water, and shelter attract ants to a home. However, overlooked gaps and cracks can provide easy access points as well. Understanding how ants enter a home and what ants are attracted to can help you prevent infestations and call for professional help before the situation worsens.

Common Ant Entry Points

Ants can squeeze through the tiniest of cracks in a home, even ones that you can barely see. It’s common for homes to develop cracks around window frames, doors, and where walls meet the ceilings and floors. Ants have even easier access if you leave windows and doors open to let the fresh air inside.

Floors are common ant entry points since ants often live underground and can easily squeeze through the subflooring. Ants can also access your house through the gaps created to run utility lines and supply you with water, electricity, gas, internet, and cable TV.

It’s possible to accidentally carry ants in from the outdoors, especially if you’re coming in from a hike or live with kids or pets.

Steady and Reliable Food Sources

Like all living beings, ants need food to survive. But ants are especially drawn to sugary foods, such as honey, jelly, and syrup. Any crumbs you leave on your counters are enticing to ants, as are spills that you don’t clean up right away.

Meanwhile, pet food left out in bowls can attract ants. Trash bins that aren’t covered and sealed can also make you more prone to ant infestations.

Ample Moisture, Amplified by Weather

Water is also critical to ants’ survival, especially during hot and dry times of the year. Ants may be drawn to your home if you have leaky pipes or leave stagnant water standing inside or near your home. Ants can also find the moisture they need in damp basements and kitchen sinks filled with dishes soaking in water and covered in food residue.

Additionally, your houseplants may be attracting ants because of the humidity and sweet residues your plants provide.

Warm and Cozy Living Spaces

In the winter, ants frequently look for warm and cozy places to live in New Jersey. Your home can provide this type of safe and comfortable shelter, especially if you have clutter lying around.

After ants enter your home in search of warmth, they may gravitate toward storage boxes, piles of clothing, and collections of toys. Natural materials and debris outside your home, such as firewood, tree stumps, and rock piles, can also attract ants and lure them indoors.

How to Handle an Ant Infestation

When you first notice ants in your house, your first instinct might be to grab a can of commercial ant spray and kill the visible ones. However, DIY treatments typically only address the surface ants and not the hidden colonies that are the real source of the problem. Ant colonies multiply quickly, perhaps leading to a full-blown ant infestation ,while you are only targeting a small fraction of the ants living in your home.

For this reason, it’s best to call Precise Termite & Pest Control at the first signs of ant activity for a free inspection.

We’ll assess the extent of your ant situation, identify the ant species you have, and recommend a targeted solution.

How to Prevent Future Ant Infestations

To keep your home ant-free and live comfortably with peace of mind, follow these ant prevention tips:

Keep all food in airtight containers
Promptly clean up spills
Ensure trash cans are tightly closed
Fix plumbing leaks
Seal cracks and gaps around your home
Keep the perimeter of your yard free of debris
Reduce clutter inside your house
Regularly inspect past problem areas for possible ant activity

For more ant extermination advice or to schedule your free ant inspection, please call us at 866-971-2847 or contact us online.

The Risks of Ignoring an Ant Infestation

Why You Should Never Ignore an Ant Infestation

Seeing just a few ants around your home might seem like a minor nuisance that will go away on its own. However, even a small ant infestation can rapidly escalate and become a widespread issue that can cause illness and strain your budget.

Precise Termite & Pest Control specializes in early detection and long-term prevention to help you proactively manage ants and live comfortably in your home.

Why an Ant Infestation in Your House is a Bigger Problem Than You Think

As trained experts in ant control, we’ve seen firsthand the damage ants can cause when homeowners neglect to address an infestation. Ant issues are complex because these insects multiply quickly once they find a steady food and water source, like your house.

The ants you visually notice are likely only part of the problem and a small fraction of the ants living on your property. It’s common to find considerably larger ant populations living behind walls, under floors, and building satellite nests throughout a home.

Are Ants Dangerous?

Many New Jersey residents wonder, “Is an ant infestation bad?” and exactly how bad is it?

Here’s how ants can put you and your home at risk.

Health Risks from Ants

Ants have the potential to contaminate human and pet food in your house. Ants travel through soil, garbage, and other unsanitary places before making their way onto your countertops and into your pantry.

Some people have allergic reactions to ants, while certain ant species can bite and sting. These injuries can be itchy, painful, and lead to open wounds that can allow harmful bacteria to enter your body.

Property Risks from Ants

Certain types of ants, such as carpenter ants, damage wood as they create nests. This behavior can cause structural damage to your home, such as weakening floors and support beams.

Signs You May Already Have a Problem

The early warning signs of an ant infestation include ant trails in kitchens, bathrooms, and around windows. Other red flags are piles of sawdust-like debris and wooden features that sound hollow.

You will often notice more ant activity in the summer months and after heavy rains. It’s also essential to learn what attracts ants and avoid these common pitfalls to prevent an infestation.

Why Professional Treatment is the Best Solution

You can start the ant control process with DIY sprays and traps to eliminate the visible ants. However, these approaches don’t address the many hidden ants that are actually fueling the infestation in your house.

The professional ant treatment we provide offers accurate ant species identification so we can pursue the best strategy. Once identified, we employ effective methods to eliminate visible ants and hidden nests that you may not even be aware of.

Why NJ Homeowners Choose Precise Pest Control

Precise has over 30 years of local pest control expertise and a fully licensed and insured extermination team to serve you.

Our exterminators are committed to your safety and well-being, with responsive and professional service you can rely on. We customize every ant infestation treatment plan and tailor our services to address your home’s unique needs.

Don’t Wait — Schedule Your Ant Inspection Today

Are ants dangerous? Is an ant infestation bad? The answer to these questions is yes, and the longer you ignore an ant infestation, the worse it will get.

At the first signs of ant activity, it’s best to call Precise to protect your health, property, and peace of mind.

Please call us at 866-971-2847 or contact us online to schedule your free ant inspection.

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