Ants Magically Appearing in Unattended Sweet Food. Here’s Why and What Can You Do to Prevent These Annoying Magic Acts

Last Updated on 2022-10-10 , 1:28 pm

One moment you’re leaving a half-eaten cake aside and the next thing you know, there’s an army of ants attacking your leftover sweet treat and your whole life is over.

It happens to the best of us. For such a tiny creature, ants can be such a huge nuisance especially at home.

And the worst? They seem to appear out of nowhere all the time.

But rest assured, there’s really no magic act involved in their escapade for food.

Ants are just very subtle when they scavenge for food. If you don’t pay attention for even a moment, you’ll realize these hardy little buggers can get into anywhere, almost like magic.

An ant goes out for a stroll and leaves a trail behind for it to find its way home. When it stumbles on food, say your cake, it will follow its trail back to its nest and have other ants follow the trail to the food source.

That means it only takes one ant to get the party started.

Interesting, no? Ants love their daily dose of sugar, obviously but being an omnivorous insect, they’ll eat about anything that is edible. So they’re attracted to about anything and everything that’s edible and within their reach.

Here’re a few things they’re likely to be attracted to.

Uncovered food
Food that we’ve eaten and left uncovered will most likely attract unwanted visitation from a colony of ants. So don’t be surprised when you see your meal suddenly crawling with those pests after leaving it unattended even for a few minutes.

Empty food packaging or containers
Even if the food packaging is empty (or so you think), ants will make it their mission to sniff out every crook and cranny for even the tiniest crumbs to bring back to their nest. What is a crumb to us is a feast for them.

Exposed pet food
Yes, even our pets fall victim to these tiny pests. Pet food that is left exposed and unattended to, even the leftovers are a wonderful treat for ants. After identifying these problems, you can then take simple precautions to solve your ant problem. You should

You should make sure your home is clean and crumb-free, store all food stuff in proper and sealed containers, wipe your table tops and other surfaces regularly, and avoid leaving dirty dishes in the sink.

Remember, all it takes is one ant and its BFFs will join in the fun soon.

There’s also a natural, cheap and safe way to repel ants from entering your home. Just sprinkle some turmeric power, paprika or even salt in the areas you usually see them entering from.

The reason for that? You stop the gang from coming for your precious food.

Featured Image: New Africa / Shutterstock.com