Ant Eating Animals in Michigan

woodpecker eats ants in a tree - one of several animals that eat ants in michigan

Did you know that some of the animals found in Michigan are nature’s own ant control experts? That’s right, though they act as a nuisance to humans, they serve as a valuable food source for a variety of creatures that call this region home. These remarkable animals, ranging from birds to mammals, have developed a taste for ants. By including ants in their diet, these Michigan residents help keep ant populations in check while providing a fascinating example of nature’s delicate balance. Let’s take a look at some ant eating animals in Michigan.

Which Animals Eat Ants in Michigan?

Ants may be annoying to people, but they’re a vital part of the ecosystem. Many animals eat ants, and these common in Michigan animals even rely on ants as an important part of their diet:

  • Black Bears – Black bears are omnivorous and have a varied diet that includes insects. They are known to dig through ant hills to consume ants, especially during the spring and summer months when ants are more active. With their insatiable appetites, bears eat a large amount of ants in addition to their other food choices. 
  • Woodpeckers – While many birds feed on ants, woodpeckers have long, sticky tongues that they use to extract ants from crevices in trees or on the ground. Woodpeckers common eat ants out of infested wood. Unfortunately, woodpeckers can also cause damage to wooden structures that are not just infested with ants and insects. Keep an eye on where they nest and feed if you see them in your yard.
  • Raccoons – In Michigan, raccoons are in urban and rural areas. These opportunistic animals eat a wide variety of things, including ants. When foraging, an uncovered ant’s nest is a bountiful feast. Raccoons are often more active during mid-March through mid-May which is when you may see them feasting on ants. Much like woodpeckers, raccoons can also have adverse effects on your property.
  • Skunks – Skunks are scavengers, eating whatever they can find. With their strong front claws, they can dig apart ant’s nests and devour the insects inside. They have a keen sense of smell and can scent out ant nests easily through the dirt. During the spring and summer, when ants are highly active, skunks will seek out and eat as much as they can!

Ant Control with Griffin Pest Control

While nature takes care of itself in many cases, professional ant extermination is always the best and proven method. While local wildlife can and will help keep ant populations in check, significant ant infestations in a home or business require a more targeted approach. For effective and long-lasting results, leave it to the experts at Griffin Pest Solutions. Since 1929, Griffin Pest Solutions has been providing Michigan residents with cutting edge pest control innovations. We provide year-round, ongoing solutions to help you and your family live pest-free*. Call us today to get started with Griffin and get a free quote!

Spring Cleaning – Prevent Pests Inside

A woman spring cleaning windows for pest prevention.

After a cold and snowy winter, all of Michigan celebrates the arrival of spring. Here in the lower peninsula of Michigan, springtime is one of the most beautiful times of the year. The Crocuses, Daffodils and Tulips are starting to peek up out of the earth, soon to show their brilliant colors. Along with routine spring cleaning, focus on the areas below to prevent pests from getting inside. Griffin Pest is committed to bringing our community prevention tips to keep pests away before they ever become a problem. For information on pests that are common in our area, look at our Pest Identification Library.

Pests Inside

  • Kitchen – Prevent ants and cockroaches by cleaning your kitchen surfaces regularly, as well as appliances such as toasters and grills. Clean out your pantries, an unkempt pantry is like a buffet line. Clean your fridge, and cabinets by removing expired and unwanted items. Scrub your drawers with bleach or kitchen cleaner, and afterward, sweep and mop your floor. Even random crumbs can be enough to create the need for pest control.
  • Bathroom – Moisture in your bathrooms can attract cockroaches and silverfish.  Regularly wash shower curtains, dry bathroom surfaces, and clean out drawers and cabinets. Pests may enter through window sills, and drains. Check screens and any gaps around window sills. Pour bleach down drains as pests may come up your drains. Check pipes under the sink for any leaks, as water attracts pests. 
  • Basement – In your basement insects thrive in the dark, and out of sight. The dark allows them to avoid predators when they search for food, which is often at night. They hide in crevices, which is why they are less likely to be seen until it’s too late – especially in an unfinished basement. 
  • Declutter – Remove clutter inside your home, basement, garage and sheds. Storage spaces are ideal for spiders, cockroaches and rodents as they are often dark and filled with lots of clutter. These conditions are perfect for breeding and hiding.

Pests Outside

  • Home Exterior –  Look for cracks and holes in the foundation or openings around windows. Ant problems can usually be traced to tiny fissures around windows. Remember, insects must enter your home before they can pose a real pest control problem. Ants are especially diligent about locating new entry points. Seal any cracks you find and repair or replace screens in windows. By eliminating any openings in your home’s periphery, you’re taking the first step in pest control. 
  • Trash Cans – Trash cans are an area that commonly hold food and will act as a magnet for pests. The trash can is a common weak point in pest prevention and control. Store your cans away from the house if possible. Ensure your trash cans have a tight-fitting lid and are lined with trash bags.
  • Firewood – Store firewood away from your home and off the ground, if possible. Piles of firewood are attractive to pests such as termites. A stack of firewood acts as both shelter and a food supply. To keep pulp-eating pests out of your home, move your firewood pile away from any buildings. 
  • Garden Maintenance – Try reducing pests from entering your home by placing plants away from your home’s structure. Many residential pests are fully capable of surviving in nature as well as inside your home. Maintaining a clear, plant-free zone around your home is an excellent habit for pest prevention and control.
  • Remove Water Sources – Removing water sources will have a great reward in the reduction of mosquito breeding. People often ask how they can get rid of the mosquitoes that are in their yards, patio, or area around their homes. The ideal approach for controlling mosquitoes is to never let the population explode in the first place. You can do this by making your entire yard less attractive to mosquitoes.
    • Be sure to eliminate (or treat) any of these breeding grounds in your yard. 
    • Lawn or yard ornaments with standing water features
    • Buckets that accumulate rainwater or runoff
    • Puddles
    • Landscape ponds
    • Bird baths
    • Ruts that hold standing water
    • Clogged gutters and downspouts
    • Plant bowls saucers
    • Other items that can collect rainwater or runoff – such as a wheelbarrow that is not turned upside down

Spring Pest Prevention and Control

If you have or suspect a pest problem or would like to know more about protecting your home and yards, call our team of experts at Griffin Pest Solutions. Our team is innovative, reliable, and ready to meet you and your property in whatever you might need. Above all, Griffin Pest Solutions has 90 years of experience. Call us today for your free quote!

How Do I Still Have Ants in Winter?

Ants are cold-blooded. In order to thrive and survive, they need an external source of warmth. Obviously, it gets considerably harder for ants to find these external sources in winter. Especially the ants that happen to live in Michigan. 

Despite the considerable adversity facing them each winter, ants are determined creatures. Subzero temperatures don’t stop their relentless drive to find food, shelter, and water. In order to find what they need this winter, ants will often attempt to infiltrate homes. Including your home, if you’re not careful. If you’re asking why you still have ants in winter, you’re in the right place. We’ll answer that question–along with how those ants got in and how to throw them out–below.

Why do I still have ants during the winter?

You have ants during the winter for the same reason you have them during spring, summer, or fall. Your home was easy to get inside and offered them the things they were looking for. If ants can’t find a home to infest, they’ll build their colonies and cluster under rocks, tree bark, decomposing leaves, or deep within the ground. If they can find a home, well… then there’s a problem. 

If they find a warm place (your house, for example) to nest in the winter, ants won’t need to cluster. They’ll instead be able to remain active throughout the entire year. Inside homes, they’re most commonly found inside walls, near pipes, inside molding, or under baseboards. They got inside by finding a breach in your home’s perimeter. It could have been crumbling brick, old boards, or a crack in the foundation.

What do they want?

Ants want what all common problem pests want: food, shelter, and water. If you’re reading this, it means you’re likely already facing an ant problem. That means they’ve already found one of the things they were looking for: shelter, warmth, and cover from the cold. That’s what brings them in. 

What makes ants stay after they get inside will be how well they can find food and water. Ants like sugar, fat, and protein-dense foods like meat, cheese, dried goods, peanut butter, baking materials, or pet food. Water is a less significant motivator since they require very little to sustain themselves. Ants are commonly found near hidden plumbing leaks because they like its easy, consistent moisture access. 

What can I do to prevent them?

That’s the most important question. If you don’t already have an ant problem, how can you prevent one from happening? Here are a few of our best ant exclusion tips:

  • Keep surfaces clean. Ants are scavengers. Their favorite places to find sustenance are on floors, garbage cans, and countertops. Keep dirty dishes out of the sink, wipe crumbs off the table, and mop residue off the floors.
  • Practice perimeter maintenance. Ants are tiny. It doesn’t take much for them to find a way inside your home. Just because it’s difficult to bar their entry doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try, however. Follow their trails to see where they’re coming in. Find perimeter breaches and fix them with caulk, putty, or plaster as needed.
  • Spot the scouts. If you ever see a lone ant, it’s a scout. Scout ants are sent out by the colony to find sources of food or water. You want to prevent it from having a chance to communicate with the nest about anything it may have found.

Winter is a surprisingly busy time when it comes to pest infestations. That’s because, like ants, many other pests are seeking shelter from the cold. If, despite your best efforts, one of those pests finds its way inside your home – give Griffin a call. Our experts can both help you remove existing pests and prevent future ones.

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Why Can Some Ants Fly?

Why can some ants fly?

Ants are one thing. You get ants. You’ve seen their mounds, watched them swarm around food, and probably even shooed them out of your kitchen. Flying ants are… another thing entirely. Are those things even ants?! Are ants supposed to be able to do that?! Why here?! Why now?!

We get being intimidated by flying ants. Particularly when there are a lot of them, and they’re flying right at you. Despite flying ants’ somewhat frightening (and sudden!) appearance, however, they’re nothing to be worried about. Here’s what you should know about flying ant swarms, and how they might affect you:

What are flying ants?

Flying ants aren’t a particular species of ant, but they are a particular caste of many ant species. Flying ants make up the reproductive caste of their ant colony, or “alates.” Alates can fly in order to leave the colony and seek out mates effectively. Ant colonies produce both male reproductive alates and winged virgin queen ant alates. Male alates seek out queens from other colonies, while queens start new colonies of their own.

Ant species like carpenter ants produce alates during mating season. Particular alate appearance may vary from species-to-species, but they’ll generally be ¼ to ⅜” long and black, dark brown, or dark red. Alate wings are clear, translucent, and unequal in length. Alates usually leave their colonies in large swarms during mating season in order to protect each other from predators. If you see flying ants near your home, then there’s probably a developing colony nearby.

When do flying ants become active?

When do flying ants become active?

Last year, we wrote a blog about “flying ant day.” On flying ant day, huge swarms of alate swarms suddenly appeared all over Detroit. A version of “flying ant day” happens every year around Labor Day. Now that you know what alates are all about, it isn’t hard to guess why: mating. Every year around late summer, alates become very active very quickly in order to mate and start colonies.

Despite its relative predictability, ant mating season doesn’t start on a particular date. Instead, it begins when conditions are just right. The ideal condition for ant mating is a summer day with high temperatures, sunny weather, and no wind. When that perfect day comes along, all kinds of ant colonies start mating at once–hence the sudden swarms. Ants tend to reproduce in late summer to prepare for winter, but it isn’t the only time they reproduce. You may occasionally see swarming alates even during the “off” season.

How can flying ants affect you?

Seeing a flying ant around your home isn’t necessarily a telltale sign of ant infestation. Flying ants… can fly, after all. During mating season, ant swarms may range quite a ways from their colonies to seek mates. If you see an alate inside your home during spring or summer, it might have wandered in accidentally. In all likelihood, that ant will die before it finds a mate and you won’t need to worry about it.

Ironically, you should worry about winged ants if you see them during the off-season. If you see alates in your home during winter or early spring, you may have a larger problem. Alates shouldn’t be active at all unless it’s mating season. If they are, it’s because they don’t need to wait for nice weather to begin the mating cycle… because they’re living in a temperature-controlled environment. If you see swarms of flying ants in your home all year, then you probably have a carpenter ant infestation.

What can you do about flying ants?

What can you do about flying ants?

Carpenter ants are one of the few ant species that could infest and mate inside your home all year. This is possible because carpenter ants hollow out tunnels in wooden structures to live inside. Carpenter ants attack moist, rotting, or unprotected wood. Infestations usually start outside and end up inside after the ants tunnel deeper through the wood. Flying ants may emerge from these tunnels at any point once they’re warm enough inside.

Carpenter ants require nearly constant moisture sources in order to remain active. They attack moist wood because it allows them to stay hydrated while they work. The best way to keep carpenter ants away, therefore, is to make sure they can’t access wet wood. Look for any sources of excess moisture around your home, including leaks, condensation, or humidity. Protect any exposed wood outside your home, too, particularly if it touches the ground. By protecting wood from carpenter ants, you’ll be able to keep alates out of your home.

 

Just like everything else in nature, flying ants have a specific purpose and context. Now that you know that context, alate swarms won’t seem nearly as intimidating. …At least, in theory.

In practice, well… we believe in you! If you’re worried you have a carpenter ant infestation, give Griffin a call any time. We’ll figure out where the infestation came from, wipe it out, and make sure it can’t come back. You won’t have to worry about flying ants. In theory, or practice!

Why Flying Ants Show Up in Fall

Flying ants on a blade of grass

Every year around Labor Day, swarms of flying ants begin appearing all over west Michigan in huge droves. For the next couple days, they’re flying around everywhere. You might even remember the infamous “flying ant day” of 2017, when the swarms descended on Detroit. Then, as mysteriously as the ants appear, they seem to vanish without a trace.

What are these winged ants, exactly? Where did they come from? Where do they go after they’re done darting around all over the place? Most importantly, are they going to try to infest your home this fall? Here’s everything you should know about the enigmatic winged ants you’re seeing this September.

What are they?

The flying ants that you’re seeing right now are the reproductive swarmer (or alate) variety of yard ants. Yard ants are related to carpenter ants, but they nest in the ground instead of chewing through wood. Swarmers are around ¼ to ⅜” long, look reddish brown, and have a hump between their heads and thoraxes. They look like normal ants in every way, except that they have wings. Swarmer wings are clear and translucent. They fold behind the ants’ backs when the ants aren’t flying.

There are more than 50 different species of common yard ant native to Michigan. The ant swarms you’re seeing represent many different types of species that all become active this time of year. Different swarms come out at different times, which is why it seems like the swarming doesn’t stop for days. You’ll often notice swarms seem to gather or even collide in midair and then begin moving as a group.

why do flying ants show up in Michigan every fall around Labor day?

Why are they here?

Flying ants exist for one reason: to reproduce. Alates spend most of spring and summer inside their ant colonies, where they’re fed by workers. In late summer and under the right conditions, they fly out of the nest to seek mates. The ants require high temperatures and humidity and clear, sunny weather without much wind to begin swarming. They’re particularly prone to begin their swarming on the first clear day after several days of rain.

Most yard ant species reproduce around late summer because that’s when their ideal swarming conditions happen. Ants also tend to begin reproducing in late summer to prepare for winter. When conditions are just right, many different species’ will begin the mating process all at once. Although late summer reproduction is most common in Michigan, other ant species may swarm at other times of year. Some flying ants swarm in spring, fall, or even mid-summer.

What are they doing?

Flying ant swarms are either actively mating or in the process of seeking out mates. Flying ants mate in midair in a process called “nuptial flight.” On “flying ant day,” unfertilized flying queen ants (sometimes called “princesses”) leave their colonies and begin secreting attraction pheromones. Male and female alates purposely fly away from their nests to help ensure outbreeding. The pheromones secreted by princesses attract nearby male reproductives (sometimes called “drones”).

Princesses actually often fly away from males, forcing them to pursue her in order to mate. The swarms you see are groups of male drones pursuing one of these princesses. Mating itself occurs very quickly and in midair. Male drones die very soon after mating. The fertilized female will fly to the ground and begin making a new nest. Soon after, she will lose her wings and begin laying eggs. The first of these eggs will hatch into workers, who will lay the foundations for a new colony.

are flying ants dangerous?

Are they dangerous?

No. Swarms only have mating on their mind. They won’t bite, sting, or attack you. Swarming ants aren’t aggressive, territorial, or defensive in any way. Even if swarms appear to be flying right at you, it’s only because they’re pursuing a princess. Swarms are more-or-less totally uninterested in people, though they may congregate on human structures. Swarmers may also accidentally flutter into buildings through openings like cracks and crevices.

Yard ants can’t make their nests indoors. To form a nest, a fertilized queen must dig into soil. Queens may build their nests near your home, however. Often, ants build their colony sites near human structures because of the natural cover they provide. Queens are particularly vulnerable when they start building nests, so they may seek cover and darkness near your home. When yard ants establish colonies near you, you may encounter their foraging workers inside your home. These workers aren’t dangerous, either, but they could be annoying.

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Despite how frightening it can seem, swarming season is nothing to worry about. Flying ants aren’t dangerous, and they’ll die off and disappear very soon. If you’re very bothered by ant swarms this year, we recommend staying inside whenever possible while swarms are active. Luckily, you won’t have to wait long until they pass.

Swarms may be more-or-less unavoidable, but that doesn’t mean ant infestations must be. If you have an ant problem in your home, give Griffin a call any time. We’ll find out why you have ants, where they’re coming from, and how to stop them.