While sitting in a room at the doctor’s office this week I noticed an ant crawling on the wall. Being a pest control guru, my eye immediately began to look for more little critters creeping around. To my surprise, there were many ants crawling in and out of a crack in the wall and creeping along the walls of the room. When the doctor came in I said…”Hi there, do you know that you have ants?”
He then informed me that the ants had been coming in for the past two months. I then squished one and took a sniff. The tell-tale sign of rotting coconuts confirmed that the pesky ants were indeed odorous house ants. He explained that the problem was so bad that the ants had reached all the way to the reception area often crawling on the ladies who run the front office! Yuck! It is time to call a Monmouth County, NJ pest control professional to kill off this infestation. Judging by the amount of odorous house ants, there surely was a large nest located in the wall.
But the question is…what would odorous house ants be looking for in a doctor’s office?
Odorous house ants are attracted to sweets. When they come indoors they are often found near an area where there is a water source. Their nests are often found near water sources where there is a leaky faucet or bathroom fixture. Each patient room has a sink for hand washing, so perhaps those are drawing them in.
Outdoors, odorous house ants will nest in firewood, lumber, bricks, and exposed soil. At this doctor’s office, all patient rooms are located on the exterior of the brick building which has exposed soil with mulch ground covering. Despite the lack of food sources, it appears that this doctor’s office is a good nesting spot for these nuisance pests.