Are You Seeing Ants in Your Bathroom This Winter?

Recently a Bergen County homeowner reached out to us about finding ants in the bathroom. While this may not seem like normal behavior for ants (it’s the middle of winter, after all), this is actually quite common. Read on to find out why ants are likely to make a sudden appearance this winter and why in the bathroom.

Shouldn’t ants in New Jersey be hibernating or something?

Ants are cold-blooded insects which means they will become less and less active as the temperatures drop. Eventually, the cold weather will affect how they function and they will seek out nesting sites that afford them the protection they need to survive the winter.

Once they’ve found suitable shelter for the cold weather months, ants will enter a low-energy state called diapause (essentially, they’re hibernating), which means they can survive without eating for quite a while.

What causes ants to become active when winter is still in season

There are a couple of reasons why ants may make a sudden appearance during the winter months. If you notice ants moving about outside your house, it’s probably because there’s been a warm spell and they’re out looking for food. If this is the case, foraging ants will disappear as soon as the temperatures drop.

Now, if you’ve spotted ants INSIDE your house, it’s likely that a satellite colony was established indoors. Again, warm weather may perk them up and send them searching for food OR it’s entirely possible that this particular group did not become dormant. This can happen if nesting sites stay warm enough.  

Why ants are attracted to bathrooms

Unfortunately, ants aren’t the only pests that are attracted to bathrooms; cockroaches, silverfish, and centipedes are a few of the insects that are often found in bathrooms. So, what is it about bathrooms that attract ants and other bugs? Moisture is one reason.

You see, ants thrive in bathrooms because they are usually warm, humid, and have plenty of moisture. Leaking pipes, water-damaged wood, clogged drains, and puddles of water left behind after a shower are all conditions that will encourage ant activity.

What else attracts ants to bathrooms besides moisture? The answer is food. We use that term loosely though as it’s not necessarily what you’re thinking of. In bathrooms, ants will feed on items you’d most definitely not deem edible including fermented hair, soap scum, and other “stuff” in your drains as well as the build-up in the nooks and crannies of the room and the refuse in your trash can.  In other words, nothing appealing will appeal to them.

Should you be worried if you discover ants in the bathroom this winter?

If you’ve found ants in the bathroom and aren’t quite sure what to do, the answer is simple - contact a pest control company for help.  As it happens, there are several types of ants in New Jersey and while some are considered nuisance ants, others are a bit more troublesome. To give you a comparison, odorous house ants are annoying but carpenter ants are wood-destroying pests.

Accurate identification is necessary to determine the severity of the problem and a thorough inspection is warranted in order to identify the source of the infestation and the conducive conditions.

Why can’t I get rid of ants on my own?

You can certainly try but we’ve found homeowners often eliminate the ants they see trailing across the floor and exterminate the ones crawling in the sink but fail to eradicate the entire colony of ants. If the whole colony is not targeted and destroyed, ants will continue to be a problem.

How to get rid of ants in your bathroom

In order to completely get rid of ants that have infested your bathroom (or anywhere else in your home for that matter), contact Arrow Pest Control today!

Our locally owned and family-operated NJ pest control company has been providing home pest control services since 1973 and has the tools knowledge, and experience to take care of house-infesting ants, no matter how severe. Servicing Paramus, Franklin Lakes, and communities across Bergen County as well as throughout our multi-county service area, you can depend on Arrow Pest Control to take care of your ant problem. In fact, we offer year-round solutions that not only target ants but also prevent other pests from becoming a problem. Check out our residential pest control plans and pricing below or simply give us a call to discuss your situation.