Hi,
I just moved to a new home. In the bedroom that shares a wall with the backyard I've been seeing these little black "ants" on the carpet and bed on the side that shares the wall. The first pic is the best I could get of the thing on a tissue and the second is mostly for sizing. Could anyone help me identify them?
It's NYC in winter, so I'm surprised to see them at all.
Thanks,
Robert
They are indeed ants. Acquire some of the ant drops sold at hardware stores etc. and they will soon be gone.
Much appreciated! I had never seen an ant that small and it was the middle of winter so I was worried they were something worse. I've lived in apartments my whole life and never really had ants before (plenty of other things, but such is life).
Yup, they are ants. The only thing I'll add is if I were you I would try to figure out how their getting into the house. If there are many of them there maybe a small crack in the foundation or gap in the siding that they are crawling through. If you can pinpoint how they are getting in you maybe able to just fill in the gap/crack with caulk (make sure it's the kind that will flex) to stop them from getting in. Also spray the area with the ant insecticide to turn them off from it as well.
When we moved into our house 7 years ago our cat loved our basement, he always seemed to come upstairs with a mouse. We couldn't figure out how it was happening as our basement is 90% underground. One day we went downstairs and saw him sitting in a corner staring at the ceiling, and we noticed there was a small gap between two foundation boards connecting the foundation to the house. Nothing concerning structurally but apparently just big enough for a mouse to squeeze through. We went to the hardware store and stuffed a metel mesh into the gap and filled it with Great Stuff Foam Sealent and the mice never came back. Our cat wasn't happy, but we were :)
I guess the moral of the story is always try to find the root cause of how the insects/rodents are getting into the house. Just trying to kill them may not solve your problem if there's an easy way in/out.
Good Luck :)
