How to Kill Ants Without Harming Pets

Find where the ants are coming into your property. Ants usually go out and forage for material and then carry it back to their nest, following a well-trodden path along the way. Go to where you have seen the ants previously and follow their trail. This should bring you to where they got into the property.

Create a barrier for the ants. At the threshold of the property, lay down a line of talcum powder that completely blocks off their entrance. The ants are driven away by the talc in the talcum powder, so anything that contains this will equally do the trick, including chalk and other kinds of baby powder. How to Get Rid of Ants.org also recommends using a line of cinnamon powder to prevent the irritating insects from coming back.

Find where the ants nest is. Continue following the ants trail outside, or down into your basement or wherever you traced the ants to in Step 1. This time, follow them right back to their nest and locate it. Creating a barrier will only be a temporary solution because ants are tiny creatures and adept climbers. They will find other ways of getting into your house.

Fetch your household vacuum cleaner and suck the nest and all its inhabitants up into the vacuum bag. Make sure to collect every last part of the nest in the vacuum. This does not harm the ants and allows you to take the vacuum bag to some area of ground a good distance from your property and deposit the creatures back into their natural environment. Ants will travel up to 700 feet from their nest so be sure to release the creatures farther away than this.