CARY, NC -- Susan Aiman watched in amazement at the parade outside her house; straight line, fast moving, it even continued on inside.

 

 

“They’ve been moving like this for two days,” she said.  “It wasn’t bad until I saw them inside.”

 

The “them” Aiman is referring to, is ants.

 

 “Some ants forage up to 100 feet to find a water source,” said Mike Sauls of Cary Pest Control.  Aiman called him after seeing the ants inside.

 

Sauls went on, “The cool, damp places are inside houses this time of year.  It’s unusually dry with the drought, so ants and all kinds of pests are coming inside.”

 

 “The drought this summer,” Sauls smiled and added, “is like my Christmas time.”

 

Exterminators across the triangle are swamped with calls because, it turns out, ants, cockroaches, and other bugs don’t like droughts anymore than people do.

 

 “It’s not about whether you keep your house clean,”  Saul said. “Bugs want cool, damp places first, then they’ll go for food and water. That means places like the kitchen, pantry and bathroom.”

 

The insect expert at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, Leon  Bradford, said the best advice is to open the vents in the crawlspace to dry it out. He advises to keep your house clean,  and don’t be surprised if commercial pesticides aren’t enough to keep out the bugs.

 

 “Once the ant colonies are inside,” Bradford explains, “you probably need an exterminator to get rid of them because you have to kill the queen.”

 

 “A crawl space is like a cave,” Bradford said.  “Any bugs, roaches, or any other insect will look for that to live in.”