How to get rid of obsessive insects on a picnic?
There aren’t many joys sweeter than having a picnic in the park with close friends or family.
A perfect picnic, however, may suddenly become chaos when ants show up unannounced.
So how can you prevent ants from landing on your picnic blanket?
Fortunately, there are several strategies you may use to stop the ants from entering.
You have many options for keeping unwanted guests out of your picnic, from diverting ants to repelling them with odors to removing attractants altogether.
Continue reading to discover seven practical methods for keeping insects away from your picnic.
Stay away from ants’ nests
The greatest strategy to reduce the number of ants during your picnic is to pick a location carefully.
There can be more ants in some areas of the ground or such areas are more likely to draw ants.
Before you spread out your picnic blanket, there are a few things you should be aware of.
- Make sure there are no ants on the grass in a prospective picnic place. In order to avoid setting your blanket down in the center of a line of ants, you should also inspect the regions close to a potential picnic location.
- After that, search for ant hills or ground holes. Ant hills often resemble a little dirt pyramid with a hole in the center.
- Watch out for anything that could draw ants. For instance, food left behind by neighboring humans may draw ants and other pests. Keep at least 50 feet of distance from trash cans.
- When possible, keep food covered.
Keep Food Covered
Ants like picnics for the same reason that humans do: delectable food.
Despite their diminutive size, these insects have keen senses of smell.
Compared to many insects, they have four to five times as many odor sensors.
So, more readily than you would want, they can smell your sandwiches and charcuterie board.
Because of this keen sense of smell, it is crucial to keep your picnic food as much as possible covered.
Only open the containers to take a serving of food to consume after packing your food in sealable containers.
Take care to discard or store the food, dishes, and utensils when you’re done with them.
Ants find foods high in sugar to be particularly alluring.
Therefore, use extra caution when consuming and discarding drinks, fruit, and other sweet foods.
By the way, if you are still in doubt about what food to take on a picnic – we recommend that you look here!
Reduce the Use of Other insects Attractants
There are a few more fragrances that are popular that insects find appealing besides the food at your picnic.
You may reduce the number of ants during your picnic by keeping yourself and your picnic setup free of particular things and odors.
Here are some aromas that insects enjoy.
- perfume: Ants are drawn to fragrances other than food scents. If you want to keep the ants at bay before a picnic, skip your morning perfume spray.
- detergent for laundry Ants may be drawn to laundry detergents with strong scents. You should stay away from detergents particularly those smell pleasant or are vanilla-based. Use only detergents without fragrance to wash your picnic blanket.
- soiled laundry Ants won’t stay away if your laundry is left undone. These bugs adore the smell of filth.
- Candles with a sweet aroma may draw ants, while others with a pest-repelling scent may attract them.
- Plants: An attractive touch to your picnic might be a centerpiece made of cut flowers. They unluckily tend to draw ants and other insects. Ants are drawn to blooming plants and dead plant detritus.
Use a decoy to entice insects away
Distracting insects might occasionally be the most effective approach to keep them away. You may accomplish this by having your own picnic.
Putting up a decoy can result in a situation where everyone wins. Just be careful not to place a decoy where others are having a picnic.
Put something sweet and far from your picnic blanket to serve as your decoy.
Many people use candies, sugar water, and watermelon rinds to entice insects away.
In order to cover all of your bases, place a variety of decoys far from your picnic blanket.
Surround Your Picnic Blanket with Chalk, Water, or Talcum Powder
Ants rely on their sense of smell to guide them down the correct path.
As will be discussed more below, scent can obstruct that path.
To stop the insects, you may also erect a physical barrier.
This physical barrier might be made of talcum powder, chalk, or water, among other materials.
Ants dislike attempting to traverse any of these materials.
Create a circle using one of these objects around your picnic blanket.
Keep in mind that some of these chemicals will function better than others in particular circumstances.
For instance, water might not always be effective in locations where it would soon evaporate in the hot heat.
This method may also be applied if a picnic table is placed on top of your blanket.
You might merely place the table’s foot in water-filled pots rather than encircling it completely.
Try Citronella Candles or Other Repellants
It is possible for insects to utilize their keen sense of smell against you in addition to causing issues for you.
Ants don’t want to be near some odors since they are so overpowering.
Candles scented with citronella are an efficient technique to keep ants and other insects away.
Before lighting any candles, be sure you can use fire when you’re having your picnic.
There are a ton of flame-free alternatives if you don’t want to deal with fire.
Insects may find the scents of lemons, vinegar, and mint perplexing.
If you want to keep insects away from your picnic, use these scents next to your blankets.
There are several methods to obtain these odors close to your picnic.
Wipe the picnic blanket off with vinegar or lemon juice before unpacking your lunch.
Additionally, you can fill a spray bottle with a solution of water and vinegar, mint essential oils, or lemon juice.
Use Ant Repellant
As mentioned above, you can build your own ant repellants, but there are also particular things made to keep ants away.
These repellents may contain anything from soaps and glycerin to essential oils and other substances.
Make sure you are not spraying anything dangerous in your food or eating area when buying ant repellents to use during a picnic.
A dangerous substance that can affect an outside environment permanently should also be avoided.
FAQ
How To Get Rid Of Obsessive Insects On A Picnic?
What smells do insects hate?
Those most closely associated with repellency are citronella oil, eucalyptus oil, and catnip oil, but others include clove oil, patchouli, peppermint, and geranium.
What are picnic bugs attracted to?
These little nuisances are called picnic or sap beetles. They are attracted to ripe or damaged fruit and vegetables.
What spice keeps bugs away?
Cinnamon can repel bugs.
You can find more tips here.
