Ants are the cleaners of the natural world. When animals die in the wild – an extremely common occurrence – ants are the ones that work painstakingly day and night to clear their carcasses, thereby preventing the spread of germs and diseases that might have otherwise resulted from leaving a carcass to decompose in the open. Have you ever dropped cookie crumbs on the floor only to see a steady stream of ants trickling in almost immediately to clear up the mess? Ants feed on our junk; biodegradable junk that helps to sustain colonies of them.

Ants also play another important role in the ecosystem by helping to aerate soil. The complex systems of tunnels that comprise an ant nest does double duty by helping to loosen and aerate soil that may otherwise be too packed for plants to grow. Ant tunnels also have the effect of circulating nutrients evenly throughout the soil by pushing nutrients from the bottom to the top and vice versa.

We often perceive ants to be annoying pests, but the reality is that these tiny organisms also do their part to keep the population of pests low. Ants consume the eggs of certain organisms that we consider to be pests, which goes a long way to stop these pets from proliferating.

You can do your part to help these hardworking ants with their jobs by using a natural, child-safe and pet-safe repellant on them instead of resorting to squishing them. EcoRaider® has an excellent line of products that are free of harmful chemicals, yet extremely effective in keeping ants away.