ants, ants and more ants

[JoB]

it seems our pesky little ants are persistent this season.

i thought i had baited them away.. but when we came back from a week in Ashland they had overtaken not only the house but the car :(

so.. today after picking up my garbage can to find them swarming beneath.. i baited again.. with a new (to them) bait.

I have been told we live on one huge anthill.. and everything i have seen leads me to believe that is true…

i know, i know.. sprinkle mint.. boric acid, diatomaceous earth, etc in their path… wash your floors with orange oil …

i have done that and still they keep finding their way in.

so if the pesky little stinky ants are plaguing you.. settle in for an ongoing battle and keep the panty supplied with a variety of traps or natural cures because they seem to figure out that the one i used last is bad for them and avoid it like the plague..

but if i put a new one out they consume like crazy…

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[toasty]

“settle in for an ongoing battle and keep the panty supplied with a variety of traps or natural cures”

I know it’s a mis-spell (panty-pantry)but couldn’t help myself!!!! ;.)

We had ants too from a leak in our chimney flashing and had a new roof installed which fixed the flashing and we also sprayed EVERYWHERE so far they’re gone! Good luck on getting rid of them.

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[birdrescuer]

I have them popping up in places they never appeared before. It is an ongoing battle. I find liquid Terro works well. When they get too bad I call Progressive Pest Control to do the inside and out. That usually lasts a couple of years.

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[JoB]

toasty.. i don’t think that was a freudian slip but when i start talking panties.. who knows ;-)

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[WSB]

So far, along with the every-few-weeks visit by Rambo (WSB sponsor but we’d patronize them even if they weren’t) to spray the periphery of the foundation and spots where the ants are observed getting in, we have kept them fairly well in check by immediately wiping down every place they’re spotted. Just water. I am relentless. Even one ant. Ever since I read about how they send out sentinels whose secreted trails are followed by others from the nest, I figured the least I can do is to interrupt those trails. Also, other coping tactics we’ve learned from past years – no accessible food (an opened bag or box of something goes into a ziplock bag … I hate using so much plastic but I hate an ant-ridden kitchen even worse), the cat’s food floats on a small pool of water in a bowl so there’s a “moat” to keep the ants out. Our utility-room trash container is less popular with the ants the past couple years since the city edict to compost food waste – someone in a WSB discussion mentioned the genius practice of keeping scraps in the freezer until it’s collection day, so that’s what we do, and the trash bag therefore has less for the ants. I know how relentless they can be no matter how much action you take, though, so I totally sympathize. We may just be lucky this year in that they haven’t been stirred up so much – the utility crews that often visit the vault out in the street in front of our house haven’t been around, for example – TR

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[JoB]

in the past year an old house was bulldozed and a new house constructed next door .. and we got an influx.
that followed the year that the storm drain gardens went in..
and now the neighbor on the other side is evening out his lot :(

just before i went on vacation i gave the neighbor in the new house a few traps because she suddenly had ants..

they are everywhere.

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[HelperMonkey]

Sugar ants in West Seattle are the great equalizer – something we can all bond over with our shared hatred and frustration. Admiral, Alki, Delridge, High Point, White Center, Arroyos, rich, poor, in bewteen, new house, old house, apartment – we all have ants. Sometimes I feel like the WS peninsula was built on an ant mound. My best methods thus far have been “Grants Kills Ants” and a vacuum cleaner (dustbuster them up, empty into toilet), as well as Clorox wipes to eradicate the scent of the trail. The Terro worked last year but hasn’t had as much of an impact this year so I switched to Grants. Also, check around electronics if you are not sure where a nest may be – they like the warmth. I had a whole nest inside of a surge strip and under a speaker.
in solidarity!

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[Ponderosa]

Hi JoB-

I’m sure you’ve tried everything, but I have to mention we have had success with corn meal just in case you haven’t tried it. We generally have only one entry point into our home from their couple of ant hills in our yard, so we find that point of entry and sprinkle a small hill of corn meal, and within a few days we’re good. Orange oil never worked for us, but this does.

Good luck!

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[anonyme]

My brilliant myrmecologist best friend has given me some great tips, many based on ant behavior. I have a tube of clear caulk on hand, and every time ants come in I track them to their source and seal the opening. Sometimes it’s a tiny, tiny crack in existing caulk, or a miniscule nail hole in an old floor. Recently they’ve been coming up from around the base of the toilet, so that needed a re-caulk. As WSB mentioned, meticulous cleanliness is essential, especially in regard to pet food areas. The ‘moat’ method for pet food dishes works great.
I also learned from my friend that ants love to follow ‘lines’ – such as electrical wiring, baseboards, grooves in flooring, joists, etc. That’s why you frequently find them coming from electrical outlets – because of the pattern, not the heat. You see the same thing outdoors, as ants run along hoses.
For those of you who hold some compassion toward our tiny visitors, I highly recommend a product called Orange Guard, available at TruValu. It will kill ants if directly sprayed on them, but will deter them if sprayed around the perimeter of the house, or any entry points. The advantage to this PETA approved product is that it is non-toxic and can be used indoors around kids or pets.

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[JoB]

I wish that treating my perimeter would take care of our ant problem, but unfortunately i live in one of those houses with a crawl space underneath and short of going under there to treat the interior perimeter and seal the bottom of the house.. that won’t work for us.

My days of crawling into either the crawl space or the attic space have ended…

i will try corn meal in the crack on the patio though…

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by JoB.

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[ocean]

Chalk! They don’t cross chalk. Upon discovering this (research, not lucky enough to have a myrmecologist friend), I used sidewalk chalk and drew wide lines around the patio and back door, driveway, front walk- essentially surrounded much of the house- and looked for bags of chalk used to mark lines on sporting fields for the rest of the perimeter. Redid every few days, and after rains, all season.
Cheaper than Rambo, but not as interesting. The Rambo folks are great!

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[JoB]

tried cornmeal in the crack on the patio
haven’t tried chalk yet
will need to try something else :(

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[My2Cents]

I have found a great way to control the ants in my house without toxic traps or harmful chemicals. This recipe is easy and has many other healthful uses:

It is traditionally called “Thieves Oil” and there are many recipes. A little bit goes a long way and all the ingredients can be found at Thriftway and PCC. This is the easiest recipe I’ve found and I always keep it on hand.

Recipe #4
2 tsp Clove Oil
1 1/2 tsp Lemon Oil
1 tsp Cinnamon Bark Oil
3/4 tsp Eucalyptus Oil
1/2 tsp Rosemary Oil

For ant control: Moisten cotton ball or swab and swipe edges and counters to bring ants under control; The ants will be corralled and resist crossing the oil that is toxic to them. To keep ants away: Tear pieces of cotton ball and saturate with oil then fill in gaps under counters, walls, doors, wherever ants enter, exit, and travel. Use a tooth pick to maneuver cotton into place. Leave cotton in place and whenever you see ants, put a couple drops on to moisten cotton. You can moisten a swab and lay it in the path and ants will avoid the area. This oil blend has a reputation for it’s disinfectant, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral uses.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by My2Cents.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by My2Cents.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by My2Cents.

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[anonyme]

Neither cornmeal nor chalk will have any effect on ants.

The above recipe works in the same way that any of the individual ingredients would, such as cinnamon, orange oil, or any of the other numerous recipes listed above: it disrupts the pheromone trail. And that’s all it does. Ants will be diverted by these treatments, but they will not be stopped. They will simply alter their foraging trail and pop up somewhere else, or resume their old path once the diversionary scent fades.

I hated to do it, but finally had to use bait traps. It helped, but didn’t get rid of them entirely. I’ve even got a few wandering around the house today. I think it makes a difference when you place the traps, as they’re not actively feeding at all times. The adult workers (all female) don’t eat solid food, thus liquid bait traps.

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[JoB]

anonyme
it also helps if you rotate the brands of traps you place…
i don’t know that they figure out that the last brand was toxic and avoid it
but i do know that i have better luck if i don’t set down the same brand two times in a row

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[Author]

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