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April 24, 2014 at 5:17 pm #611128
JoBParticipanti got a brief ant vacation after putting down the solid form of ant bait around the perimeter of my crawlspace… but less than a month later they are back at both of the terro ant feeding stations that they used before the ant vacation this morning :(
i am not amused.
April 24, 2014 at 6:37 pm #807411
metrognomeParticipantWhen they start marching ten by ten, you should probably consider a tactical nuclear response …
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah
The ants go marching one by one,
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down around the town
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ants go marching two by two,
The little one stops to tie his shoe
The ants go marching three by three,
The little one stops to climb a tree
The ants go marching four by four,
The little one stops to shut the door
The ants go marching five by five,
The little one stops to take a dive
The ants go marching six by six,
The little one stops to pick up sticks
The ants go marching seven by seven,
The little one stops to go to heaven
The ants go marching eight by eight,
The little one stops to shut the gate
The ants go marching nine by nine,
The little one stops to scratch his spine
The ants go marching ten by ten,
The little one stops to say “THE END”
And so it goes …
April 24, 2014 at 6:56 pm #807412
anonymeParticipantAre they inside the house? If not, they’re not doing any harm; they’re just there, doing what nature intended. Eliminating ants from the landscape and the environment is a futile cause. Pest control people would love to convince us otherwise, but they have a vested interest in doing so.
April 24, 2014 at 7:27 pm #807413
SmittyParticipantI’m fully convinced that we sit on one huge ant hill. They invaded my outdoor hot tub the other day. Gross.
Opened up the siding, and loaded it up with some liquid bait, then surrounded the thing with a ring of the granular version.
It’s been one week since I drained and re-filled and so far, so good.
One of the few battles I have won……..but mother nature always wins the war!
April 24, 2014 at 7:51 pm #807414
JanSParticipantanonyme…knowing the OP, I can attest that they’re inside..esp. in her kitchen.
April 24, 2014 at 8:41 pm #807415
gmabettyParticipantYes, its tiny ant time again. I’ve noticed huge swarms at cracks in sidewalks. I see a few at my window every year. For some reason they come to two lower corners of metal window frame on the sliding panel. I use honey and borax in a shallow lid. I put it on the sill when first saw them last year and next morning the liquid was black with dead ants. after a couple days there were lots more so got desperate and sprayed them with “window cleaner”. Didn’t do much for finish on sill but was the end of the ants. Have showed up in exactly same area every year but last year was worse. I’m checking every day. Most people don’t like to see bugs in their home, harmless or not. Good luck to all this year’s victims.
April 24, 2014 at 9:09 pm #807416
KatherineLParticipantMuch sympathy, Jo. I had them coming into the kitchen (yuk) earlier this year. They came up behind the kitchen counter and crawled up the wall. I couldn’t fasten a Terro bait close enough to their path to get them interested. The peppermint oil “fence” that’s worked before didn’t work very long this time.
Finally, desperate, I poured about a quarter cup of the pure peppermint down where they came through. Smell, yes! But I haven’t seen them since. I read once that the strong smell wipes out the pheromone trail they follow. But it has to be the oil, like they use for aromatherapy. Peppermint flavoring won’t work.
I’m sure they’ll be back, but in the past they’ve had to look for another entrance once they couldn’t find the one they were using.
April 24, 2014 at 9:12 pm #807417
UrbanFabulousParticipantWe also are having an ant problem; way worse than past years! They find the TINIEST crumb, which is easy since I have a 14 month old who insists on taking her food for the road. I’ve just been constantly cleaning, both food and ants, up. We don’t want to put any poisons out, so we are just trying all the natural remedies.
Is borax alright to put out with a toddler running around?
April 24, 2014 at 9:59 pm #807418
trickycooljParticipantDisclaimer: No kids, No pets, adult household of 1
I have had really good luck with this one this year:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hot-Shot-2-5-oz-Ultra-Clear-Roach-and-Ant-Gel-Bait-HG-95769-3/202447795
I know the few spots they seem to enter and exit from under my stairs and the corners of my exterior doors, I just put a small pea sized amount at those places and the few areas I’ve seen them this spring have been vacated within 24 hours!
Last year I tried these and it was like I set out a food truck for the ants, they just kept coming in swarms but never dying off until it froze last fall.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Terro-Ant-Killer-ll-Liquid-Baits-6-Pack-300/100595879
Got both at HD on Delridge.
April 25, 2014 at 1:55 am #807419
JoBParticipanttrickycoolj
i have tried every stinky ant bait that is possible with dogs who will eat anything..
i even tried borax and honey..
i even bombed the house a couple of months ago.
that worked for about a week.
KatherineL..
to pour peppermint on the ant trails i think i would have to get up in the attic and pour it down between the kitchen and the bath :(
i am not dismissing the idea.. but i suspect i would need help with that…
and the ability to leave the house for several days…
April 25, 2014 at 6:50 pm #807420
JoBParticipantApril 25, 2014 at 7:23 pm #807421
RarelyEverParticipantThe one thing that’s ever helped in any meaningful way for me is Orange Oil Spray (not sure if that’s the exact name)… I spray it around the perimeter where the ants appear; it kills ants on contact, prevents others from crossing over, and makes the house smell nice (albeit a bit Christmassy, lol).
One other thing – I leave the spray sitting overnight, then wipe it up the next morning. :)
April 25, 2014 at 7:34 pm #807422
metrognomeParticipantPCC used to sell (and probably still does) an orange oil spray as an air freshener. The only problem is that it will take the finish off almost everything. Don’t know that dogs would be attracted to the smell.
April 25, 2014 at 7:52 pm #807423
miwsParticipantAnother place to check for orange oil spray might be McLendon’s.
I remember on a few occasions, our Inside Garden Department Lead spraying some, somewhat surreptitiously. I’d be at my register, and would all of a sudden notice this aroma wafting nearby, and was always mystified. Yes, it smells very good, and I almost found it calming, like maybe aromatherapy(?)
After a few times of me wondering what this nice smell was, she, or someone else finally told me that it was an air freshener.
Mike
April 25, 2014 at 8:49 pm #807424
trickycooljParticipantWas it this? Trader Joe’s also sells the same stuff with their own label on it. I have one in every bathroom I might have to try it if the ants come back again. Smells delightful and works well if you have a family member that tends to nuke out the bathroom! LOL I’ve even found it at my bachelor friend’s houses, so it’s gotta be good! :)
http://www.amazon.com/Air-Therapy-Orange-Original-Ounces/dp/B000Q4CNQO
April 25, 2014 at 10:09 pm #807425
miwsParticipantThat might be it, tricky, (or basically same thing, different brand), as looking at that rings a bell that it was in a small aerosol.
My memory of it has faded somewhat, as it’s been nearly six years since I worked at McL’s, and only saw it a few times or so in the first place.
Mike
April 26, 2014 at 12:34 am #807426
trickycooljParticipantOh man I just finished mowing my lawn and saw what corner of the grass and front walkway mine all live under! Wow wee!! From standing height it looked like the sidewalk was moving. Guess there isn’t much I can do outside it is their habitat afterall. I’ll definitely be reinforcing my strategy by my front door to make sure they stay out where they belong though!
April 26, 2014 at 7:46 pm #807427
RarelyEverParticipantOkay, I looked at it again when I got home last night: it’s called Orange Guard (white spray bottle), and they sell it at True Value. It’s in the shelf with all the other bug kill products.
April 26, 2014 at 8:37 pm #807428
JasperbluParticipantAssuming these are small ants (and not Carpenter Ants, which ARE destructive and hard as hell to get rid of), you can definitely use a line of powdered Boric Acid to stave the suckers off – available commercially as “Borax”. You can usually find it next to the Comet and Ajax. Should cost you about $1.
Ants are usually looking for water or sugar. If they’re not going in/out of the house, I say leave them be. If they are coming into the house, a line of Borax should do the trick. They won’t cross it.
April 27, 2014 at 5:51 pm #807429
JoBParticipantJasperblu..
i am pretty sure mine are coming up through the wall.. and that’s one place where laying a line of boric acid would be pretty difficult.
what i suspect is that i kill off the current active nest and then the next generation comes along.
if they are coming into the house from the outside.. they are doing so by tunneling from underground.. which is certainly possible… because if they are coming in from outside they are crossing the line i already laid:(
the good news is that we are down to scouts followed by a trail to the bait stations followed by an absence of ants a couple of days later..
and then we repeat the cycle.
this i can live with. being overrun in every room of the house? that i can’t live with.
April 27, 2014 at 7:23 pm #807430
gmabettyParticipantIf you see 1 or 2 ants they’re only the fore runners of the mob. They send out scouts.
April 27, 2014 at 9:26 pm #807431
annaeileenParticipantThanks for the links Trickycoolj, I used both of those products and they worked ok (better than a bunch of other ones I made or bought), but the stuff that works best for me is the Hot Shot Liquid Ant Bait. http://www.homedepot.com/s/hot%2520shot%2520ant?NCNI-5
When the ants came back this year I couldn’t find the traps anywhere and now see they are sold online only so we are getting a case. They work great and aren’t messy like the Terra traps. I bought Borax at McClendon’s but wasn’t a dollar!
I spray vinegar water around the doors and other areas they come in and that seems to help. I am trying to use products not tested on animals but I broke down and bought the Hot Shot Liquid traps and they just work so good.
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