ants

[emmline]

Considering advertising for the Pied Whistler of Hamlen, whose tune is irresistable to ants, who will follow him/her en masse into a far off cave to be sealed permanently.

The little buggers decided, sometime late Spring, that new territorial expeditions should be mounted--namely into my house.

I'm currently using the "3 Prong Approach" recommended by a web-retailer called U-Spray, which involves inside bait, outside foundation spray, and outside bait. We'll see how it goes, but meanwhile, I just got back from my sister's house in Pennsylvania. She has boric acid sprinkled along her back door threshold, and is finding it ineffective.
Seems we're both dealing with the insect version of Drew Barrymore's evil ex-boyfriend in Charlie's Angels-Full Throttle, who can walk through flame unscathed.

I contacted "professionals" but was so put off by their stated determination to inundate my entire property with chemicals, that I'm trying to do it myself.
I've slowed mine down a bit...wondering if we're seeing a worldwide shift in ant susceptibility to the usual control methods...somewhat like superbug microorganisms. Anyone else?

[carrie]

I have used cayenne pepper effectively, though my problem was small. I did a google search on ants and cayenne and found this site. Don't know the organization, but there are a few other recommendations listed there also.

http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/ants.htm

Carol

[MarkB]

Ants taste good when roasted

My mom was plaqued every spring with the same problem, she planted Marigolds in planters around her back door and across the back of the house that seem to have gotten rid of some of the problem.

Now how do you get rid of squirrels on your balcony, twenty stories up, that keep digging in my Impatience plants. I can't leave Clancy (my 25 lb. cat) on the balcony all day, although he would love to live there. Any suggestions.

MarkB

[spittin_in_the_wind]

We've had some success in getting rid of ants. Our approach was multifaceted:

First we had an exterminator come in and fumigate areas that were infested with carpenter ants (big black ones). We knew exactly where they lived since we would see them swarming in the spring, as the new queens leave the nest. This only goes on for a couple hours during the first really warm days of spring. We have a porch with a shallow slope that tends to collect water on it. The other porch had old wooden roofing shingles underneath two layers of asphalt shingles. The rotting wood that they lived in on both porches was removed when we replaced our roof, and we haven't had any carpenter ants since. Wood chip and bark mulch or a firewood pile near the house can also attract ants. Same for open recycling containers or garbage cans in or close to the house or garage.

We also have the foundation sprayed. I think he comes once or twice a year. I think he also puts boric acid near the doors (boric acid is relatively safe). No chemicals inside the house.

We put some ant baits in the pantry for the little sugar ants, this works pretty well. Scrubbing up the floors and shelves in the cabinets and pantry goes a long way toward making the little ants disappear.

We also moved the peonies well away from the house. They were planted just below the kitchen window before that. They really attract ants badly!

Perversely, we now have an ant farm in a jar sitting in the living room. So far, no escapees.

Robin

[Redwolf]

Our plague isn't ants, it's flies. Specifically "lesser house flies." We have no idea where they're coming from...supposedly they breed in rotting vegetation (the pest control guy said to check for compost heaps that might be near by), but we live in a forest...rotting vegetation R Us! And how they're getting in the house is beyond me. We've tried evacuating the house and bug-bombing, placing fly traps outside, raking vegetation away from the house, etc., but every time it rains, the little buggers are back. It's embarrassing to have people over with hoards of flies buzzing around the living room!

Redwolf

[squidgirl]

She has boric acid sprinkled along her back door threshold, and is finding it ineffective.

The trick with boric acid is to convince the ants to take it home with them. Sprinking along the threshold won't work unless you know for sure they're all entering via that door (unlikely).

I've had success w/ boric acid -- what we did was mix it with sugar or honey and water in a deepish jar lid, then soak strings in the sugar-poison mixture and drape them over the rim of the lid and into the sweet stuff. These will act as ramps for the ants to climb. Then you put it someplace where the ants like to go (but children & pets don't!). They will make a ant super-highway between this and their nest -- LET THEM DO THIS UNDISTURBED!!! They are busily ferrying poison into their nest. After a while the superhighway will die out, as the entire nest is poisoned. This might take a week or so, but it's better than spraying the entire house with toxins.

In one house where we did this, the ants made their super-highway across the doorframe of the pantry, right where people leaned when waiting for thier toast to brown. You'd be absentmindedly waiting there & someone would come up and say "Ack! Your hair is full of ants!"

Since I last did this, I've heard that there are different kinds of ants, "sweet ants" and "grease ants" (based on what they like to eat). This sugar method might only work for the sweet ants, but I wonder if one could do something similar with oil? butter? for the grease-ant variey...

Noel

[Nanohedron]

Marigolds, eh? I've read that planting tansy at your doorsteps will work, too.

[irishduffy]

I would take ants over earwigs any day of the week god do I hate those things but I live on a lake so what can you do.

[burnsbyrne]

We discovered a carpenter ant nest in our 91 year old home last summer. We had to have a corner of the house rebuilt after we had the professional exterminators come out and blast them all to hell. Sometimes the little critters are more than just a nuisance and can cause lots of damage.
Before last year I tried intimidation tactics to get rid of the ants. I would stomp on every one I saw in the kitchen and leave them laying there as a message to the others of what will happen to them if they didn't stay out of my territory. I found out later that the other ants just take the dead ones back to the nest and eat them. So I started sweeping them up and called the exterminator.
Mike

[KDMARTINKY]

I love it when you all post things that I actually have knowledge of. Most likely those ants are carpenter ants and they are hard to get ride off. carpenter ants like honey bees have a queen. If you find the queen and kill her, then for some reasson only known in nature the workers die. Carpenter ants like most go through eating cycle between sugars and protiens. This why when you set out bait that they eat it and they don't die, because they are on the opposite cycle as your bait. So how do you get ride of them. This is what I had to do and now I don't have a one.
1) Buy a concentrate of DIZIANON. Mix in water as directed and spray this on you foundation of your home and 2 foot out from your home. Look around you home and anywhere you see a ant path where ants are try to find each end of the path and spray. (Wal-mart)
2) Buy a bait for inside you home which is made of both sugar and protien, therefore it will kill them regardless of their cycle they are on. (Wal-mart)
3) If you prefer spraying you home inside then there is a great natural ingredient spray which is harmless to plants, humans, pets, but kills the ants. It's name is BIOGANIC. This can be found at Lowes or Home Depot.

Hope this is informative. Do this and you will be amazed of the results.

Keith

[emmline]

Actually, they're little ants, not carpenters...but Keith's method is still much like what we're attempting. The inside bait is in a 2 part syringe, with protein and sweet parts, the outside spray is something newer and supposedly more benign than diazinon, and the outside bait is some kind of sprinkles. I think (hope) that, at this point, it's just a matter of time.

[MarkB]

At one time our family had trouble getting rid of an aunt, she came for three weeks to our cottage and stayed nine, almost ruined everybody's summer!

My dad, whose sister it was, finally threaten her with extermination as only brother could, he put a garter snake in her bed and one in shoe for the morning! Aunite was gone in two days!

No need to use poison

MarkB

[IDAwHOa]

Producing a sterile barrier around your house is important as well. Clearing the ground of dead and decaying matter, hiding places and bridges from the branches of trees and shrubs is paramount to success.

In the case of an aunt, moving and NOT leaving a forwarding address might be the only option.

[KDMARTINKY]

Seems like you are doing the right thing. It will take time. Just hang in there.

[littlejohngael]

We've had monstrous problems with ants for the past three years ... except this year. The only thing we're doing differently is that my wife is mopping the floors and wiping down the counters with a solution of water and white vinegar. The little boogers hate it apparently.

Best to you,

Little John