Ants, ants, ants in my pants

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Permalink Reply by very aquarian on August 8, 2007 at 6:36am

eeek! Sorry to hear it, we've been battling an ant problem too (among a few other country critters). I don't have a solution for you, just some empathy! We bit the bullet and had the Orkin man spray our house- it seems to do the trick, tho I wish it wasn't so expensive! Good luck ~ Lauren

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Permalink Reply by Julie Branstrom on August 8, 2007 at 8:03am

ewww, ants! This is actually the first summer that I have not had ants inside my house in more than 5 years. We still have a ton of them outside, but somehow avoided them inside this year. (I better knock on some wood) A couple things that we've tried that have been more successful than others when we have had them in the house is Tarro (in an orange package) traps. They are little plastic containers filled with a syrup that the ants are attracted to. They take it back to the nest and it kills them all. Another one that works well is called Mrs. Grass Ant Killer. Same kind of deal, though these are actually little metal stakes. You can use them indoors or out. The bait isn't syrup, but the ants are attracted to it just the same and it does the trick pretty well. I found both of these brands are Walmart, but you could probably also find them at hardware stores.
Good luck with your ant problem. I hope they go away soon! :)
Julie

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Permalink Reply by Scott on August 9, 2007 at 10:35pm

I don't know if it will get rid of them, but we have found powdered cinnamon to be effective in creating 'boundaries' that the ants prefer not to cross. You might try some near where they are coming out to see if it helps.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Bulger on August 10, 2007 at 12:14pm

Little piles of corn meal. The ants bring in back to their room to eat, can't digest it, and die int heir sleep.

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Permalink Reply by Kris Kelley on August 10, 2007 at 1:19pm

I had a really bad ant problem earlier this summer to which I could not solve and ended up calling a pest company. They actually managed to take care of the problem. It took about 2 1/2 weeks for them to go away completely, and I had to have them come out twice to spray (initial and follow-up).

In previous summers I've been able to spray all outside my house and in my crawlspace, lay down the ant killer pellets that they take back to their homes all around the borders too. I stopped using raid because I felt it made a mess and I didn't like how it smelled. I started using a long lighter (such for fireplaces and grills) to just burn them. Kills them a lot faster, and doesn't smell! :)

I would find a really great pest company that charges about $45 a quarter and does free follow-up visits in-between regular sprayings. If it's anything like my problem - they are surface-dwelling ants and don't take the time to build homes, they just look for any water source or sugary foods they can find in your home.

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Permalink Reply by Lunachick Designs on August 15, 2007 at 5:16pm

Eeep, I have no idea how to help, but that's no good!

We've had a rash of spiders in our house lately, which is no good for my person. At all.

Good luck with your mini-plague!

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Permalink Reply by ArtWench on September 23, 2007 at 7:40pm

ROTFLMAO!

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Permalink Reply by TiasTreasures on August 20, 2007 at 10:02am

Ugh - I have the same thing happen every Summer - I think our ants come in because its so hot!

The easiest thing to do is find the "scout" ants - the 2-3 little guys that come in and scope things out before the whole colony invades. If you can catch them - you'll prevent them from communicating the deliciousness of your house back to their little buddies.

If you don't get the scouts - bleach up their trail. Get a spray bottle filled with a mild bleach solution and wipe them all up - including the trail they're coming in at. Also wipe up around the area - IE: cracks in the doorway, under the counters, around the sill - anywhere you think they're coming in at. That usually keeps them from coming back the same way they came in the first time! You may have to do this a couple days in a row for them to get the hint.

Also - I've heard that peppermint also wards off ants - little sticks of peppermint plant or even chewing gu, (believe it or not) strategically placed should do wonders!

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Fabletoo on August 20, 2007 at 8:02pm

I have those in my kitchen on and off. It's weird because, here in Thailand, we have tons of bugs but none of them are in my house - except for ants and they keep coming back no matter what I do. Still.....could be worse. When I lived in Texas, we had flying roaches in every house I ever lived in. Yuk!

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Permalink Reply by TiasTreasures on August 21, 2007 at 8:32am

Oh no! I think I'd run screaming if I ever had a roach that flew in my house! LOL

*shiver****

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Permalink Reply by ArtWench on September 23, 2007 at 7:41pm

Then you should never, I repeat NEVER, move to FL. The palmetto bugs there are the size of small dogs!

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Permalink Reply by Saras Texture Crafts on August 22, 2007 at 9:50am

Ants in your pants! Well I was going to suggest boiling water, but that wouldn't be wise!

Have you found where the nest is? If you can destroy that you'll be ok.

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