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Ant Attack!!

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AmberWaves

AmberWaves

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
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This morning I woke up late. As it is with waking up late, my whole morning routine was all messed up. I went into the kitchen (which doesn't have any windows nearby- it's a galley style with a dining area that opens into the kitchen, where the windows are) to make my husband his lunch and noticed some ants trailing around our sink. Thinking it might be the dishes we had in the sink (cereal bowl and a pasta strainer) I immediately tossed them in the dishwasher and rinsed out the sink.

After that I sprayed some paper towels with a bit of Raid and wiped the counters down and started tossing stuff I thought may draw the ants. I then noticed a few ants on our backsplash, leading into the pantry. Not a full line of ants just some here and there. I opened the pantry and saw a few on the floor of the pantry where we keep the cereal boxes. I moved the boxes into the sink and wiped the area down. I have no idea where they were coming from, or where they were getting in, but I saw a few on the ground by the wall next to the pantry (where our dog sleeps during the day). Since our dog is in the kitchen during the day (with a baby gate keeping him in there), on his nest of blankets I didn't want to spray anything to possibly make him sick. Now I'm all paranoid the ants are going to hurt my dog (because I'm insane), since I wasn't able to fully Raid treat the area.

Also, I'm 31 weeks pregnant and I'm hesitant to really spray anything anyway. I guess I'm looking for some tips or help on controlling the ants? They pop up in random places and we are unable to trace them back to anyplace in particular.
 
Usually the issue is that they are after something. Maybe even something tucked way back somewhere. Or maybe a spill on the floor.

I don''t know. I HATE BUGS. All of them.

Since you are concerned, pregnant, and have a dog I would suggest calling someone to spray for you. (don''t panic)
We had bees getting in the house last summer. I called all the usual places. They were expensive, wanted one year contracts, and used chemicals that could hurt our animals.
Forget them.
Look for the smaller companies that use organic stuff. The guy we had out was just a one person small business. He charged about $70 to get the nest down and sprayed in the chimney to be sure. And guaranteed the work.


My grandmother always says to use vinigar to clean everything. Never tried it. Not sure if it works. But that is what she says to do.
 
Thanks for your help! I''m so mad I wasn''t able to give it a thorough going over, because we were late for work. It was an ant here and there, no big infestation, but I HATE ANTS. I feel guilty for leaving the dog in there, too. Ugh. I''m a bad mommy. When I get home today I''m going to give it a major overhaul.
 
You could get some of the little ant traps and put them out. Terro (sp) works well too..just don''t get it on you. Get a little scrap of paper and pour a little on the paper and put it in a corner where animals/kids can''t get to it. Also, I think it''s cornmeal that ants can''t digest. Sprinkle that around and they''ll eat it and die.
 
Great tips, Packrat! I''ll get some of those traps today.
 
My mom works in an elementary school. The exterminator for the school brought me a can of 565 PLUS XLO formula 2. I used it while pregnant also. Its great. You spray on the edges and the existing ones die off and you don''t get anymore. I''ve only had to spray the kitchen once since January. We had a Huge ant problem. They sell it at Home Depot. The ant traps only really work for a certain kind of ants. Others like the taste of it. GL
 
yep, we had similar problem with our previous house, we used this stuff and it works Great! the ants takes it back to their homes and basically it kills the colony from the root cause instead of just a temporary fix of killing them on the spot.

MAX FORCE GRANULE INSECT BAIT we would put it around corners, base boards, and of course where they were supposedly coming from. though I don't know exactly where to get this, as my coworker gave this to me, it also works really well with other critters. If you have pets, you may have to be careful though... I highly recommend it.
 
Hiya

Until you get a professional in to sort it out, instead of squishing them, which releases a scent which attracts more ants, try vaccuming them up.

We had a problem a few years ago and for the life of couldn''t see where they were coming in and I tried everything until I was told to vaccum them up, which I did and it was really easy to get the wee buggers. We then discovered that our next door neighbour had a blocked pipe which had backed up and the ants were getting into our house through that. Once it was fixed we never saw them again thankfully and never had to use any chemicals or get a professional in.
 
Thanks again, to everyone for the great tips. I don''t know what it is, but I hate ants more than anything. I think it''s the fact that they''re small, and it''s never just ONE ant. I''m going to try all of this (not at once) stuff that has been mentioned.
 
If you want a non-chemical method, feed the ants cornmeal.

They can''t digest it and it dehydrates them and they die. It may take up to 3-4 weeks to kill the entire colony, but it works.
 
Date: 9/24/2009 7:37:36 PM
Author: HopeDream
If you want a non-chemical method, feed the ants cornmeal.

They can''t digest it and it dehydrates them and they die. It may take up to 3-4 weeks to kill the entire colony, but it works.
Click to expand...
And, in the meantime, if you want to kill them on the spot, use WINDEX. Yup, windex. My friend had a bad ant invasion and the exterminator told her this trick. Not toxic and great for cleaning counters, hehehe.
 
TGAL: Windex?? Fabulous!!!
 
Date: 9/25/2009 2:16:48 AM
Author: AmberWaves
TGAL: Windex?? Fabulous!!!
Click to expand...
Yup, I use it all the time for ants - granted, we got the miniscule ones, but I hear it works fine for regular black ants.
 
Thanks a ton, Tgal. I saw a random "scout" ant on the pantry door and nearly burned the door off in my frustration this morning. You can believe I''m going to be trying some of those tips.
 
We have had the problem the last two days as well! Personally, my fav is to squish them and then yell "GO TELL YOUR FRIENDS!" It works for me, kind of like
killing a fly and singing my rendition of ''another one bites the dust hey!''

I hate ants and flies!
 
Amber, here''s a trick we learned from an exterminator.

Mix Borax powdered hand soap with sugar and enough water to make a paste. Put a bit of the paste on little waxed paper squares on the floor. (I have pets, so we actually curled the waxed paper and slid them into empty 2-liter soda bottles so our pets couldn''t get at them).

The ants will be attracted to the mixture because of the sugar; this bring the borax back to the nest too to kill off the colony.

I''ve had great luck with this for years, and I see it''s one of the suggested solutions on Tgal''s second link, too.
 
Thanks Allison, and Luv2Sparkle! The bottle trick sounds like just what I would need to do, Allison!
 
Amber! Talk about inundated with ants! 12 shelves in my pantry and a few more cupboards in my kitchen! I have bought the ant traps that were
suggested and the ants ignore them! Everyday I have more!!! We have never had this problem before! We added sprinklers to our back yard
and I think the water is bringing them in. I cant find where in the heck they are coming from or where their nest is. It doesn''t help that it is
105 today.


Ick Ick and double Ick! I hate ants!!!!
 
We had the black carpenter ants about 1 1/2 years ago and the traps I put out for the little sugar ants didn''t work. I put out a lot of Terro and also used the vacuum. We''d had a lot of rain and that brought them out-why it never has in the past, I don''t know. If it happens again I''m getting out the cornmeal. Sometimes it depends on what kind of ants they are.
 
the Terro ones are the ones they wont touch! I bought two different kinds and Terro ones are in the kitchen. I thought I was safe because the
butlers pantry is a few feet from the kitchen. I just went through it and organized and even labeled the thing and now I am just throwing everything
away. Plus now I am itchy.
 
The big black ants are too big for those traps I think. I used the liquid Terro and drizzled it all over paper and set it out. Maybe try cornmeal?
 
Date: 9/26/2009 9:32:34 PM
Author: luv2sparkle
the Terro ones are the ones they wont touch! I bought two different kinds and Terro ones are in the kitchen. I thought I was safe because the

butlers pantry is a few feet from the kitchen. I just went through it and organized and even labeled the thing and now I am just throwing everything

away. Plus now I am itchy.
Click to expand...

Yikes. I''m itchy just from reading this thread!!
23.gif
 
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