We’re Under Attack!
About a month ago we started seeing a few ants in the house. You know, one here and one there and seeing as I’m not anything close to a Buddhist, I would squish them without hesitation.
I did feel a tiny bit bad but guess what, little ants? This is MY turf. If I was in your territory, you’d probably bite me or something, right? Indeed, you would.
Well, a couple ants turned into a few and then a few more. Then one night my daughter had a dream that her room was overrun with ants and another day our brick-paved area out back was covered with red ants and I started to freak so the huz and I decided this weekend we would really go on the offensive and try to get rid of them; the black ones, the red ones, the tiny ones, the big ones, the ones that are now in the bathroom and the ones that have had the nerve to crawl around on my desk. ALL OF THEM!
Let me tell you…those little bastards must be psychic or else they speak English because this morning? My coffeemaker was swarming with black ants. I mean they were all over it. And in it. EWWWWW!!!!!
If their goal was to ruin my morning, then mission accomplished because hello? NO COFFEE!!!!
My husband grabbed the coffeemaker and put it outside and I’ve been too grossed out to go check and see if they’ve vacated.
I mean really, ants in a coffeemaker? — WTF?
Why me? What’s so appealing about MY house? It’s not that dirty!
In any case, I’m starting to think it’s personal. You know, like payback for squishing their friends or something. Ughhhh.
And now I’m scouring the internet looking for a secret weapon because nobody keeps me from my morning coffee and gets away with it *carefully applies waterproof, smudgeproof, non-toxic warpaint*
It’s ON.
(Anyone know of a natural way to get rid of ants so I don’t have to use poison???)
Okay, so maybe I missed the stupid box. It still ate my comment. What happens if you answer the math question wrong? Try Andro. You lose my original long thought out description comment because you made me answer math questions. Andro is poison, but it is the very best kind of poison. Natural methods? Spiders eat ants. Is that the kind of natural solution you were looking for? ;)
We have an abundance of spiders. I wish they’d eat the fricken ants. We used the Amdro stuff outside on the red ants but the black ones in the house are coming out nooks and crannies, like they’ve gotten in the walls. I have no clue how to get at them.
We have crickets! It kills me.
Oh! And something crawling around in my attic.
Gah!
I so feel your pain. We had the ant problem back in August/September. Had to break down and call Terminix. One visit was not enough to kill them. They came back. One trick they gave was to move the food source. I came home from work and they were swarming in and out of the trash can. We moved it to the other side of the room. They seem to have vacated (knock on wood (or rather wood colored plastic my desk is made out of)).
There are natural ways, but I hate ants so much that I just nuke the little f***ers with the poison. We have a very nice gentleman out every other month. Nary an ant in sight!
dude. we just had ants for over 2 months. IT WAS HELL. nothing i would do would kill the fuckers. i mean, i think i woudl kill one colony and then 3 more would spring up. THEY WERE EVERYWHERE!!!!!! the little silver stake things seem to work fairly well, but if you’re not into those, i think whole foods sells this ant spray that is orange scented and all natural and my friend said that worked when they had ants in their house (although it sure as fuck didn’t work for mine)…….. good luck
It’s bees here. But we have ant cycles too. Hate them both.
Cinnamon. Ants hate it. Get some cinnamon oil and mix it with water and vinegar (in a spray bottle…probably 20-30 drops of the oil will be plenty, 1/2 cup vinegar, the rest water). Pretend it’s normal spray cleaner. Except it smells better.
Sprinkle cinnamon on the floors wherever the ants seem to be coming from. If you don’t know where they’re coming from, sprinkle the entire perimeter (fortunately cinnamon is not expensive…sometimes Big Lots has a big container for $1 or so). Again, smells good, inoffensive, non-toxic, but the ants hate it.
I’ve also heard ants won’t cross a chalk line.
Borax and sugar. The sugar attracts the ants, the Borax kills them when they bring it back to their nest.
Borax. From the laundry aisle, which has almost as many uses as baking powder. It’s a longer term thing - some people mix it with sugar, and the ants carry it back to the hive, where it eventually kills them all. I once put a line of the stuff right outside my back door so they had to track it on their way in or out. It worked.
You can also plant pennyroyal near any entry point of your house to deter them.
Both of these things have toxic properties, so you’d want to keep small kiddos out of range, but its not as caustic as ant poison.
I mix the Borax with Corn Syrup, and then I put a little down wherever I see the ants entering the house (on the inside) or I otherwise see ants. It works wonders. Make sure you look up the recipe though. I think 1 cup of corn syrup to 1 tablespoon of Borax? Too much Borax and they will avoid it. Too little and it doesn’t work either.
We are overrun with ants every spring. Here’s what works for us: place those little ant traps anywhere the kids can’t get to.
For something natural to use on countertops and other areas, mix some real peppermint oil with a little dishwashing soap (Dawn works well) and water. Put in a spray bottle and mist everywhere you see them. Really coat each surface. Even when it dries, it’ll still be working. The dishsoap dries out their little exoskeletons, the peppermint also helps dry it out and repulses them.
It worked better than the ant traps.
We had this issue last spring. Spearmint Oil! Mix it with water & spray. It really does work!!!!!!!!
Good Luck Izzy!
We use Amdro but something tells me it’s not all that safe. Love the post!
Boric Acid. Ants hate it and will not cross it. If you put it around your doors, windows and along your foundation, they will leave you alone. But you have to kill the ones inside your house already.
I’ve got a product for you! http://www.battlethosebugs.com/
Check this out. It’s non-toxic and not hazardous for pets or humans. I haven’t tried it, but it sounds good.
Also, I have used cinnamon to ward off ants in the past and it has worked. Good luck!
I’ve always heard white chalk. Blackboard chalk. Can’t get much safer than that. but I haven’t tried it. We stop and spray. (no little ones)
ask them nicely to leave? snort.
chemical warfare seems warranted. may the force be with you.
First you blare Heavy Metal music, then go straight for the chemical attack.
We have used Boric acid in the past too, although I’m not sure if it is safe for pets and kids?
Ants follow a chemical “trail” do a good cleaning along the walls and doors (or where ever else you might think they are getting in).
I am with Fenicle…
We were over run… they even climbed three stories and were in my daughter’s bedroom in her toys and in her drawers…
Spearmint oil and water..
Nthing the chalk. Better yet, use baby powder; we put it down around the feral cats’ dishes outside, and along the back porch (where the dogs hang out) and have not once had ANY ant cross the baby powder line.
Bleck. I hated ants and used the Borax and Sugar thing…which helped a little, until I realized I had a massive nest in our shower wall. At which point Exterminators were hired to root them out.
I also once opened a cheerios box and poured them out - it was full of ants. Ants and Cheerios. I still have nightmares about it.
I’ve used Borax too, those little bastards always find their way in at least once or twice a year here. Good Luck.
From greenpeace.org…locate the place of entry, squeeze a lemon onto it and leave the peel. Ants will also retreat from lines of talcum powder, chalk, bone meal, charcoal dust and cayenne pepper.
Best of luck!
My brother had a very gentle approach to dealing with some ants that decided to take up residence on his desk at work. He patiently “herded” them with his business card towards a co-worker’s desk without hurting a single one. (It was a carpet store and he had some time on his hands.) The co-worker was a real asshat who was OCD about keeping his desk clean, while everyone else’s desks were like Happy Ant Shmorgasbord Heaven. The ants stayed at that guy’s desk and continued to return. He couldn’t figure it out.
So, I suggest you apologize to them for offing some of their people and gently guide them towards a particular neighbor, preferably one with a very loud pool pump and bad taste in swimwear. A small line of tiny cookie crumbs leading to their destination should do the trick.
hahaha we have them too and they drive me nuts!!
Um Im not sure if I should mention this but… you may need to invest in a new coffee maker, ants have an annoying habit of leaving a trail of formic acid wherever they go. It smells musty but it tastes worse, not even coffee can get rid of that taste!
We have had an unnatural ant infestation ever since we moved to Georgia. I am anxiously awaiting the FREEZING COLD WINTER To kill all the little bastards.
My preschool used boric acid, because it wouldn’t kill kids as well as ants. My husband waged a major war against the ants for a couple years a while back. I think he eventually won, but it took awhile. We used poison.
We had an ant prob at our old house. Windex ‘em baby. Seriously. That stuff stops them in their tracks. Plus? You’ll have some shiney countertops or shiny other things. Although the Windex method isn’t exactly eco or kid friendly.
My mom used to use Comet cleanser. She sprinkled the clean countertops each night before we went to bed. I like the cinnamon idea better though.
Oh my gosh, I might move..no if you have to call an exterminator..yes we had ants..not that many and we used an exterminator…they work..
Dorothy from grammology
call your grandmother..
We had lots of success with talcum powder. Of course, our ants were in the bathroom so it was not too weird to sprinkle that all over the place. Talc all over your kitchen might be hard to explain to visitors. I have heard lots of recommendations for various combinations with Borax. Good luck!
Borax worked for us too, when we had such a nasty infestation in the baby’s room that he had to sleep with us. We mixed it with corn syrup and put it everywhere we saw them - especially along the baseboards. It does take a few days to work but they will take it back to the colony and feed it to their bitch-queen, and thus the entire civilization will be wiped out. Good luck. I also hate hate HATE ants. I sympathize.
The natural miracle for getting rid of ants is this biodust.
http://www.biconet.com/crawlers/BioDust.html
It is awesome - but be careful because it’s made of flower oils so
it’ll have a very strong flower scent. So if you have allergies you
should put it in a well-ventilated area. Just dust where the ants
come in one time - they will never come back. My husband is in
constant awe of this stuff… and it’s child-safe.
BTW, thanks for the inspiration! I’ve started by own blog!
http://blog.mommywizdom.com
It may have been tempting to fire up the coffeemaker and boil the nasty creatures. I confess, I deal with chemicals. We have an old house, so we have an exterminator. Exterminators, though, use low doses of the chemicals, and they’re bound by law as to how and where they use them. If you end up calling one, you can feel confident in their license and knowledge.
I have never been bothered by ants because I sprinkle cinnamon in the corners, especially the cupboards. I second the motion for the cinnamon oil, good one! It mucks up their scent trails, which is how the little beggars navigate.
Two things have worked for me. For an immediate kill, pour a little vinegar in a squirt bottle and shoot the bastards! (The vinegar smell will dissipate, promise.) To kill the colony, buy Hot Shot ant baits. They’re octagonal little black disk thingies. I’ve tried all the different brands available in my area, and these are the only ones that work.
Screw natural, I say nuke the suckers..
I hate ants, and in my coffee maker…. the war would be ON!
I think in this situation only poison will help to get rid of them.