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July 15, 2008
Wanted: Ant Killing Ninja
I am waging a losing battle against ants. They are invading my kitchen, and peculiarly, my foyer. The kitchen I understand. There’s nothing for them to eat in the foyer though. We don’t have an overwhelming number of ants, but there always seem to be one or two lurking about on the kitchen counter, just waiting for us to drop something or leave a crumb behind. Yes, even the ants are offering a silent, antennaed commentary on my housekeeping skills.
My fear, of course, is that these ants are just advance scouts for the waiting horde, which will descend on my house and make me utterly miserable. I am generally “Miss Hippie Peace and Love don’t kill anything” but I have been giving killing off these ants all I’ve got. We’ve put out ant baits. Multiple different kinds and brands of ant baits, actually. One with “two kinds of foods ants eat” and one with “quick kill formula” and a third that “targets the queen.” None of these seem to have had even the slightest effect on the ants. We’ll get a brief reprieve, and then they return. I even let John spray some nasty, horrible smelling, packed with stuff that is bad for you ant spray, a product which I am completely and totally opposed to, and it made no difference! Now I just smoosh them whenever I see them. Unfortunately, I have a sneaking suspicion the ants have us outnumbered, and I have no idea what we’re going to try next. Please don’t tell the ants.
Anyone with ant-killing ninja skills, please apply in the comments.
Posted by Bad Penguin at July 15, 2008 10:07 PM
Comments
I can't remember if I told you about my ant saga from about a year ago. I literally had hundreds inside on my living room window, it was horrifying. I sprayed the outside of the window and along the edges of the outside of my building and that worked. Also, I've read if you draw a line with chalk at entry points that repels them.
Posted by: Becky at July 15, 2008 11:18 PM
You have to get the one that says "ant and roach" killer not just ants. Everyone has them. We've had them in our car and even in our beds as they chase the water in the kids sippies. I was told to make a trail of sugar out of the house where they are and make a big mount of it in the middle of the front lawn. Whatever, I didn't figure it would work so I didn't try it.
Posted by: Jerri Ann at July 16, 2008 12:51 AM
You need the hard-core kill 'em all spray. What you should do is purchase the requisite Metallica album (on vinyl, of course) grind it into small pieces and microwave those bits with some water and baking soda. The resulting goop won't spray very well, but it should scare the piss out of any ant that they'll leave you alone. (Which begs the question, do ants piss?)
Posted by: tim at July 16, 2008 02:08 AM
We have a few of those plug in "sonic" bug zapper things. I still get drop in guests and they don't affect the spiders at all, but don't seem to get ant infestations quite so bad. (or maybe the spiders are eating them?)
Posted by: Dorie at July 16, 2008 08:26 AM
Hi there (new here by way of 'so the fish said' i think, i've been blog surfing for ages)
We had ants all inside our windowsills in our computer room, not sure why, but I read somewhere to sprinkle cinnamon powder where the ants are at, as they hate it. I was really surprised to see it actually working, though since I have a small child, it had to be done repeatedly to get them to stay away.
I have also heard that dousing the area(s) in question with white vinegar is a really good deterrant, and finally cornmeal is supposed to be undigestable to ants, so they take it back to the nest and invariably end up dying from eating it. I haven't tried the vinegar or the cornmeal routes so I don't know if they work - I haven't had ant issues indoors since the cinnamon worked so well for me.
Good luck!! :)
Posted by: erica at July 17, 2008 11:40 PM
I had an ant invasion 2 years ago - totally freaked me out!!
on a friend's advice I went to Chinatown and bought this special piece of chalk, drew a line across all entris and voila! no more ants (and no harm done to the dogs
good luck!!
Posted by: Kathryn at July 19, 2008 12:04 PM
I've heard that baby powder helps.
Posted by: Fraulein N at July 21, 2008 02:30 PM