I'm going crazy here. We have lived in our house for 3 years now. It's a townhome that backs up to a wooded county park. While most of the critters we see are nice - deer, fox, rabbits and squirrels, plus tons of birds, the one that is driving me BONKERS are the ANTS.... We've had them since we moved in. I've been able to keep them out of the kitchen for the most part just because I keep spraying poison, but they are "hunting" all over my living room and lower level. My 2 year old drops crumbs everywhere and if they can't find that (which they usually can with two sloppy kids) then they stay mostly downstairs and find cat vomit (our cat is very sick with kidney disease and vomits at LEAST once a day and I don't always find it immediately).
I've tried plugging their entrances on the outside, but they move on to the next pin prick entrance within a few days. I've set traps, they walk around them and recently I spread ant killing granules outside our home and they find a way to get around it!!! I see them streaming into our neighbors (both sides) and we've all talked - we ALL have the same problem and we've all followed the "main trail" and found that it seems to come from out back - from that wooded area. There must be a HUGE colony (or more than one) and near impossible to get rid of it.
I even called an exterminator and for ANTS it would cost $500 and they say we would have to do it yearly... Um... that has to be another way!!
Right now I'm sitting on the couch and have had to swat away/kill probably 6 ants while typing this - there must be a piece of pretzel or a small cracker piece under the couch or something... ARGH!!!! I've NEVER had problems like this before - my entire life... sure the ocassional small problem I rmember when we were kids, but NOTHING like this.
SUGGESTIONS?!?!?!?
I am sorry you are having this problem but you are much braver then I am. I can't STAND ants!!! They give me the heebee jeebees! Once before our lawn was put in I was standing in the dirt with my husband and when I looked down and realized I was surrounded, at least in my mind I was, by ant homes I froze and had no idea what to do .. my husband had to walk me back into our house cause I was so terrified and couldn't move. I have heard through the years and I have no idea if this will work or not .. but that a piece of foil from a gum wrapper inside the cupboards acts as a barrier for ants ... but again that's just what I have heard over the years .. good luck with everything!!
I treat along the foundation of my house every year. You can get shield at Home Depot. I think I read you have little ones around(place Terro in a hard to find spot).....If you use Terro you need to find where they are coming in. I place a big drop of terro and place it in the path of a moving ant. It take one ant to tell all the other ants where the poison is. Ants ar very smart creatures. As they walk they sit along the way. When they sit they leave a trail for other ants to follow. Some trails can last forever! I used to work with kids at the Childrens museum...Yes I taught about ants!
I got quite an education on all sorts of vermin when I moved to Texas. I'm no expert, but I play one on TV. 
First, quit spraying poison. Your kids and pets are going to grow a third eye in the middle of their foreheads. It's especially bad for the sick cat.
Spraying poison does nothing but kill the scouts, which account for less than 1% of the nest. More scouts will come, as you know. You have to send the poison down to the underground nest. The only way to do that is with bait stations placed directly in the ant trail. Not all bait stations work with all ants (which is why the exterminator can charge so much). See if you can buy some heavy duty bait stations from the exterminator. The ones at the grocery store are pretty much crap, but try them anyway.
Place the bait station in the middle of the trail and DON'T MOVE IT. If it's successful, the scouts will inform the rest of the nest and you will witness the most disgusting parade of ants you've ever seen as every ant comes up for a nibble from the bait station. DO NOT DISTURB THIS PARADE! The ants will only follow the successful trail, so you don't have to worry about strays. After a couple of hours, they will all return to the nest with the poison and you shouldn't see any more from that nest again.
Another thing you can get the exterminator to do is pump silica dust into your electrical outlets, sliding door tracks and any other obvious entry places. Ants don't like the stuff, so they'll avoid those entryways.
Good luck!
I agree about the ant bait traps. And i also spray my foundation every year, every time my husband digs outside i end up with ants inside, never fails and i have to go through it all again. I do also, spray the underside of the rafters in the basement (we have an unfinshed basement) and it seems to take care of it.
As a matter of fact i'm off to buy some ant spray as i seen one in the house today. And yes two weeks ago, my husband was planting shrubs and here they are.
Now what to do about snakes?? I have them all over, went to step off the back porch last night and there was one slithering along.
snakes?!?!?!?!?! here's what you do. .... ... M O V E ickckckckckckckck
I got quite an education on all sorts of vermin when I moved to Texas. I'm no expert, but I play one on TV.
First, quit spraying poison. Your kids and pets are going to grow a third eye in the middle of their foreheads. It's especially bad for the sick cat.
Spraying poison does nothing but kill the scouts, which account for less than 1% of the nest. More scouts will come, as you know. You have to send the poison down to the underground nest. The only way to do that is with bait stations placed directly in the ant trail. Not all bait stations work with all ants (which is why the exterminator can charge so much). See if you can buy some heavy duty bait stations from the exterminator. The ones at the grocery store are pretty much crap, but try them anyway.
Place the bait station in the middle of the trail and DON'T MOVE IT. If it's successful, the scouts will inform the rest of the nest and you will witness the most disgusting parade of ants you've ever seen as every ant comes up for a nibble from the bait station. DO NOT DISTURB THIS PARADE! The ants will only follow the successful trail, so you don't have to worry about strays. After a couple of hours, they will all return to the nest with the poison and you shouldn't see any more from that nest again.
Another thing you can get the exterminator to do is pump silica dust into your electrical outlets, sliding door tracks and any other obvious entry places. Ants don't like the stuff, so they'll avoid those entryways.
Good luck!
I know the poison is just temporary and not solving the problem but I have to keep them out of the kitchen!!! I never spray on the ground, but along the backsplash of the counter (and then I wash the counter afterwards) and along the outlines of the upper cabinets that store food...
I've tried ant baits (only could find those at the grocery store last eyar) and I put them in the direct path... they got confused for a bit and then they started walking around them - ALL SIX OF THEM...
I put those granules around the perimeter of my house, but doesn't work on the patio where they walk...
So... which baits? which liquid? I'm DESPERATE!!! This is plain craziness... It ends when the first frost hits, but I'm going crazy!
Melissa
TERRO! all the way! If you can find the source where they are coming in you will end all the misery! I have been able to kill them off on one side of the house. Now they come in from one of the bedrooms. I will kill them off again this year!
That's the problem, I can't pinpoint the source. I was just out back and they are running along the mortar of the bricks of our raised flower beds.... I was standing out there seeing them go into the house, into our neighbor's house and into the yard next door and coming from SOMEWHERE out beyond the fence and the trail gets lost in the grass...
Just as I was standing there with my mouth open, the Orkin man comes to the front door - I kid you not. There have been several calls from our neighborhood, so they are giving a cheaper rate. so for $70 every other month they will get rid of them. If hadn't tried for THREE YEARS to get rid of them (two kinds of traps, poison granules and even homemade remedies like grits (because they explode the ant when they enlarge) and salt... NOTHING WORKS...
IF I could find the source (and i search nearly every two to three days), I wouldn't go the expensive route, but I'm done!
melisa
We have had a terrible problem with ants this year. There were tons of ant hills in my front and back yard. What I did and it seemed to get rid of the masses is I bought those yard bait traps and plopped them right next to the ant hills and we did a foundation treatment. Also to keep them out of a specific area in your house sprinkle ground clove. I did this in my DD's bedroom windows because they were coming in there. You have to reapply it every so often because the smell fades. They don't like the smell. There were also a few home remedies that I found on the internet the i've heard work. One is to pour boiling water directly on the ant hills and another is to pour instant grits on the nest. When they eat the grits it sucks out all of the moisture in their bodies. I tried this, but it rained shortly after I did it so I think I just fed them. I still see a stray ant here or there, but nothing like it was. HTH.
I got rid of ants on my house just by putting black pepper around the house, I did not believe at first but when I saw that the ants were gone, now every year I buy big cans of black pepper and sprinkle all around the house.
I've actually tried this, but we can't get black pepper to all their "entrances". I guess that's the fun of living in a townhome.
We have had a terrible problem with ants this year. There were tons of ant hills in my front and back yard. What I did and it seemed to get rid of the masses is I bought those yard bait traps and plopped them right next to the ant hills and we did a foundation treatment. Also to keep them out of a specific area in your house sprinkle ground clove. I did this in my DD's bedroom windows because they were coming in there. You have to reapply it every so often because the smell fades. They don't like the smell. There were also a few home remedies that I found on the internet the i've heard work. One is to pour boiling water directly on the ant hills and another is to pour instant grits on the nest. When they eat the grits it sucks out all of the moisture in their bodies. I tried this, but it rained shortly after I did it so I think I just fed them. I still see a stray ant here or there, but nothing like it was. HTH.
I would LOVE to find an ant hill - LOVE IT. I have found some food store areas and thought I got lucky, but never got the main nest. I really think these Southern ants make bigger colonies and not smallish ant hills like I remember from the midwest. Believe me, I will be asking the Orkin man today about it!!!
melissa
Ants don't just live in the hills. They have huge undergraound networks. They can be bad pretty much all over the united states. there is no way to eliminate every any that lives in the yard. You can only take defense at yoyr foundation. Even with that they can get underground. If they are sugar ants which sounds like what you are dealing you need to eliminate what they are looking for.....food.Easier said right!
IDK if this really works, but I had an elderly client tell me that if you sprinkle Sweet and Low here and there in little piles it attracts the ants and they carry it back to their nest. It is poison to them when they eat it so the colony dies. I've not had and ant problem but she said she used to until she started using the sweet and low. I went to her house and she has a little open packet by her sink and in corners of the kitchen! LOL!
I know this sounds weird, but it works: If you know where they're coming in, spear the area with a bit of vaseline. They won't go near it. They seem to know they'll get stuck in it! I tried this when the ants were entering my humingbird feeder--I put the vaseline around the hook where it hangs from, and not one single ant entered. It lasted for almost a year.
If you find their nest, maybe you can use your piping bag filled with vaseline and make a few circles around the nest entry. I wonder how long it will take them to starve???
orange oil works GREAT for us. we have had our share of ant problems I set tramsfor any stragglers that get in and after cleaning and getting rid of the ants I spray a line of orange oil in front of every entranceor area that ants try to come in (which isusually my back door) and it works like a charm. I don't knwo why it works but it does, I even tested my theory one day when 3 ants were on the counter, I dipped a paper towel in teh oil and made a circle around each ant and none ofthemwould cross teh line to get out of their little circle ... after about an hour I decided to kill them and spray the rest of the house with orange oil, it has worked every year, I also spray the baseboards of my pantry with it to deter them from entering the pantry.
The Orkin lady came yesterday and now I know why we had problems killing them. In Virginia at least, you can't buy the things that kill the ant's home/queen. I looked for Terro, and not there. The strongest thing they had were the granules that didn't work.
All the remedies about going to the souce doesn't work in our case because we can't find the source - they are out in the woods somewhere. The trying to keep them out with barriers, doesn't work either (I've TRIED that because there are toooooo many ways in. I've found out the laminate floors are great for the ants because they don't have to walk ON the floor, they can walk UNDER it.
The ants we had were not sugar ants, nor fire ants, but probably some sort of wood ant... but she was surprised at the activitiy outside. Another reason I wanted a professional. We spent quite a bit of time and energy and money last year landscaping our back yard/patio. I planted four rose bushes (plus a lot more perennials) and have had been having terrible problems with aphids... and why???? because ants kill aphid predators and actually try to HELP aphids because they like eating/drinking aphid's sweet byproduct!!!!! EVERYWHERE it says the best way to control aphids is to control ants. So, I not only needed to get rid of the ants from the house, but also from our garden which if I thought my house was bad, taking a look outside makes you realize we have NO PROBLEM - outdoors was a super highway for ants.. OMG....
And I love the guarantee they give YAY!!!!
Melissa
All ants go after food - fire ants, wood ants, carpenter ants, etc. Sugar ants are the REALLY tiny ones. Ours were bigger (though not big).
Melissa
I haven't gotten a chance to read all the replies so if this is a repeat, sorry.
Have you tried DE (diatomaceous earth)? *Food grade* DE helps with ants. We have a problem, every year, in my kitchen/dining room with ants. As soon as spring hits we get them. This year we tried DE and within a day they were gone. We put DE right where they were and around the outside of the house. So far we haven't seen any in here.
Here is a link about what DE is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth You need to find food grade though. There is another kind they sell for pool chemicals and that is not the one you want. We purchased ours from a grain mill. Best thing to do is find someone who has some and would be willing to sell a little to you.
If you can find their hole you can also pour boiling water down it and it will kill them. That is not always an easy task.
Good luck!
Michele
we have ants too and they creep me out!! i've heard two things. spray vinegar around the kitchen or sprinkle salt. i guess it's said ants won't cross a salt line.
i don't think i'd spray poison in my kitchen. especially with children and pets around. that's awful scary.
good luck.
we have ants too and they creep me out!! i've heard two things. spray vinegar around the kitchen or sprinkle salt. i guess it's said ants won't cross a salt line.
i don't think i'd spray poison in my kitchen. especially with children and pets around. that's awful scary.
good luck.
Well, I don't spray poison anywhere the kids and cat can get too - don't worry anyone and the stuff they did yesterday is not dangerous for pets and kids.
I tried the salt thing too... works except they find another way around the salt - a different section of wall, through the cracks between the wall and back splash... Plus, that's just keeping them out of the kitchen, not keeping them out of the house or garden.
We had some ants coming in the house by our back door. Someone told me to take chalk and outline the stoop outside our back door with it because ants won't cross a chalk line (they lose each others scent or something). It worked for us. Maybe you could grind it up and sprinkle it around the outside of your house, or draw skinny lines in certain places inside your house. I don't think the chalk they make for kids is toxic, so it might be something to consider.
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