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Ants in the house
I am one of those people that will catch and release a fly,don't usually kill anything,except now,I am a pro in stepping on ants....but I want them out of my house,they are the larger size black ants,any safe suggestions,other than just stepping on them??
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"The cruelest animal is the Human animal" 3 kitties,Rocky(r.i.p my boy),Chico,Vinnie |
#2
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Here you go chico ..... lots of neat things to try!
Getting Rid Of Ants In The Kitchen Sprinkle baby powder. Yes, you heard it right. Sprinkling some baby powder on the things that are infested with ants like the counter tops, grills, honey jar, sugar bowl etc. will get rid of them. A line of cayenne pepper usually stops the ants from crossing over it. Try plain old cinnamon. Put cinnamon at the site of the ant invasion, and you will be surprised to see them back off quickly! You can keep bay leaves on your counters, and preferably along their trail to hinder their progress. Another excellent option is to use vinegar. Fill a squirt bottle with plain old cheap white vinegar, and squirt it in the places where you have seen ants, and let it dry. Since, it's non-toxic it can be used in a kitchen. Black pepper is, as always, the non-lethal, poison free, cheap, and safe way to get rid of any pest. Sprinkle the black pepper powder where you see the ants, and watch them scatter. You can sprinkle it near all the holes and crevices from where they come out. A white chalk drawn in a line at the place where the ants come can disrupt them from concentrating in a place. Peppermint oil can be helpful against ants. Fill a spray bottle with water, and add approximately 10 to 15 drops of peppermint essential oil, sometimes called Peppermint Spirits. Ants won't cross the area because they hate the smell of mint. Put some whole cloves around. Put them on the windowsills and door jams, and you can see the ants vanish. Red chili powder is a strong ant repellent. Make a paste of it using a little water, and find out from where the little pests are coming in, and going out. Then paste the area. You can also sprinkle the powder. Ants do not like spice. To trap ants leave an open bottle of maple syrup since the ants love it and they will drown happy. Mix borax in sugar water. Place it on the ant trails, and in the places, they come from. Any ant that will have a scrumptious borax meal is sure to die an untimely death. Mint chewing gums help repel ants in the house. You can either place a stick or an open pack of chewing gum on a shelf. Planting mint plants in your kitchen garden is also beneficial. It makes a good groundcover. Mix boric acid and mint jelly and spread the mixture on a cracker. Punch pinholes in a cardboard box and place the cracker inside. Place the box in areas where the ants cause problems. Place a dish of wheat cream (made by mixing wheat flour and water) where the ants can access it. After they consume it, the cereal expands and the ants will explode.
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Assumptions do nothing but make an ass out of u and me. We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD! |
#3
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Thanks for the advice, chico isn't the only one with ants....although they are only the little ones, they make great playtoys for Skitter, Doola and Missy. But I would like to get rid of them
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#4
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Really big, chico? Bigger than your usual black ant (bigger than, say, a cm)? If so, they could be carpenter ants and that's a bigger problem than just sweet-eating ants. If they're carpenter ants, you need to look for places where moisture is gathering around wood. The ants will nest in the rotting wood and you may find little piles of unexplained sawdust left behind as they chew up the wood. We had some where the old deck met the house and when the carpenters fixed the deck, they replaced some rotted wood and sealed it outside with siding to keep out the water and the ant problem disappeared. If they're carpenter ants, they can cause a fair amount of damage to your house.
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"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference." "It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!" "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." |
#5
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I have them at home and the cottage love the ideas especially the exploding ants got to try that one
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A man who looks into a collie's eye to receive an icy stare is but a fool. Be at one with man's best friend and through his eyes you will see his very soul. |
#6
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chico...this is the one I use... 3 parts sugar, 1 part borax laundry powder...put in a little container with a hole or 2 cut in it and put it where u see the ants. The ants grab a piece take it back to the hill feed it to the queen and eventually she dies and so does the colony. It takes about a month.
But this is toxic to birds and animals, so I also tape the top closed and I don't use it in the house. You have your 2 boys so I don't know how curious they are, u might not want to use it in the house.
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~Friendship is like a bank account. You can't continue to draw on it without making deposits~ ~Tegan 9 year old yellow lab~ ~Wilbur 9 year old LH cat~ ~Mirabelle 18 mos dsh~ ~O'Shawnnessey 18 mos dsh~ ~Darby 1 year old dsh~ ~Mindy 7 yr old shih tzu~ ~Dexter 10yr old Salmon (large goldfish) |
#7
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we had humoungous black ants about two weeks ago , I swear they could walk off with my furniture....I removed the mopboarding in the kitchen and sprayed raid....no more ants....
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#8
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I've been doing the same anti-ant routine for years now and haven't had a problem since... I sprinkle a line of borax about a cm wide all around the foundation of the house outside, just once in the spring... and spray all my baseboards in the house with something called Insectigone that I pick up at Canadian Tire. It's supposed to be ok for the cats, and because it's only on the baseboards at the floor, they never bother with it anyway. As an added bonus the borax outside seems to get rid of centi-millipedes too!
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Windy~Smoke~Buddy~Palomine~Fagan~Asker~Mickey Blue Eyes Venus “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” -Mahatma Gandhi "We're the renegades, we're the people; With our own philosophies; We change the course of history; Everyday people like you and me"- R A T M |
#9
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WOW,thank's Gerri,that's great,tons of advice
Hazel,I don't think they are carpenter ants,they are not that big.. I remember last year,reaching for an open bag of M&M's in my "larder"(I think that's what it's called)it was crawling with ants This year I had a box of iced Danishes,not closed properly.the same thing. My cats do not go near ants,not that I blame them.. Thank's Again!!! Now we have to get on with our murderous mission
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"The cruelest animal is the Human animal" 3 kitties,Rocky(r.i.p my boy),Chico,Vinnie |
#10
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A word of caution: Borax is toxic to pets and children.
Good luck getting rid of those carpenter ants, chico.
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Cat maid to: Rose semi feral, a cpietra rescue, female tabby (approx 13 yrs) Jasper RIP (2001-2018) Sweet Pea RIP (2004?-2014) Puddles RIP (1996-2014) Snowball RIP (1991-2005) In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats.-English Proverb “While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” Stephen R. Covey |
#11
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L4H,I think we will go with the Vinegar,baby-powder and a bottle of syrup..not Borax..
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"The cruelest animal is the Human animal" 3 kitties,Rocky(r.i.p my boy),Chico,Vinnie |
#12
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Quote:
I don't put it loose around the house cause I don't want any birds or cats walking thru it then cleaning it's paws and getting sick or worse.
__________________
~Friendship is like a bank account. You can't continue to draw on it without making deposits~ ~Tegan 9 year old yellow lab~ ~Wilbur 9 year old LH cat~ ~Mirabelle 18 mos dsh~ ~O'Shawnnessey 18 mos dsh~ ~Darby 1 year old dsh~ ~Mindy 7 yr old shih tzu~ ~Dexter 10yr old Salmon (large goldfish) |
#13
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We had about 3 years in a row where we got an ant infestation in our house. Each year we found where they came in and sealed it off (silicone calking) and they haven't been back the past few years. I actually just got my vacumn cleaner out and ran around sucking them all up . When I finished for the day I took out the vacumn bag and sealed it with duct tape until I vacumned the next time. I also was sure to keep the bag outside incase any of the buggers escaped.
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"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead |
#14
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I just discovered chalk!
It worked on my wooden clothes post where my feeder is so I would think a line of chalk would work anywhere.
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A dog wags his tail with his heart Dogs have Masters--Cats have Staff Rest in Peace Bailey: 12/10/95-1/9/09 (Golden Retriever) Rest in Peace Kitty: 7/1/2000 - 10/7/2013 Rest in Peace Gryphon (sounds like Griffin): 10/15/2004 - 11/18/2017 (English Springer Spaniel) Bella: 3/09/2005 LHD Cat adopted by/from Child Mollie: 6/2/2009 (English Setter) |
#15
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Great list of ideas, 14+, thank you!
Quote:
I've noticed several in my office area and in one of the bathrooms. Only a couple but, where there are a few, I'm sure there are plenty more right behind them. My floors are kept really clean and I use vinegar and rubbing alcohol in my rinse water after washing. Hopefully that will keep the worst of it away although I would like to find out from where they come in .
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"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -Will Durant |
#16
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They'll all follow the same scent trails, LP, so you should be able to track them back to where they're getting in.
__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference." "It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!" "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle." |
#17
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It's great that worked for you klm. It made that list too.
__________________
Assumptions do nothing but make an ass out of u and me. We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD! |
#18
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In my house,they come in through the windows and Patiodoor.
There are small openings at the bottom of the windows for water to escape,a great door-way for the ants,the same with the patio-door. So far,I've used chalk-lines at the doors and baby-powder in the windows,vinegar at the patio-door,it seems to be woriking,only had 2 ants at the kitty food dishes
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"The cruelest animal is the Human animal" 3 kitties,Rocky(r.i.p my boy),Chico,Vinnie |
#19
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We are having ant issues in our new house. We have big black ones, which i am not sure where there coming from, and i have little black ones coming my kitchen . Believe it or not, they are coming in through the drainage holes in my windows. We have put some of those small ant baits around under the skirting of the house for the big ants. The small ones though dont want to touch the small one i have on the window sill. I have been smashing them, but its annoying me, its a new house. I believe this year is a bad year because it has been so rainy here, and they are moving out of the ground.
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#20
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seems to be a problem every where, our cottage is 3 years old and we have them there what scares me the most is its a log home. Here in Toronto we have had ants in the house here, I'm gonna try the borax thing when I go up next weekend and they seem to be near our antique style stove so I will put it under there where the cat and dog can't get to it.
__________________
A man who looks into a collie's eye to receive an icy stare is but a fool. Be at one with man's best friend and through his eyes you will see his very soul. |
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