Ugh, we have ants-my rant for the night

[ptuga72]

Sooooo, sometime last week our HOA did the monthly outdoor bug spray and within 2 days it rained. This equated to the outdoor ant colony taking up residence in my kitchen, yay me. I have tried almost everything: cinnamon barriers, salt, homemade bait traps, store bought bait traps, vinegar, dish soap, extreme cleaning procedures, the works. Yet, they are finding new and inventive ways of taking over my kitchen.

They are not getting into the pantry or fridge, but rather eating whatever has been trapped in the crevices of my 35 y/o kitchen which is literally falling apart. I have even gotten rid of a small budding colony taking up residence in the holes of the particle board supporting the counter (it is exposed where some hack-job cut it for the stove opening, but never sealed it off). I suspect that they are getting in and out through my crappy cabinets which are cracked particle board and are falling apart. I have been battling them for the past week, and while I have seen a decline in the amount of ants, they are still coming. I am starting to worry that we will have to call out an exterminator, which means boarding the animals and not having use of the home for at least a couple days (bare minimum).

Not only is that a hassle, but we are hosting a party tomorrow (planned it since 2 months ago), and I've had to put off all cooking until tonight. I am fried. I really, really, really hate ants, so much I kind of want to scream. Ugh. Sorry for the rant, but has anyone else had this kind of problem?

[Shani]

The only ant problem I've had here was a weird one. A small colony decided to march through the crack in my dining room window, travel to my freezer and systematically suicide themselves in it O_o. I still haven't been able to figure that one out. The freezer had just been cleaned and was empty at the time, and they didn't go near anything we had on the kitchen counter.

As for your problem... The only permanent solution I can think of is to try and fill the gaps where they're getting in. Some kind of sealant should do the trick maybe (for a short term fix anyway). Ants are persistent little things, and since you've tried so much already, I can't think of much you can do apart from blocking where they're getting inside, or get an exterminator out. It really sucks though, my old house had a similar problem to what you've got. It's horrible

[ptuga72]

wow, I wish they would to that!
What is weird is that 9 times out of 10 when we get ants we get them upstairs (through the windows which actually is easier for them to get in) but not this time. I haven't found any in the bird room which despite the constant battle I wage, there is a lot of food dust and "leftovers" the birds shmear on the walls. Ants are weird...

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I hate 'em too. The try to take up residence here when it gets dry, and we get colonies marching to the sink, dishwasher, cat fountain, etc. But your situation sounds far worse than any I've ever dealt with, although the time there were thousands boiling up from the drain in my dishwasher wasn't real pretty...

Since it sounds as if you are living in a sieve, your best bet is probably to put down bait near every entrance you've identified and sprinkle outside bait around the base of the building. You'll have to be careful to keep them where household pets can't get at them, but a bait will get carried back to the nest and eventually kill off the colony. Otherwise you are always just cutting off the top 1% of the population that's entered the house.

For controlling the active invasion, the best thing I've found is to follow the trail to the point of origin and cut it off there (or place a bait station and cut it off just after the bait station. Without a trail, they won't be able to navigate, so you'll just get random scouts. Then wipe the trail out backwards from the source to the destination. I use amonia-based window cleaner, it is reasonably beingn as such things go and it instantly does in ants.

Good luck with the party!

[Shani]

wow, I wish they would to that!
What is weird is that 9 times out of 10 when we get ants we get them upstairs (through the windows which actually is easier for them to get in) but not this time. I haven't found any in the bird room which despite the constant battle I wage, there is a lot of food dust and "leftovers" the birds shmear on the walls. Ants are weird...

They are really, really weird. Entranced has some good ideas - best of luck! Speaking of creepy crawlies, I found a redback spider in my garage the other day *shudder*. Creeps me out - I've been spending a lot of time in there lately with a fricken redback just above my head!

Anyway, there's some outside sprays you can get, however I don't know if they're bird safe or not. They do work really well, so it might be worth looking into it in addition to Entranced's ideas.

[ptuga72]

They are really, really weird. Entranced has some good ideas - best of luck! Speaking of creepy crawlies, I found a redback spider in my garage the other day *shudder*. Creeps me out - I've been spending a lot of time in there lately with a fricken redback just above my head!

Anyway, there's some outside sprays you can get, however I don't know if they're bird safe or not. They do work really well, so it might be worth looking into it in addition to Entranced's ideas.

eww spiders *shudders*, I hate those way more than ants!

We are kinda lucky though, because we live in a condo the HOA technically owns the outside of our home and therefore pays for the outside to be bug sprayed every 6 weeks or so (more in the summer), so we don't get bugs *that* often and normally not *that* bad. What we think happened is that the #4 unit (we share our bedroom and kitchen wall with their kitchen/bathroom wall) was out of town for several months and they got the ants. They came back last week and I suspect they tried to get rid of the ants, but instead they decided to take a trip to our place. They are getting in through the million little cracks in our cabinetry. So far I've gotten rid of the protein/grease eaters, but the sugar eaters are persistent little frackers! Hubby has finally conceded that if they are not gone by Wednesday, we will hire a bug guy. This has *finally* convinced hubby that we do need new cabinets, which I am happy about so I guess the ants aren't that bad

luckily the party went well. Entranced-dollar store window cleaner is the BEST for all sorts of bug elimination! They get the tough to kill spiders, ants, and these weird beetle things we sometimes see.

[a.susz]

D.E.! look it up.... i swear by it! its diatomaceous earth( crushed diatom shells) it gets in the joints of anything with an exoskeleton and prevents it from moving its limbs, hence killing it. get food grade, usually found in pet food depots in the horse supplement area. this stuff even kills bed bugs. start from the center of the problem and create a barrier. they will run from it, seen it with my eyes.

this is such a safer alternative than pesticide sprays, i can't believe more people don't know about it!

plus its totally safe for our pets-- dogs, cats, birds etc. Some chicken farmers actually feed it to their chickens as a type of dewormer.

[ptuga72]

Thanks a.susz! I didn't know that D. Earth was ok for use in homes with pets (my cat will eat anything )