In the old house in a period of five years we had about half a dozen mice. Little tiny mice that we easily got rid of either by way of our cats or by catching ourselves. Put out a few bait traps and voila – no more mice.
In the apartment here in SC there is an ant problem. And not even carpenter ants, which don’t skeeve me out at all. But regular little tiny black ants. Now I realize that we’re a ground floor apartment and so there are going to be problems in general with insects of various kinds. But last night I came home and went into my bathroom to find the kitties’ food bowl just covered in little black ants while a little line of ants moved back and forth along the floor trying desperately to make off with some food. It was disgusting.
Denis promptly took care of it – spraying Raid until NO ONE could breathe in that bathroom, much less an ant. He closed the door and let the Raid do it’s work. About 20 minutes later he went in and cleaned up the evidence of the antocide. There were only a few stragglers hanging on to life, and they were promptly disposed of. Just before going to bed I put down a bait trap for the ants that might come back, and this morning upon going in there to take my shower I saw no ants whatsoever. That was great.
However, I know they are out there, determined to find food. We have bait traps throughout the apartment – in the kitchen, the bathroom, our room, CootieGirl’s room, by the front door, in CootieBoy’s window. Once a week we’ve sprayed our front door area with Raid just to be sure they don’t come in.
But I have to say that as much as mice might be vermin, at least they are easy to catch and get rid of. Ants? They can be ANYWHERE and there are so many of them that you can never get ALL of them.
It makes the case for building an ICF house with expanding foam insulation.
Yeah, I think I’d take the mice, too. There’s nothing worse than ants in the pantry.
I can totally relate although we don’t have that many right now. The bug guy did come two weeks ago and the count has diminished but the ants are still coming so the guy is coming again on Monday. Call your Super and tell him ~ the appt. complex should have a service that does a regular treatment. In the meantime, just be careful that the kids don’t get near any treated areas. BUGS BE GONE!!
Jaynee — There are a few tips to stop ants from entering your home. I can’t seem to find my “list”, but I do remember a couple of them. One of them being drawing a line (try to make it as thick as you can) with chalk in front of your door, they say the ants will not cross it. You can also do this with baby powder.
Lila – I can’t help but think that the chalk line is an old wive’s tale. I may have to go look that one up. And the ants will get in the front door regardless of what we do – there is at least 1/4 inch gap between the door and the side jamb near the bottom of the door. It may even be bigger than that. So ants (and any other insects) can pretty much just walk right in whenever they want.
I agree with you with the old wive’s tale, but you never know. Congrats on your new job (back at a law firm, huh?) :).
Remember Valarie Hudson? She had a list of what other people here use that they say work. One said to use Raid in the turquoise can. Another one said to line the area with baking soda (old wives tale, again? this person says it works wonders for her). I promise I won’t send any more ideas your way, unless you ask : )
Lila – don’t get me wrong, I’m all for ideas on how to get rid of ants in a way that won’t bother kids/pets. But why on earth won’t ants supposedly walk over a chalk line?
Okay, here’s what I found on a message board about chalk lines for ants:
“I think these things confuse the ants because they leave trails w/ their antennae.
I watched a show where they always follow predefined trails once they have established territory. So if a chalk line is cutting their trail in half, they stop and try to find the continuous trail that leads to their destination.”
Someone then went on to say that if you mark around your entire door way with the chalk/crayons, the ants won’t come in. Something to think about…
Trust me on this … Try vinegar …
I had the same problem in NJ a few years ago, I leave no food out anywhere but they were everywhere. A co-worker suggested 2 things which are child/pet proof:
1) Dilute white vinegar and wipe down your counters and floors, etc. The first hour you’ll smell vinegar but after an hour you won’t smell it but the ants will and hopefully leave.
2) Get some instant grits, drop them along the edges and corners of your counters, the edge of the floors and so on. Once they injest it, their stomachs will explode and die. Then sweep/vacumn away the dead ants.
Good luck!
One other idea is to use what I am using on my kitchen counter ~ cayenne pepper. They haven’t crossed those lines but have found a way around them which is up the side of the backsplash onto the top of the backsplash. Arghh!!
The bubonic plague was started and carried by rodents, not ants. I’d take ants over mice/ rats anyday. Why don’t you just wash your cat dish and put it away after they’re done eating?
Jenny – our four cats eat only dry food, which we leave out 24 hours a day since they aren’t on a regular feeding schedule and haven’t been their entire lives. They just kind of take turns and eat when they want to, just as our dog does (interestingly enough – our dog food has been completely ant free despite sitting out just like the cat food). Although now that I’ve said that, I guarantee that the dog food will be under siege at some point in the next couple of days.