Crap

[prosodic]

I'm not alone in this house.

It appears that we are on the verge of having a serious ant problem.

We had huge issues with this in Germany, and I really don't feel like dealing with this right now.

And I really don't want to spray poisons around my house. I need a friendlier/healthier way to get rid of this problem.

Comments

[cateyes25.livejournal.com]

There's these crystal like granules you can buy to sprinkle outside your house where anthills are and they take them inside and it kills the colony. I would think at home depot type places would carry them. They work well without smelling the sprays.

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

They are not entering through an exterior wall though, so I believe the anthill is under the house somewhere. I am finding them scurrying between the pantry and the dishwasher. What I've been seeing have only been the scout ants...I guess they are trying to figure out if our house is worth invading.

I'll have to look for some of that Terra ant killer that I can use in the house, and then try to avoid killing the ants when I see them. They're supposed to take it back to their colony so it kills everything there.

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

Piles of Nutrasweet. Or if you can get it, pure Aspertame.

No, really. I've been using it as ant poison for years. It's one more reason why I never, ever drink diet soda.

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose Splenda would work. That's what I use (for myself, I mean). Although it would make a rather expensive pesticide.

One ant remedy that might work

[(Anonymous)]

This works for me, and it sounds too simple to be effective, but -- it works for me:

Observe where the little critters are coming in, and put tape over that spot. I use like shipping/packaging tape, wider than just regular old Scotch tape. They come in along the baseboard and above the kitchen cabinets . . . ad I just put tape on those spots and, blam, their entry is closed. It looks dorky, of course, but it beats using pesticides.

Good luck.

Re: One ant remedy that might work

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

You know, I actually tried that in Germany and taped over where I saw them coming in. It worked to some extent...for a day or two, and then they found another way to get in. Little buggers were determined to get inside the house.

But that was a worse problem, with flying ants and everything. This time, it's only a few ants (right now) and I haven't figured out yet how they're getting in the house, but they seem to be coming and going from under the dishwasher.

[mysirensong.livejournal.com]

Dave gets them every year. He gets these little ... I call them pods. They're discs that a few ants (or 50) crawl into, eat stuff, crawl out of, and take back to their nest and whammo - they kill the other ants. The best thing about them is I'm severly allergic to all of the sprays, powders, etc that he used to put down, around, and so he started getting those and they have no odor or anything so I have no reaction. And, the dog leaves them alone. I guess she's like, "What? It's a plastic disc. What's in it for me?" They have them for "sweet-eating" ants, and for the other kind -- whatever the other kind is. I think he gets them at Lowes or Home Depot, or maybe even Target. Good Luck!

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

We got those in Germany. I think I'll look for Terra ant killer because it's come so highly recommended in the past. That was when we had our ant problem in Germany, but they didn't sell Terra in Germany.

[mipplet.livejournal.com]

Have you tried asking them nicely to leave?

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA. Oh, if only it were that easy. :)

[heartsinarmor.livejournal.com]

I use yeast. Those little packets of dry active yeast. Just tear one open, set it near where you see them. They love the stuff. So they eat it. Then they explode. It's diabolical, but it works. I swear by it.

[prosodic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've read where yeast works...cornstarch...anything like that. But they are crawling around on my kitchen floor, between the wall by the pantry and underneath my dishwasher. Really no good places to put an open package of yeast. Otherwise I'll end up with a mess.