M in Carolina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,128 
|
Post by M in Carolina on Jun 30, 2014 22:37:29 GMT
I live in a less than 3 year old Townhouse Community.
We started noticing ants coming out of our kitchen closet--does not have an outside wall but shares a wall with another unit. We put down Borax (I have a cat that will eat anything and likes to explore, so I can't put down ant poison)
Today around 3pm I heated up some rice for a snack--I felt awful but hungry. The rice was old (one of those 90 second pouches). I felt so nauseated, especially after eating a big bite of old 4 cheese rice that I just set it down on my island and went and took a little nap.
Dh comes home, and we go into the kitchen to find ANTS EVERYWHERE. No ants when I set the bowl down. Now a line of ants from the pantry, up the side of the island, covering the rice in the bowl AND the standing open package.
Then there's also ants coming in from our electric outlet by our sink (no line to the other ants). This is an outside wall.
My guess, our place was built on top of an ancient ant metropolis.
We haven't been keeping ANY food out. We boraxed and vinegared the ant areas last night. Seriously, we are not half assing this.
HELP!!! (our place is open, so there's no way to keep our cat out of our kitchen. There's no cat food downstairs, either.
|
|
|
|
Post by Goldynn on Jun 30, 2014 22:43:04 GMT
The queen has to die! In one of our homes I only had to set up a few of the ant trap/home things you can get at the grocery store - worked fine. In another of our homes I had sugar ants inside and hobos in the garage so I paid $75 for a one time exterminator to come out with the non-toxic stuff. Cleared everything up. Good luck!
|
|
marianne
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys. . . My monkeys fly!
Posts: 4,176
Location: right smack dab in the middle of SC
Site Supporter
Jun 25, 2014 21:08:26 GMT
|
Post by marianne on Jun 30, 2014 22:43:48 GMT
The only thing I can think of, short of mint, cinnamon, etc. all over your kitchen, is either an exterminator or some ant traps. My state extension service recommended some for me once and they worked pretty well. Best of luck, ants are such a nuisance!
|
|
perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
|
Post by perumbula on Jun 30, 2014 23:27:23 GMT
Terro traps. It's basically a sugar syrup with Borax that just seems to work better than straight borax. They aren't messy at all because the syrup is in the trap. And they work. I put them down twice a year, spring and fall, and it controls the ants very, very well. It won't be immediate like spraying Raid, but it also won't hurt your pets and it will get back to the queen and kill her.
Good luck!
|
|
PrettyInPeank
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,691
|
Post by PrettyInPeank on Jun 30, 2014 23:28:36 GMT
Terro. I just wiped out two colonies this week because of Terro traps.
|
|
|
|
Post by krazykatlady on Jun 30, 2014 23:31:44 GMT
Terro traps. It's basically a sugar syrup with Borax that just seems to work better than straight borax. They aren't messy at all because the syrup is in the trap. And they work. I put them down twice a year, spring and fall, and it controls the ants very, very well. It won't be immediate like spraying Raid, but it also won't hurt your pets and it will get back to the queen and kill her. Good luck! This worked for us - do it now! One year we had them so bad they came into every room of the house including our clothes closets and they CHEWED holes in our clothes! We were in a terrible drought and they were coming in in search of water. |
|
|
|
Post by rune2484 on Jun 30, 2014 23:35:30 GMT
We had a similar issue in our basement at the last place we lived. The ants wouldn't even touch the borax/terro traps. The only thing we could get to work was spraying the area the ants were with white vinegar every hour and a half or so. Man those ants HATED the vinegar.
|
|
|
|
Post by wandawoman on Jun 30, 2014 23:39:49 GMT
We have had this problem recently. I put out some traps, but they just went around them. I read somewhere that baby powder will mess up their scent trails, so I sprinkled some where they were coming in. By the next day they were gone!
|
|
ladygodiva
Shy Member
Posts: 37
|
Post by ladygodiva on Jul 1, 2014 1:19:45 GMT
Oh my gosh ! I'm having this same problem too. Where do I find terra traps to buy ?
|
|
|
|
Post by kckckc on Jul 1, 2014 1:39:45 GMT
Oh my gosh ! I'm having this same problem too. Where do I find terra traps to buy ? Terro is the only thing that has ever worked for me. I get it at Wal-Mart. |
|
|
|
Post by Lexica on Jul 1, 2014 1:46:50 GMT
Funny story, at least to me. We were suddenly invaded with ants one afternoon. Nothing changed in the kitchen or outside, so I have no idea what triggered them. I was thinking of what I was going to go get to stop them. My son suggested I put down some McDonalds food.  I said I want to kill them, not attract them. And my son looks at me like I was so stupid and he said, I know, Mom, they will get cholesterol and die! Duh! I never bought fast food when he was little, and I guess he heard me or someone else, talking about the cholesterol in fast food and how bad it was for you. He was so proud of himself for thinking of it, haha. |
|
|
|
Post by Skellinton on Jul 1, 2014 2:14:16 GMT
I always sprinkle yeast and sugar where they are, I think they carry it back to the nest, eat it and explode. It takes a day or two, but it always works.
|
|
emanon
Junior Member
Refupea 673
Posts: 71
|
Post by emanon on Jul 1, 2014 2:16:48 GMT
|
|
~Tessie~
Shy Member
Posts: 37
|
Post by ~Tessie~ on Jul 1, 2014 2:19:26 GMT
Another vote for Terro. I've gotten them at Lowes and Menards.
|
|
queenofkings
Full Member
Posts: 283
Jun 26, 2014 15:26:41 GMT
|
Post by queenofkings on Jul 1, 2014 2:42:24 GMT
Terro is the only thing that's ever worked for us also. We have two cats. They've never touched the baits.
|
|
akathy
What's For Dinner?
Still peaing from Podunk!
Posts: 4,546
Location: North Dakota
Jun 25, 2014 22:56:55 GMT
|
Post by akathy on Jul 1, 2014 2:52:11 GMT
I agree with those suggesting Terro. Best thing ever for ants. When I had ants in my old place I put the traps in my pantry and the closet so my dog couldn't get to them.
Be aware that when you first put it down millions of ants will swarm to it. But then they'll take it back to the nest and share the poison with all the others including the queen.
|
|
dontsitstill
Junior Member
New Pea #151
Posts: 81
|
Post by dontsitstill on Jul 1, 2014 2:58:32 GMT
I've had success by mixing sugar and cornmeal. Leave it out along with some water and their stomachs are very full very soon  Won't bother pets/kids either. |
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Jul 1, 2014 3:06:22 GMT
1st take off the outlet cover and kill them in there. Spray vinegar or raid in it. Terro traps are awesome and will work, but it is gross at first and I can't help but kill them before I put it down. Put multiple terro traps in your closet. Google how to kill sugar ants.
My animals have never touched the borax/sugar concoction and it works too. Put cotton balls soaked in the solution in the outlet cover.
|
|
M in Carolina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,128
|
Post by M in Carolina on Jul 1, 2014 3:45:27 GMT
I sprayed diluted clorox on the little bastards that crawled up on my counter last night. Didn't kill them. They bite, too.
We got them last year up in our bathroom. Dh was thinking about it tonight and thought that it was this time last year that they came.
Dh does have borax and sugar out. I am definitely getting the Tarro tomorrow.
My cat is very dog like. He will taste anything. We've dropped pills on the floor and have had to outrun him to keep him from licking one. One night dh dropped his narcotic pills all over the floor of our bathroom. Thankfully I was there and captured the cat before he could taste. I've never had a cat like this. It's like having a 20lb toddler.
|
|
|
|
Post by kluski on Jul 1, 2014 4:02:02 GMT
This seriously makes me scared to move. We have random ants which I believe are hitchhikers but thankfully never an infestation. I do however get them at school. We are not allowed to use Terro, probably bc it works, but I have been known to sneak it in. It takes 24-48 hours for it to make it back to the nest.
|
|
|
|
Post by smokeynspike on Jul 1, 2014 4:05:51 GMT
I feel your pain. We joke that our house was built on an ant hill because we usually get ants trying to get in the house at least once a year, ant hills in our driveway, DD once threw a softball into the lawn when she was little and the ground exploded with angry ants hitting the surface, etc. They suck, but are usually easy to keep outside.
Melissa
|
|
|
|
Post by melanieg on Jul 1, 2014 4:21:06 GMT
My dad read an article that they don't like cucumbers and to put out dishes of peels and sliced cucumbers. I haven't had to try it this year yet....knock on wood.
|
|
|
|
Post by wonderwoman on Jul 1, 2014 4:25:55 GMT
Another vote for Terro... I tried the cinnamon but all it did was make my house smell like Christmas~
|
|
|
|
Post by BeckyTech on Jul 1, 2014 6:37:50 GMT
We have had this problem recently. I put out some traps, but they just went around them. I read somewhere that baby powder will mess up their scent trails, so I sprinkled some where they were coming in. By the next day they were gone! That is what I always recommend. I've never had a problem with a cat or dog being even remotely interested in ingesting it and it takes care of the problem almost immediately. It works both inside and out. I have found that Johnson & Johnson is a wee bit more effective than generic. |
|
|
|
Post by Memo on Jul 1, 2014 6:47:10 GMT
We have them come into the house when it starts getting hot outside and they are looking for water. My husband usually sprays an insecticide that he buys at the DIY pest store, but in the meantime, I use Windex on them. It kills the ants that are in the house and seems to slow them down from coming inside. Good luck with the Terro traps.
|
|
luvnlifelady
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,428
|
Post by luvnlifelady on Jul 1, 2014 7:20:39 GMT
Someone told me that if you can find the ant hills in your yard, you can take boiling water and pour in it.
|
|
|
|
Post by rune2484 on Jul 1, 2014 7:26:03 GMT
Someone told me that if you can find the ant hills in your yard, you can take boiling water and pour in it. Ya know I had forgotten that, but now that you mention it when I was younger my mom would kill swarms of ants on our driveway with a pot full of boiling water. If I remember correctly, it was a very effective method. |
|
|
|
Post by anniefb on Jul 1, 2014 8:36:24 GMT
Sorry don't know the brand names you've mentioned but the best ant poisons are the ones that don't kill immediately but that the ants take back to the nest - so the whole colony can be killed. I have a cat and always use a sort of semi-sealed trap (clear plastic) with a tiny hole that only the ants can get to. I'm sure you can get something similar.
|
|
|
|
Post by anxiousmom on Jul 1, 2014 11:44:59 GMT
I woke up a couple of days ago to find I had new roommates (those damn ants.) It can't be lack of water, it has rained almost every day for the last month (Florida-it rains in the afternoons in the summer time.) I think we have had something like 6-7 inches last month. I hate the stupid ants. They annoy me, but damn if they don't make sure we clean the kitchen pronto with particular care.  I haven't had the chance to get to the store, but I have been spraying them and their trails with bleach spray. That generally works-something about killing the scent for their trails is what I was told. |
|
|
|
Post by straggler on Jul 1, 2014 12:46:41 GMT
All I got is, "May the Force be with You"! Little rascals can be terribly annoying and resilient!
|
|
Southern Side eyed Pea 
I said I want to kill them, not attract them. And my son looks at me like I was so stupid and he said, I know, Mom, they will get cholesterol and die! Duh! I never bought fast food when he was little, and I guess he heard me or someone else, talking about the cholesterol in fast food and how bad it was for you. He was so proud of himself for thinking of it, haha.
Won't bother pets/kids either.
