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fuzzy9

fuzzy9

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I have ants all over my dining room and kitchen floors, and I'm curious if anyone has a good way of getting rid of them that would be safe with pets? I have 3 very curious kitties in the house.
 
We are having an oak ant invasion here. :angry: They hate diatomaceous earth, and wont go near it. There is powder all over our counters and along the baseboards. Firstpup walked the outside perimeter of the house, and could not find a trail anywhere. :?

Despite that, we are going to put DE along the entire outside perimeter.

I hate using insecticides, but several years ago when we had this same problem, I bought ant poison. And more ant poison. And more ant poison. Because they wouldn't eat any of it. :evil:

The only thing that works is a liquid used by Orkin, I think- it causes little mushrooms to grow on the ants and in their colony. When they detect the presence of the fungus, they abandon their nest. Unfortunately, we ran out, and it is not available retail. We got some from someone that had a deal with their Orkin man- they did his computer work, and he traded them some of the product (illegally, I am sure).

We are probably going to call a pest control service and have them come up and apply that product.
 
Well I hope I don't incriminate myself here, but if you make your own whisky try useing what they call the foreshot, basicly the first 50ml that comes out of the still. I believe it is mostly acetone, all I know is ants hate it and I don't have to worry about my rabbits getting sick from pesticide residue.

:beer:
 
Thanks for the info. I think I'm definitely going to do the DE around the outside of the house, it's been dry here, so it should work.
 
If its going to rain soon try putting down some grits for them to eat. When it rains and they drink water and the grits are suppose to swell up and kill them. They are also not suppose to like cinnamon and won't cross it's path. I use to get then in GA, the tiny little sugar ants that would come in the kitchen window. Drove me crazy. I tried all the ideas and ended up having to buy something called Home Defense spray from Home Depot. We sprayed it around the perimeter of the outside of the house and that solve the problem. Good luck, I also hate using anything not organic, but got desperate.
 
Terro works well for many, many ants (but not fire or carpenter ants). It's basically boric acid syrup. The only problem would be the curious kitties.

You can also crush Borax into a fine powder (I used the butt of a dinner knife), and mix it with a sweet peanut butter like Jif. That way, whether they're after oil or sugar, you've got it covered. Mash it into a disc shape on a piece of paperboard (like cereal box paper), and put it where their "line" seems to be. You should end up with ants all over it for a while, but then they should pretty much vanish after a few days.

Again, the kitties would be a problem. If you don't have anywhere you can put it, where the ants are, then this won't help you.

:clover: Hope the DE works!
 
I can vouch for DE. I purchased the food grade type (wanted it for worming the dog and such). Last year I used my garden sprayer and mixed up a 'paint' and sprayed it right on the perimeter. Hit the dirt/patio/deck, and a few inches up the wall so that the bugs would walk through it. It works on any bug/insect that has some sort of an exoskeleton. Anyways, within two days all of the black widows and such were gone. We also didn't have any problems with fire ants in the backyard (sprayed directly into and around the hole), or house ants that year. I had to reapply after every summer rain, but it worked wonders. This year, I didn't have to do any spraying.

The other thing that helps is ground pepper. Seriously. I put it in the tracks of the windows, sliding doors, those types of places.
 
Well, they are even crawling around in our living room now, and on us when we are relaxing. This is the worst they've ever been, but after all the rain we had this spring into early summer, we've now gotten really dry. Which is why they are coming in. I laid out the DE around the exterior, but I'm going to resort to spraying a chemical for ants inside, around where the trim meets the floor all along the front where they are coming in. I can't stand ants!
 
A dog.

A dumb dog.

A very dumb dog who thinks he's an ant eater.

Our dog will lick them off the floor.
 
One more thing you can try that is non-toxic is a 50/50 mixture of baking soda and icing sugar. I did this once, on the patio, when the ants were everywhere and it seemed to help. Put it in a jar and lay it on its side - this keeps it dry and effective. The ants eat it, take it to their nest, and basically blow up. A kid thought this one up . . . I think he has a future. :D

If curious kitties or dogs are a problem, contain the ant bait in a cage so they can't get it, but the ants have easy access. This works with rat poison too. :twisted:
 
Stephanie":9qt3y6so said:
An old ant deterrent is to plant mint around the foundation. They hate the smell of it and won't cross it.
Click to expand...

I was going to suggest mint. I used to just grab a handful and rub it along the sink edge, under the edge of the countertop or wherever I was seeing them. I liked the smell much better than any of the sprays and don't need to worry about it around food. Have also used it in our metal mailbox which has ant infestations from time to time. Don't know if it works for all kinds of ants.
 
Mint! I didn't know it was an ant deterrent! I do know that rats and mice dislike it, so it sounds as though it is an excellent thing to grow around the house and rabbitry.

Essential oil of peppermint - readily available on-line through eBay or other sources - is an easy way of using it indoors. It is also excellent used in salves to stop itching and burning of minor skin problems.
 
Mint?! Cool beans!!!!!! :p :p :p

mystang89":gu8gh3j3 said:
A dog.

A dumb dog.

A very dumb dog who thinks he's an ant eater.

Our dog will lick them off the floor.
Click to expand...

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Hey, 'Stang! You're back! I was starting to worry. How's your hand?
 
BE CAREFUL WITH MINT! That stuff spreads and grows like crazy (think runner type bamboo spreading). They are considered pretty invasive.
 
Apparently ants won't cross a chalk line. Not sure if that still works. :roll: :?
Anyway, toothpaste/baking soda works....but I don't think kitties can eat that. :shock:
Oh wells, sincerely hope you get rid of them!! :x I had to use a piece of tape to squish ants with. I felt soooo bad about that. :cry:

please don't tell Bunny-Wan he will never get over it
 
We mix borax and powdered sugar and sprinkle the mixture in the infected areas. Usually the bathrooms, this only works with the sugar ants though. I use mound destroyers for the fire ants. Sometimes I light their mounds on fire! :twisted: Fighting Fire with Fire!!! :explode:
 

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