ANTS!

[Orrex]

How do I get rid of them? They're coming in through some invisible entry point right where my toddler plays with his cars. I'm reluctant to use any ferociously toxic compounds, so what do you suggest?

So far we've tried vinegar and red pepper flakes, both with little success.

We haven't yet purchased an anteater, on the grounds that it probably wouldn't get along with our cats.

What do you recommend?

[wildeyed]

1. We get them, too, every time it rains hard.

I guess they get flooded out of their home.

Here is a link for natural methods. http://az.essortment.com/howtogetrida_rsoj.htm

I have found that for the really aggressive infestations, ant bait works well. The newer stuff is less toxic to mammals, although I would still keep it away from kids and pets. The kind I used last time was a gel, so I squirted it deeply between the base board and the floor where the ants were marching anyway. It killed the ants, but kept the gunk away from my kids and critters.

Ant bait also comes in a little plastic disk. The ants are attracted inside the disk, and eat the poison. One of my dogs chewed one of these disks. Scared me to death, but he was fine, didn't even vomit. The point of that story being, keep the disks AWAY from the kids and critters.

[Orrex]

3. Maybe I'll try the under-the-baseboard trick

My chief concern is keeping any ant-b-gone from my little boy's mouth. He's very good about not putting stuff in there, but I'd hate it if his first time involved a big dollop of poison.

Since it seems possible that they're coming in through a basement-accessible avenue, maybe I'll stick some ant traps there, where my son don't shine.

Thanks for your input!

[politicat]

2. 1. Wash the floor and disrupt their trails. Use Boric acid in the wash.

Sprinkle same boric acid around the house in a thick, white line. Ants won't cross it.

Buy a 5 pound bag of sugar and pour it out on the ground as far away from your house as possible. Ants will go there until the sugar is gone, by which time all tracks leading into your house will have faded.

[Orrex]

4. Neat idea!

We were planning to rent a carpet shampooer (is that a word?) in the near future anyway, so maybe we'll try the sugar bag trick at that time.

How far from the house should we place the bag? And how will we know if the "right" ants have been diverted to it?

[politicat]

8. As far away as possible.

At least 20 feet, though. If you want to ensure the right ants are going to it, trace back to their nest, then using a sugar pourer, run a line of sugar out to the mother lode 5 pound bag.

If they're coming in over carpet, call an exterminator. They may have nested behind the baseboards or in the crawl space under the house.

[Warpy]

5. Sweep up the ants, then wash the whole area with vinegar

Ants rely on a sugar and pheromone trail to find their way through your kitchen and to whatever they're eating. Vinegar disrupts the trail they've laid down and they can't find their way to anything and soon lose interest in trying.

Ants invade here maybe once a season and find the cat's dish. Doing the vinegar treatment on the trail encourages them to look elsewhere for food, preferably outside.

[Orrex]

6. Thanks for the input!

I should have mentioned that they're entering via the dining room, which is carpeted. There may be crumbs here and there, but my wife keeps a very clean house, so these ants must be highly skilled scavengers.

I'm not sure how vinegar would treat our carpet. As I mentioned up-thread, we plan to get a shampooer in the near future, so we may begin our anti-ant efforts anew at that time.

[NMDemDist2]

7. spray vinegar all around the foundation of your house outside

it's cheap and easy with any garden sprayer you have around

[Warpy]

9. Right, the vinegar will work on hard floors

Maybe pouring some vinegar into the soap solution when you rent the cleaner will work for the carpet. It'll only smell like a salad until it dries, honest!

That pheromone and sugar trail is how they stay in such a nice, tidy line. It's really what you need to get rid of to encourage the little buggers to shop elsewhere.

[japple]

10. Thanks, guys, for the vinegar information. We have occasional

ant invasions, and they usually find the cats' feeding dishes 1st. I think they must come in around the A/C duct or around the window frame. It's good to know that I can use something besides boric acid, which I don't like to use around my cats.