In what used to be our peaceful, spotless kitchen has become a corpse-ridden battleground of man vs. ant -- or at least, woman vs. ant. This morning I was appalled to find an entire army of ants on the kitchen floor, feasting on the crumbs of yesterday's meals. Now kids and their table habits are a natural attraction for ants, but I've never dealt with such an onslaught. Any ideas for non-toxic ways of killing the little buggers?
And while we're on the topic of bugs ... I used to peacefully co-exist with spiders, only killing them when absolutely necessary. But here, I see many a day in our home, and I am a pacifist no longer. These spiders are the small jumpy kind that propel themselves out of the way of any swatting device. I've taken to attacking them with big pads of paper and slamming it multiple times, to catch them when they jump. My Texas cousin tells me they don't bite, but still -- any advice on eliminating them effectively and safely?
9 comments:
I personally prefer stomping on them. If you're looking for a more civilized way to kill the ants, my wife found a tip that said leave grits on the floor, and supposedly when they bring the grits back to the queen ant she eats them all and she explodes (as grits expand with water). That seemed to work once, and to not work a second time. I guess it depends on the ants' personal preference :) Since grits are not poison, it might be worth a try. Keep us updated on the results.
Blessings, our friends.
My sympathy. For the ants, try sprinkling a packet or two of the sugar substitute Equal where they might find it. They should haul it away dutifully and feed it to their queen. This takes a week to work. (Sorry.) Bonus: if the kids get into it by accident, no biggie. AMD
INSTANT grits. Quaker Oats makes them. The way this works is that you have to hope the queen drinks water soon after she eats the grits, the grits quickly expand, and she goes POP. I don't know, plan it the day before rain? The colony cannot survive without the queen and they are gone within a week. AMD
My wife and I are having a couples posting night. We're sitting side by side, posting on humble utterings. Isn't life great?
She's so cute when she types, that AMD.
I read online that ants do not like cayenne pepper. So, I sprinkled the entire backdoor strip with it and have only come across one or two strays since I put it down (about a month ago.) I have also read that ants and the like do not like peppermint. When I was living in San Diego, I soaked cotton balls w/ peppermint essential oil and placed them in window sills and corners of the house. It seemed to work.
Bon chance,
+ lucienne
P.S. Spiders, on the other hand... I have no idea what to do about them. We have them like crazy out here in Nashville. And they have taken to attacking me in my sleep and leaving dime-sized welts. JERKS. Sadly, JerBear has taken to using a chemical killer for the basement (loads of cave crickets) and outside of the house. I hate it, but it works.
Sigh,
+ lucienne
P.P.S. I am finally able to leave comments! YIPPEE!
Look for a "nest", not just the ant hill. It could be inside a window, door frame or crack in the wall. Once the "nest" is cleaned out your problem will be lessened if not solved.
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