PattyJo Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Ok, for all of you who have a weak stomach when it comes to creepy crawley things, move away from the screen, .......... OK, now for those who are still here, I just opened up my cupboard to fix a snack for DH and there are ants everywhere. I've got the creepy crawlies just thinking about them. I've cleaned everything out of the shelves, they were in the sugar, on the honey container, and I was just in there before dinner and didn't see any. And now they are everywhere. I've put a couple of spots of Tarro syrupy ant killer in the cupboard, but I can't tell where they are coming from. Any other suggestions on how to get these critters out of there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roberta Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Well you have to try to track them to see where they are coming from. You might try vacuuming them all up and wait to see where they reappear from , or if you don't have the time and patience for that, you can periodically check and when there are fewer of them you can watch and see where they are going. Usually the trail is a two way street. Track them to wear they are entering the cabinet at and spray there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltingnanny Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I'm afraid my advice would be 'good luck'. Sorry, we've been invaded with those buggers all summer ! Not fun, those suckers bite. The best thing I've found is a spray by ortho. Home defense, green bottle. Wal Mart can't keep it in stock. it knocks them down a while. Check behind your switchplates and windows. That's where most of mine come in. Keep them away from DH !! Glenda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Linda S Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Oh Patty! I know how you feel. They occasionally plague my house too. The Terro will take care of them quickly. By tomorrow morning, they should be about gone. The grossest experience with the ants I have had was when I was away for a weekend and came home and was putting my toiletries away in the bathroom. I bumped my electric toothbrush (which I don't usually take with me -- I take a regular one instead) and ants just fanned out everywhere -- on the vanity and up the wall -- from the base of the toothbrush. I guess they were all in there getting warm!! Ick, ick and DOUBLE ICKKK!!! I had the willies for a week after that. Took a long time before I could use the electric toothbrush again! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neher-in-law5 Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I'm not sure but I think I remember reading that ants won't cross trails of pepper spice, like cayenne and/or paperika. Hope they leave soon for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheri Butler Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Patty, do you have a window in your kitchen? Usually that is where they enter, then they make their way towards the food source. In my last home, we had a kitchen window between the cupboards that when the house settled, it left a crack in the outside window frame, enough for the little buggers to crawl in. I calked it shut inside and out, killed the ones in the cupboard and wala! Done Deal! I got the info from the Orkin man, whom I called. He asked if we had the window and to look for openings in the window frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matildanme Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I read somewhere that ants wont cross talcum powder! good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyLynn Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I had that problem once, and someone told me they were called sugar ants. Small little things but a bunch of them. They like greasy, oily, sweet etc. I did spray a bunch of bug spray along the edges of my house outside. Did get rid of them and have not had them again. Knock on wood. Judy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meg_marsh Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Patty Jo Get some of that major ant and roach spray - spray the devil on those ants and you will want to wipe them up right away - that stuff kills them on the spot. You may have a couple go rounds with a major spray and clean. Once the major kill is over, really clean where you have sprayed. Then keep very close track of where they might be coming in - and give that location a good spray without cleaning right away. You want them to track that spray back to their home. They are stubborn little devils and it may take a few days but you can get the best of them. We get ants occasionally in the desert and I win every time.......LOL at those little buggers. Another little trick is to use a little windex and just let it dry - they hate the stuff and often will just go the other way. The ants we get in the desert will come up out of the drains sometimes - I just spray the windex down the drain every morning for a few days and it takes care of the problem - at least for a while. I do have our place professionally sprayed once a month. Ants seem to be a never ending battle in the desert. Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted October 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 OK - for now every last one that I can see is on his back, legs in the air, begging to be raised from the dead!!! When we moved into this house, the previous owner gave me a new bottle of "Tarro" and the rumer around Salem is that W. Salem is built on a gigantic ant nest. This is about the 6th outbreak this year. But they are gone for awhile and then come up somewhere else. DH has found 4 different nests that had been built in our rain gutters around the house and we had one nest built in the smoke alarm in my studio. We couldn't believe that one. These little guys are the little sugar ants. I think that I traced where they are coming from and it is around the top of the cabinet - like from the attic. We've had them come in thru the french doors out to the deck several times, and thru a wall outlet in the bathroom. But this is the first time they got into the food storage area. I still feel itchy all over after trying to get them all out of the cabinets. All the food is now on the counter so dear kitty will probably have a party all night long trying to figure out if there is anything she would like to get into. I'm going to leave the cabnet door open tonight and then wipe down everything in the morning and get everything put away again. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll get some cayenne pepper, talc, and windex to have on hand. Say that reminds me of the "Big Fat Greek Wedding" dad. Windex will cure anything. Maybe he was really on to something Meg. OK, now to bed and hopefully will quit itching so I can go to sleep. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quiltmonkey Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I can't offer any advice but ... I got the heebie jeebies and needed to say... Eeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! And double Knarly Eeewwww Eeewwwww Yucky Poo Poo on Linda's electric toothbrush story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lym95 Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I say live and let live. They won't hurt you, they're pretty clean, and hey, they're so tiny, how much can they eat? Really! mrmargie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Beth Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 We get them all the time. I think because I am so sweet but that may not be it. Tarro has been the only thing to get 'em. I put it out and it looks like a party for about 2 hours, then they are gone for a few months. We even get them in the middle of winter....strange, you would think they would freeze their little feet off. Mr. Margie....no, they don't eat much...but how much of them could we eat? I know you are going to mention protien....forget it....there is not enough meat involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyonden Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Hey you guys, ants can eat fabric. I had a box of the knee high nylons I used to wear under my pants for work and that was the only thing the ants got into. They leave little tiny holes in stuff. Crawly things don't like sage, bay leaves or cloves. You can also mix 2 cups of Boraxo with a powered sweetener and sprinkle some where they're found. They also don't like talcum powder like Satu said. Another problem is fleas if you have animals and eucalyptus leaves placed around the house will ward those off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Sew Simple Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 PattyJo, when it got dry this past summer we got ants. We would track them and spray. Finally, we tracked them coming from the attic! We finally sprayed not the house, the yard and the foundation. That has held for awhile. I wish you good luck they are so tiny and you can't fill every tiny crack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginnysnowden Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Patti Jo I live in Texas WE HAVE FIRE ANTS! the simple way to get rid of them is Dawn dishwashing liquid. takes a while (couple of hours) to work. I have found it works every time. I just put a teaspoon full of Dawn in a pint size spray bottle fill with water and spray away. Ginny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Patty Jo, So sorry I hate ants! I sat on an ant hill when I was 3 and I still remember running down the street screaming that I "had ants in my pants." LOL mom still loves to tell the story. They bit the tar out of me though and I never got over it. OK to get rid of the ants sprinkle grits. The ants will carry it back to nest they eat them and when the grits swell it kills them! Ginny this works great on fire ant nest. Just sprinkle the grits around the nest and before you know it they will be gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethDurand Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I recommend boric acid. You get it at the pharmacy, have to ask for it usually, it's not out with the usual stuff. I think that people use it for an eye solution, but it kills the ants. Non toxic (to us) powder, but they will disappear. Try to get it where they are coming in, and sprinkle some there. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhappy Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 PattyJo- That is the last thing you need rite now!! Move to Montana-(You are welcome here anytime) I have lived here 10 years and NEVER had ants in my house. When we lived in the Bay Area we had them all the time -oh & carpenter bees also:o A friend told me about cucumber rinds. The ants are not suppose to like that-but I would think that depending on where you live you could be inviting other critters to your ant deterant buffet table!!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Happens to all us sometimes. Not to worry. In Texas we give them names. lololol Of course they are really BIG BUGS and big ants. lolo Best Wishes Grammie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnBarb Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 I have mint planted around the outside of my house and it keeps them from nesting around here. Of course, mint is very invasive so you have to keep it chopped back too! lol I also heard about the cayenne pepper thing but with kids and dogs around I hesitate to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April W Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Cayenne pepper is also supposed to deter cats and dogs from digging in your flower beds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmanda Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 The Cayenne works for the furry critters very well. My Rott hasn't touched a flower in FOREVER, naughty little thing that his is! In regards to the ants, my mother would place a half open stick of gum in the cabinet that the ants were invading. The sugar called to the ants, but the aspertan(sp?)-artifical sweetner-in the gum actually killed 'em as they fed on it. It was bizarre but worked! Take Care * Happy Quilting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmanda Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 OH! my son used Splenda to kill an entire ant bed outside his bedroom window this summer. It is the same concept. I can't believe i had forgotten about that until now. I thought he was losing his mind at the time! Hindsight is always 20/20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattyJo Posted October 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 I can see that my grocery shopping list will be long this week. I'm going to gt them all and use them. WHEN (not if) they work, I won't know which one was best, but I'll be sure to get them. Thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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