Now before I get on with more stories from our journey across the continent and the telling of near glacial lake skinny dipping and the need for always packing a change of clothes, I have an ant infestation that needs to be gone!
For those who know me well, I’m not a bug person. I have no problem crushing them with my bare hands and reducing their short life span to an even shorter one. I DON’T DO BUGS and when they cross the threshold into my domain all bets are off.
I have a kitchen window above my sink and for the last few months tiny, tiny ants have found their way through the screen and made themselves at home in my kitchen. For the most part, I have simply muttered an unkind word in their direction and then ended their life with the touch of a finger.
They began inviting their friends and relatives so I upped my game and put out the Raid ant bait traps….to no avail. I feel they check in at the RAID TRAP motel, go for swim and move on out without taking the poison with them because their population has grown.
Now for those wondering… I keep my kitchen pretty clean. Dishes are done each night, food put away, counter wiped down but each morning I find them bidding me, “Good morning!”
We went away on our 28 day journey and now we have returned to much larger ants and a marching army of the tiny ones.
I have brought out the big guns of the RAID ant spray….which kills on contact…but who knows what else it kills in the meantime….especially my lungs! Hack, hack!
I’ve had dreams of them crawling up my face and into my ear canals, up my nose and through my hair…this is scary stuff, people!
FULL DISCLOSURE TIME: Now after this next bit of information you might just give up on me completely but I need to be honest. Today, I might have found the culprit of enticement that has brought them.
On either side of my kitchen window are small shelves for little knickknacks. I confess, I’m not a tea drinker and I don’t use sugar in my coffee…I feel I’m sweet enough…at least that’s what Dave says. But I do keep a couple of sugar bowls for my tea drinking mother-in-law and friends who drop in.
In an effort to eliminate this ant infestation, I’m on a wipe-down cleaning spree. So, when I took ahold of the sugar bowl off the top shelf, a somewhat high-pitched screech came up from my lungs… for behold, I opened the lid and found the complete royal court of those king-sized ants!!!
They have now been eliminated and their royal reign has come to an end!
Yet those tiny ants are still about and the spraying of that harsh ant spray all around my cooking area isn’t sitting well with me. I’m now on the hunt for some kind of safe AND effective remedy for extinction before this mama does something drastic….like move!
Tripping Over Typeset 
Rachel- This is an awesome story! LOL. I can just imagine the sugar- yIKES. For the record, we have used Terro Liquid Ant Bait. They drink and carry it back to the nest. Little and big alike go marching and after two days of Terro- Never to be seen again. ARRRG! YES. We buy it at Walmart.
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Thanks!
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Try lining the outside of your home with 20 Mule Team Borax if you can find it. I used to have ants When I lived in the Hamptons and I was told to do this and it worked. They don’t cross over the barrier. I hope it still works Honey! (I saw this product in dollar stores a couple of times).
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Thanks, Evie! I will look into it! 🙂
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I totally understand and I sent you a link on facebook but i will post it here as well since it may be helpful to others. http://pestkill.org/ants/
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Thanks!
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Try Tarro ant bait. It is boric acid/sugar solution. They gobble it up and take it home to share in the nest. I talk about “feeding my pets.” The big ones eat a lot. Sometimes ants just march through based on how much moisture is outside. I think I’ve bought it at Agway and occasionally Wegmans. You could probably take a swig of it, if you wanted (not that I would), but I don’t feel bad having drops of it in the kitchen on squares of cardboard in their trails. Yea-ah, I grew up on Miami, bug-central. Ellen Oh, I’ve also been known to pour boiling water on nests outside, also non-toxic.
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Yes, I’ve done the boiling water thing outside. Thanks for the suggestion! 🙂
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Our attic gets invaded by cluster flies every winter. We’re still trying to find an effective deterrent. Good luck with the ants.
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Thanks, David! Yes, hoping we can wipe them all out!
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I’m there with you. I like Combat or Terro ant baits better. I have 8 to 10 baits in my kitchen including under sink, in cupboard near honey jar, and all along my counter top. I change them about every 3wks to mo. Hasn’t eliminated them 100 % but only see about 10 or less occasionally. The tiny ones are sugar ants. I started my war in earnest last summer and jumped right on it again this year. I think they do take the poison back to their nest, it just takes a while. Or you can get a “Philip”. He’s been stomping ants and smashing them with hands since he was old enough to walk. HeHe.
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They are diminishing now…getting rid of the sugar bowls helped tremendously! 🙂 also it’s been colder so I have the windows shut now so they aren’t coming in from outside.
I’m hoping to be completely rid of them soon.
Yes, maybe I’ll have to get a “Philip” 🙂
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There are a lot of useful natural remedies which help you get rid of ants. Do you try lemon juice spray (1 part of juice and 3 parts of water)? You may also read about other natural ways here
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