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Ants, ants and more ants!

JKC27
July 20th, 2005, 01:45 PM
Hey all, long time since I've been here. Wendel and Tucker are just fine by the way!

Anyways...I have tons of ants, that like to congregate around the morsals of food that on the floor (cat food that is). It is virutally impossible to find a pet/animal safe product to kill them. Any suggestions? Home Depot, Rona, WalMart, PetsMart do not have any non-toxic products.

THanks in advance!

coppperbelle
July 20th, 2005, 01:54 PM
I have heard that ants and spiders are particularly bad this year. I sprayed two weeks ago my whole backyard and within days they were back. They are in my flowers, on my trees, on the deck, table etc... They have moved the earth around my pool and I am afraid they may do some serious damage. For some reason I have been fortunate and only found a few in the house.
I keep all the dogs food in plastic sealed containers. My two eat so fast that there is never anything left in the dishes so ants are not attracted to them. I have seen a powder sold at Reno that is okay for kids and pets. I cannot remember what it is called. Something that works very well but is not good for kids or animals but can be hidden in places that are not accessible to animals is a liquid that you put on a piece of wax paper. The ants eat it and bring it back to their nests killing the others.

For now try putting your pets dishes in a saucer of water. There doesn't have to be a lot of water just enough to deter the ants.

Dogastrophe
July 20th, 2005, 01:56 PM
I was talking with a guy this morning about ants as we have an increased number this year. He said that mothballs placed around the house will tend to keep them out.

Another option is to spead diatomotous (sp?) earth around.

Ant-B-Gone works great. In Halifax it doesn't fall within the pesticide ban by-law; but otherwise I'm no tsure of the overall toxicity.

Dog Dancer
July 20th, 2005, 02:03 PM
I understand you need to find the nest and their route to the food source and then place a repellant. You may need to try several as some won't mind some repellants, which can include vinegar, cayenne pepper, bone meal, cinnamon, cream of tartar or salt. Put a line of the repellant at the ants point of entry and along their path.

I also read that you can kill them by feeding them a mixture of 1 part active dry yeast, 2 parts molasses and 1 part sugar. Apparently they are attracted to the sugar mixture and eat it readily. The yeast produces gas and (didn't know this) ants can't fart :eek: and apparently the buildup of gas will kill them. Huh - that just doesn't seem very nice!!

Good luck - we had carpenter ants and had to get an exterminator but we knew where the nest was.

epundt
July 20th, 2005, 02:20 PM
Diatamatious earth is made from earth. The ants walk in it, it sticks to their legs and bodies, then when they walk they rub holes in their outer skeleton and they bleed to death. Humans and dogs can eat it, won't cause any harm. Only insects with skeleton on the outside. Use Borax to kill spiders and roaches. You can also use any kind of laundry soap, it has borax in it. Just mix and spray where ever you've got bugs.

JKC27
July 20th, 2005, 02:28 PM
Worst part is I don't know where the nest is. I'll try everything I can. THanks!

JKC27
July 20th, 2005, 03:11 PM
Is Borax not toxic though? Where do I find diamatatious earth, or however you spell it?

Schwinn
July 20th, 2005, 03:26 PM
I had someone once suggest to me sugar and baking soda. Same thing as above, blows out thier little ant colans. I guess you know what hits the fan in ant world...

epundt
July 20th, 2005, 04:45 PM
Here in S.Texas diatamatious earth is sold at feed stores and all nurserys. No, Borax is not toxic. It is found in all laundry soaps. At the grocery store, you may be able to find it in the laundry detergent department. It's also known as "Roach Proof). Years ago, that's all the pioneers had to do laundry with besides lye soap. If you can't find borax, just use tide soap. Mix it with water and spray. The earch is going to be your best bet for the ants. The earth is very fine, almost like face powder. If you put it under a microscope, it looks like broken glass, that's why it grinds the outer skeleton off killing the varment. I use it in my veggie garden and flower beds for most insects. If you can find the ant nests, most spectricides will work on them. The dogs won't mess with it because it must smell bad and it's not good to eat. (no beef in it) lol. The very best thing you can get is beneficial nemetodes. These are live microscopic bugs you put in your yard. The eat all kinds of larva including ants. You should be able to get those at a nursery too. If not, check the internet for them.

Katze
July 20th, 2005, 04:45 PM
I used to have teeny weeny ants come and swarm any cat food crunchies on the floor. It was quite repulsive :eek: .When I started using a wee bit of orange ( bergamot) essential oil in the water to wash the floors because the scent is so nice, the ants disappeared. Apparently alot of insects are repelled by citrus ( eucalyptus too). It may be worth your while to try it out.

epundt
July 20th, 2005, 04:52 PM
Here is a site you can order the earth from.

http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/de_permaguard.aspx

Here's one for the nemetodes.

http://store.arbico-organics.com/organic-pest-control-beneficial-nematodes.html

We use the nematodes here in S.Texas for the fire ants. Works really well.

melanie
July 20th, 2005, 05:25 PM
whenever i have ant probs i put everything in bowles of water, i would sit that cats feed bowl in a shallow dish of water, the ants cant swim. for my kitchen table i will often put dishes of water under the table feet and just about everywhere else i find the buggers. does not remove them but keeps them out of the food and of benchs etc....