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I Hate Ants [message #94055]

Sat, 17 July 2021 21:22

gofar99
Messages: 1947
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona

Illuminati (5th Degree)

Hi Everyone, The title says it all. Over the past 2-3 weeks we started to see between 1 and 5 medium size red ants in the living room. Which incidentally is my listening room as my spouse stole my real listening room after I put the wide screen there. That is a story for another time. Back to the ants. They show up between 8 PM and morning. Generally in the same area. Roughly about a 10 foot radius in one corner of the room. Some background. The house is brick and while there are some minor cracks there are no gaping ones. Concrete slab and it is in actually really good condition. This type of ant is common here but usually has huge underground nests. Not like carpenter ants that will move into the house and tunnel in the wood. The ants will roam (according to the web) up to 100 yards from a nest looking for food. There is nothing to eat in the living room. Zero. I can't find any nearby nests either. When we first moved in here there was one so big that it probably was listed on the deed. I caulked everything that had any gaps, searched for any entry points and can't find any. There are no consistent ant trails but they do seem to favor the one area. Spectracide does a number on them and they are always dead. Some satisfaction in that...but I want them gone. Enough rant for now. Mad

Good Listening
Bruce

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Re: I Hate Ants [message #94056 is a reply to message #94055]

Sun, 18 July 2021 11:40

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18782
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

You know, I lived most of my life in Tulsa, so I didn't really have much grasp on the problem of pest control. Mostly this is because population centers tend to limit the populations of lots of bugs. Some cities spray insecticide, especially when there are outbreaks of diseases carried by disease-bearing insects, like West Nile. But even without this kind of insect control, the mere fact that cities tend to deter wildlife civilizations has a side-effect of deterring some insect populations, especially those that that act as parasites on the wildlife. So having grown up in Tulsa, I wasn't aware of many of the problems of insect control.

Now that I live in Bella Vista - in the Ozarks - I am surrounded by a lot of trees and wildlife. It's beautiful here. But that also brings with it a whole new set of problems in the form of pest control. Lots of bugs and lots of other little nuisance critters.

So all that to say I feel your pain. We have been using a pest control service for many years. Not so much for the small animal critters, all though some of the bugs we treat for are food for small animals so treating for one naturally solves the problems from the other. An example is treating for grubs makes it much less likely that the yard gets dug up by animals that seek to eat the grubs. A big one I always treat for is ticks. If you live here for twenty years and don't treat your property for ticks, the chances of getting one of the tick-borne diseases rises to nearly 100%.

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Re: I Hate Ants [message #96060 is a reply to message #94055]

Tue, 11 October 2022 07:28

Justinn09
Messages: 5
Registered: October 2022

Esquire

There are chemicals against insects, but that's good for a while. You have to look for where the ants are crawling from

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Re: I Hate Ants [message #96067 is a reply to message #96060]

Tue, 11 October 2022 20:54

gofar99
Messages: 1947
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona

Illuminati (5th Degree)

On occasion I have considered dynamite and flame throwers. Very Happy

But...I didn't want to ruin my LP collection ...the house is replaceable. Shocked

Good Listening
Bruce

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Re: I Hate Ants [message #96068 is a reply to message #96067]

Tue, 11 October 2022 21:31

Wayne Parham
Messages: 18782
Registered: January 2001

Illuminati (33rd Degree)

https://audioroundtable.com/images/Laughing_Felix.gif

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Re: I Hate Ants [message #96458 is a reply to message #94055]

Thu, 02 March 2023 17:27

noodle
Messages: 90
Registered: May 2021

Viscount

I like winter, because that's when the ants leave! Last summer through mid-autumn, my homemade cleaning spray seemed to keep them away. It's a mix of water, dish soap, white vinegar, and tea tree oil.

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Re: I Hate Ants [message #96460 is a reply to message #94055]

Thu, 02 March 2023 19:54

gofar99
Messages: 1947
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona

Illuminati (5th Degree)

Hi, It is timely that this came up again. Two nights ago my daughter and two grand daughters stopped by at about 7PM. It was warn and a pretty nice evening. As they came to the from door they were greeted by a large number of large red ants crossing the porch area. As in 100s. Yikes. So out comes the spray and bait. I fixed those suckers...at least I thought so. It seems they wanted to get away from my efforts and a bunch came into the house. Shocked

I stomped them and I hope the bait etc works. (it can take a day or so) Since it was 27 degrees this AM and we had of all things snow (about 1.5 inches) there were no ants to be seen. Yes really snow in Southern Arizona. Even Tucson had a number of inches depending on where it was measured. I don't suppose it is humane to use a flame thrower on them. Twisted Evil

I wonder if the home owners insurance would cover it if it went bad? Confused

At least they weren't any like in the movie "Them" if you can recall it. BTW that movie is a real hoot.

Good Listening
Bruce

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Re: I Hate Ants [message #96487 is a reply to message #96460]

Wed, 08 March 2023 05:56

Rusty
Messages: 1184
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (3rd Degree)

You might have to adopt an anteater for a pet. Might take a little gettin used to. But before long you'll have em' curled up in your lap watching tv or listening to tunes. Get him some chocolate covered ants for treats.

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