Do you want ants?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Minibit

Minibit

Returned from the Void
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. One post per day
  2. 1-3 posts per week
  3. One post per week
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
Urban Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Quest, Sci-Fi, Time Travel and World Hopping, Steampunk, Action/Adventure, Modern Drama, Mystery, Slice of Life, Romance, and many more.
cause minibit's got ants!

I have a tiny suite with a big carpeted area where they seem to thrive despite my best efforts (which include vacuuming frequently and never leaving food out, as well as spraying the whole floor with a water/vinegar solution a few times a week), and linoleum area which doesn't seem to have a problem

Because it's a small, not well-ventilated area I'd rather not use strong chemicals. Any suggestions?
 
Hmm, have you ever left even a single crumb of food on the floor before? Because I find that's usually how the problem begins; some ant that happened to be patrolling around spotted that one speck of food, and it left a trail for other ants to follow suit... Soon all its buddies and the buddies of those buddies are now showing up because of one pesky little ant. In short... I suppose you could try setting out some ant traps, but well, the key is to keep even trace amounts of food off the tables, and more importantly, away from the floor, especially the carpet.
 
york said:
Hmm, have you ever left even a single crumb of food on the floor before? Because I find that's usually how the problem begins; some ant that happened to be patrolling around spotted that one speck of food, and it left a trail for other ants to follow suit... Soon all its buddies and the buddies of those buddies are now showing up because of one pesky little ant. In short... I suppose you could try setting out some ant traps, but well, the key is to keep even trace amounts of food off the tables, and more importantly, away from the floor, especially the carpet.
Click to expand...

Minibit said:
never leaving food out
Click to expand...

Crumbly food is eaten with a placemat. Any spills of anything are cleaned up immediately, the garbage even has a lid on it T.T
 
Hmm... Are there any cracks in the floor or what have you that might be bringing the ants in (or sheltering them)? And well... Any general areas they tend to hang around? Ants don't usually just roam around for no reason... It is typically because they've found something that's appealing to them, or... I daresay you might have ants living somewhere in your house o.o
 
york said:
Hmm... Are there any cracks in the floor or what have you that might be bringing the ants in (or sheltering them)? And well... Any general areas they tend to hang around? Ants don't usually just roam around for no reason... It is typically because they've found something that's appealing to them, or... I daresay you might have ants living somewhere in your house o.o
Click to expand...

Bolded: I assumed we already knew that was the problem? If this has been a long-term problem then I'd say it's gone beyond one-ant-leaves-a-trail-for-the-others-to-follow... I mean, ants live in colonies, so, if you're constantly seeing ants, then their nest is probably somewhere close by.

Unfortunately, though, I don't really know what to suggest, except calling an exterminator. :/ But it sounds like you didn't want to resort to that...
 
  • Thank You
Reactions: Minibit
york said:
I daresay you might have ants living somewhere in your house o.o
Click to expand...
OH MY GOD I HAVE ANTS??

Kagayours said:
Unfortunately, though, I don't really know what to suggest, except calling an exterminator. :/ But it sounds like you didn't want to resort to that...
Click to expand...
Well and also, I rent part of a shared dwelling :/
 
Minibit said:
Well and also, I rent part of a shared dwelling :/
Click to expand...
Oh dear >.< so it could be someone else that's attracting the ants, or well, an infestation :S but yeah... May wanna consult whoever else is there about an exterminator, and I guess the problem in general.
 
It's adorable that you both think I can afford an exterminator, or that my landlady would foot the bill before I was literally swimming in them
 
Minibit said:
It's adorable that you both think I can afford an exterminator, or that my landlady would foot the bill before I was literally swimming in them
Click to expand...
:/ I was thinking that you might not be able to afford one, hence why I said "it seems like you didn't want to resort to that". But, unfortunately, I don't have any better ideas, which is why I tossed it out there on the off-chance that it would be possible for you. It's all I've got, really.
 
  • Thank You
Reactions: Minibit
Minibit said:
It's adorable that you both think I can afford an exterminator, or that my landlady would foot the bill before I was literally swimming in them
Click to expand...
Gaah >.< well, I guess in that case you could at least try and figure out where they might be nesting, maybe look them up and see if you can identify the type of ants, and... Find the correct way to treat the infestation I suppose.
 
york said:
Gaah >.< well, I guess in that case you could at least try and figure out where they might be nesting, maybe look them up and see if you can identify the type of ants, and... Find the correct way to treat the infestation I suppose.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's true. And if just looking up Wikipedia pages of ant species doesn't give you the info you need, you might be able to find some DIY stuff online about killing ants. Worth a look, anyway. o_o
 
  • Thank You
Reactions: Minibit
I used a spray made of peppermint Castile soap around the baseboards of my house (1:1 ratio) when I had a problem with very small black ants and after several applications they were never seen again. I do not know that this would work with the larger black ants however, but it can't hurt and your house will smell nice.
 
  • Useful
Reactions: York
I put food or honey in another location to lure the ants away.
 
OH man. Lemme tell you my story... haha.

We have a wall... and entirfreakinge WALL... infested with ants. The thing literally has a colony in it, and it's not cozy >_< Tiny little creepers all over the place, just... fast and spooky and bitey

Anyway ! Long story short - after desperate attempts to murder the little demons that I'm pretty sure have actually made me sadistic (walking around singing "The ants go marching to their doom, hurrah, hurrah" while spraying them with Raid... yeah) -- I finally talked to a friend of my mom's. TERRO liquid ant bait... is the answer. It's like a small, deadly miracle (that doesn't bother you or pets, so long as you keep it out of reach)... and it's made me so happy. The only trick is, you cannot, cannot, cannot kill the ants. No matter how desperately you want to. You just gotta let them be - because eventually (and for us, it only took a matter of a few HOURS) they'll wind themselves back to their little home and, well... Queenie is toast :)

It's beautiful. I'm sane again. Mostly.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back