Invasion!

[POPTOP]

Little black ants.

Darn things found a way in under the screen door, on the landing, up a stair, along the wall behind the hutch in the kitchen and into the pantry. Luckily, everything in there is closed up tight except a bag of pretzels. AHHHHH!

DH sprayed along the foundation of the house and put down Seven Dust. The dust is fairly pet friendly and up against the foundation is not where Archie walks.

Just had some sherbet and did not pick up the bowl right away. Within short order, it was filled with them coming up from a small hole around the corner in the kitchen where some phone wires come in. AHHHHHH!

I treat sparingly because of Archie but these things are driving me NUTS! What do you use?

[smartrock]

When we've had ants, they've usually been the little ones that are attracted to sweet stuff. Not that I like them on the counters but if that's where I see them, I use liquid Terro II. They come in pre-measured little traps or a small bottle. I usually get the bottle and put a small puddle on a couple of small squares of foil and put them along the back of the counter or under the sink if they're under there. Sometimes you think there aren't too many ants but I've seen dozens of ants show up for the free meal and they eat and go away to die. So many show up it can be a little freaky. I think Terro has borax or something like that in it. At the back of the counter the dogs can't get to it.

This is what I use and you can get it at grocery stores, Walmart, Target, hardware stores, etc. TERRO® Liquid Ant Killer (our #1 best-selling ant poison)

While it has a little area you tear from the cardboard box to use as a bait station, aluminum foil or other random cardboard, like the outside of a cereal box, would work the same. The photo of the ants surrounding the bait- yep.

[SunDance]

We get single ants around the front windows from time to time...hmmmm, not so far this year...and I just kill them. They just seem to be wandering, not looking for a place to nest. We've also had the occasional large ant (probably carpenter ant) show up in Bob's bathroom or near the basement door. Again, just singles. I've used carpenter specific stuff for them...not taking any chances. We've never gotten the really tiny ones.

I'm another believer in Sevin. If I remember to get it down early in the Summer, I have far fewer visitors until the next annual dose goes down. Our house is blessed with centipedes...the very thought of one of those on the floor makes me want to pull up my feet. They seriously creep me out. They're fast, they smell bad, and they'll leave a welt trail on your skin if they crawl on you (yep...one crawled over my foot once....ewwwwww)

[sparky]

I have not tried this but I read that the artificial sweetener will wipe out ants. Just place some of the sweetener in their trails and when they ingest it and take it back to their nest they eat the sweetener and die because it has no nutritional value.

[janedoe]

Amdro. No question. They take it back to the queen and within three days, everyone is dead. I put the granules on a paper towel where the ants are and walk away. Works with all sizes of ants.

[voodoo]

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[POPTOP]

Thanks all!

Got some more Sevin dust and treated the entire foundation of the house. Almost instant stop of the invasion. I feel fairly safe with it with an older dog since it is tight up against the house. Not so sure if I had a mouthy, curious puppy.

[Snowshoe]

REading because we had ants all last winter. Not now for some reason. We also had a spot outside at the base of a tree that ants poured out of whenever I watered there. Big ones. Then a squirrel house on that tree fell down and the back board was a huge infestation of ants. They chewed out so much of the wood that's probably what caused it to fall. They must have been going up and down the tree, into the soil and then coming up from the soil when the water hit. OH replaced the squirrel house, it must have been the ants main house because I don't see them now. BUT - where did they go?