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Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 1:06:29 AM

aravain

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Ok, so it's well documented that I have insomnia, but that's not my problem now!

About an hour ago an ANT was crawling in my bed and crawled onto my foot, and up my leg. Being the macho, manly man I am, I yelped, started to cry and batted it away. After I calmed down a bit, I felt a creepy on my OTHER leg and BAM ANOTHER (or maybe the same, just adventurous?) ANT.

I've been trying to calm down since! I don't deal with bugs well, dunno what it is, just find them *SO* very creepy, and I can deal with the small ants but these were CARPENTER ants. The *huge* kind that are about a 1/4 of an inch long! I was horrified! I still AM horrified.

Unfortunately, as we get into the warmer months ants are a common occurrence in this house, one I haven't dealt with for quite some time now (having not come home from school for the summer). So I have a few questions.

A) Does anyone know of a (natural) way to greatly discourage ants from coming into my room? I used to know of a certain type of powder (was it flour? I can't remember) that, if you put a pile of it in the corner of the room they'd run after it, and take loads back and it would kill most of 'em since they can't digest it (and the little buggers will crawl all over their dead brethren to try next). I just hate the god damned things with a passion, but spraying in the house is not an option (animals and all that).

B) Outdoor sprays around the perimeter of the house are ineffective for ants (but very effective for any other type of pest) and we even know exactly where they get into the house and have concentrated 'fire' there before to no effect. Does anyone know of any ways to repel ants from a home? We are not messy with food/waste or anything similar. The ants probably find food sources inside anyway (either that, or they come to enjoy some air conditioning).

C) Will someone hold me and tell me it's all right

Post #: 1

RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 3:34:56 AM

littlewonder

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I get carpenter ants almost every summer. It's inevitable when your backyard is wooded. I use the bait traps where they crawl inside and then carry the poison back to the nests and I also use a plug in that sends a signal through the wires that is supposed to discourage pests. Since I've been using them for a few years I get the occasional stray but not many at all.

If nothing else, call the Ortho man and have them spray but I don't like chemicals so I try to stay away from them.

(in reply to aravain)

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 5:59:12 AM

MsFlutter

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 7:47:32 AM

sweetsub1957

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i don't really have any constructive info, but i wanted to say i sympathize. When i was a youngster, our home had a warm-weather termite problem. Use ant-traps maybe, putting them where pets can't get to them?

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 9:04:35 AM

aravain

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Thanks, littlewonder! I saw one of those on sale recently (the plug in things)... what brand do you use? I'd have a feeling they'd be something real easy to have accidental knockoffs

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 9:44:59 AM

peppermint

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Here is a list of steps you can take to control ants.

http://www.ehow.com/how_3791_rid-ants-naturally.html

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 12:15:46 PM

Lockit

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We have ants all over outside and you can't get to all the places they are coming from. Lately I have noticed the big ants coming in to scout things out I guess. I don't see a trail at this point and don't know where they are coming in at. Just after I sprayed for bugs using cedar oil in a fogger, we had winged ants or something.. I don't know what they were.. but they were all over the window. I grabbed the icky spray and nearly gagged myself. So the other day when I awoke to lil tiny ants around my kitchen sink... I grabbed the comet and dusted them. I left some there so that they wouldn't come right back at me.

I am dreading dealing with them all.

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 12:26:03 PM

GYPZYQUEEN

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A natural way IS PEPPERMINT!!!!they hate it( from health store)...oils...
use the oil as a barrier ..so a line of it at your door or on cotton by the bed..or window oe sumdge with a cotton ball around where they are coming in...
SPearmint gum may deter a bit..in cup boards
Make a spray of peppermint an dwater to spray around.

THESE are carpenter ants and must have a COLONY in your home or near..usually where you see them..their colony is about a meter away..if you go in the basement you will see sawdust hanging things..this is their saliva with sawdust ..they "eat" wood and bore it out to live in..

WHY DO I KNOW??..we
bought a home and when it was investigated after we had a million fly out of light socket thing..they said we had a 20 year old colony of about 300,000

WE had to vacate they went in a bored a hole every 3 ft and dropped bombs things down to kill them..
They had done enough eating that the foundation was cracking due to weak beams..
.
bastards..
ALSO IN JUNE they FLY...some start to get wings and groups fly to make new colonies..when there is an overload

best of luck

I hate them..they quiver and thier jaws munch

GQ

< Message edited by GYPZYQUEEN -- 6/17/2009 12:28:20 PM >

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 12:39:15 PM

Lockit

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I just got rid of the bed bugs... now ants... damn it all! Now to find some ant's eat wood... I think I am going to start drinking! I'm tired of costly bugs!

I think I need a handy dandy submissive guy to go to battle for me! hehe

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 12:45:17 PM

intenze

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Terro is the answer.

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 12:50:36 PM

KyttynTheMynx

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I have heard of making lines or piles of borax in rooms. I was also told that if you find where they are coming in at, clean it with bleach or something that will get rid of a food scent trail.

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 6:59:56 PM

littlewonder

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I don't know the brand of the plug in but I bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond.

I use Terro for the bait traps.

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 8:16:19 PM

GYPZYQUEEN

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quote:

ORIGINAL: KyttynTheMynx

I have heard of making lines or piles of borax in rooms. I was also

yes borax & bleach works great..burns their asses and etc..but the OP asked for natural due to pets..

there is also some kind of earth that has a mix in iit( dianophous(sp?)..that basically cuts them up if they walk on but then if OP puts dirt around and grass grows in the house then more bugs will come..shit

I DO KNOW IF IT IS CARPENTER ants the colony just
keeps growing sorry to say
Better a $500 pest control bombing than a new foundation

shit I'll never forget that.....thousands flew out of my wall thousands..

and landed on my pancakes..

GQ

< Message edited by GYPZYQUEEN -- 6/17/2009 8:17:22 PM >

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 8:28:44 PM

CarrieO

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quote:

ORIGINAL: GYPZYQUEEN

there is also some kind of earth that has a mix in iit( dianophous(sp?)..that basically cuts them up if they walk on but then if OP puts dirt around and grass grows in the house then more bugs will come..shit

Diatomaceous Earth http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html

I use it in the garden to kill slugs and to keep fleas and ticks away. I have visiting critters ( cats/dogs/wildlife) along with indoor cats and I wanted something that wouldn't harm them.

I live in a heavily wooded, damp area with stone walls (prime bug habitat) and since I started using this product I've seen less crawling bugs. It doesn't seem to affect spiders, though. Of course, that's what I have the cats for!

Good luck.

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/17/2009 11:36:42 PM

aravain

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Oh, we know where they're living. It's in the tree right outside our house.

We can't knock the tree down... it's too close to the house, our neighbors' driveway, and the street T_T

We've had this problem (and will continue to have this problem) forever. There's not much we can do. The tree is even still alive (actually, it's our best grower... gets real beautiful in autumn) and it's HUGE.

GypzyQueen is right in that I was asking for natural solutions specifically for our pets. We have two poodles who think that tissues are the perfect snack... something tells me they'd snap up some poisons in a heart beat ;)

Thank you all!

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/18/2009 4:24:50 PM

sireninchains

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Im thirding Terro, that stuff works wonders, and FAST. But make sure you put it out of the reach of pets and children!

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/18/2009 6:56:25 PM

Scotty306134

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Firearms may be an option... I'd reccommend loading with birdshot { requires less accuracy and makes smaller holes} I remember my Mother used to make an undigestable meatloaf. I believe it got rid of both my aunts and maybe even their families...It seemed to work though..... On a more serious note if Your outside tree has a colony of woodboring ants in it, I'd have to assume it's lost most of it's strength in it's trunk. The next time a high wind comes thru it may come down on it's own. Get a tree surgeon to check it out and if necessary take it safely down. Best of luck, Scotty

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/19/2009 2:33:14 AM

PyrotheClown

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quote:

C) Will someone hold me and tell me it's all right

It could be worse, you could have wind scorpions running through your house and on your bed..

(if you don't know what I'm talking about, just look em up, pure night mare fuel 8D)

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/19/2009 7:17:16 AM

sirsholly

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quote:

Firearms may be an option... I'd reccommend loading with birdshot { requires less accuracy and makes smaller holes} I remember my Mother used to make an undigestable meatloaf. I believe it got rid of both my aunts and maybe even their families...It seemed to work though.....

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RE: Cannot Sleep! Not insomnia... ANTS! - 6/19/2009 11:31:28 AM

SavageFaerie

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If you want to insure that errant ants do not get in you bed here is a tip I learned for another aggravating bug.

Take glass or metal bowls fill with talc (shower to shower works good. But you bed posts in them and the talc will kill them on contact...its a very safe and non intrusive way to keep them off your bed. Also make sure no bedding is touching the floor.

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