For the first time ever, our home has been invaded by carpenter ants. Ants on steroids. These suckers are easily ten times bigger than the little sugar ants we get every once in a while. The good news is that they don't seem to be quite as intent on causing us bodily harm as those fire ants I'm forever butting heads with in the garden. However, they do like to crawl into bed with us at night, which is rather disconcerting. I suspect recent rains may have something to do with this invasion, for the more rain we get, the more ants appear in the house. We've had over half an inch already this morning, and it's just now getting really cranked up. It's turning into a regular stomp fest around here.
Why am I stomping on these guys, who aren't even biting me, when I'm willing to let the spiders have free run of my house? Well, that's the bad news. Apparently, like termites, they can weaken the structure of your house with all their tunneling and nest building, and those nice little not-too-toxic-to-humans ant baits that I set out for the sugar ants won't phase them in the least. According to one article I read, you need to stay up all night with your flashlight, luring them with drops of honey, so you can then follow them back to their various nests. Then you must drill a bunch of holes in the wall around each (being careful to avoid pipes and wiring) and puff boric acid into each and every hole.
Anyone got a better idea?
P.S. Many thanks to nobuggy.com for the above image
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3 comments:
Ummmm, is this where the Orkin man comes out and covers the house with a huge tent and inflates it full of pesticide??!
Maybe sprinkling lines of boric acid along every baseboard for the two days of predicted rain would do the trick. If not, it sure would force a jumpstart to Fall Cleaning! ;-)
Lordy, I sure hope it won't come to "The Tent"!
Oh yeah, and I've been keeping my eyes peeled, so that each time I actually see an ant disappear under a baseboard, I can mark the possible nest entrance with a masking tape X. Unfortunately, I've only seen one do it so far. Mostly they just wander around in circles. Very, very, very slow circles.
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