You know what I hate?
Kitchen ants.
I hate them with a seething, raging passion.
You know what I love?
Spring.
You know who works hard to ruin spring for me?
Those same damned kitchen ants.
At least they aren't zombie ants
Each year at this time, they bloom out of nowhere. Each year I forget about them during the long, cold winter months. But then, one day, I’ll be calmly sitting at my computer and I’ll feel it.
It’s a piss-drinking-son-of-a-circus-whore* kitchen ant, crawling on my arm.
With that bold declaration of war, the battle is waged. Thousands of tiny ants begin infesting my kitchen, climbing into the sink to enjoy that knife from a PBJ that my husband didn’t rinse off.
I fight. I buy traps. Poison that won’t kill my pets or child. I’ve drawn chalk lines, used boric acid, sprinkled chili powder, sprayed with bleach – every single damned trick I’ve been told in the five years I’ve lived in this house and NOTHING WORKS.
The ants do their damned marching all through my house.
And I can’t do a single thing about it.
I’m sure now that you all are going to offer some suggestions, and maybe, finally I’ll find the one that works.
But I’m thinking my next step is a flame thrower. I hear kitchens look good in black, right?
* I try not to curse much here at Aiming Low. So that curse up above is from the series Rome.
About Cecily Kellogg
I used to have the same thing in my old house, I’d wake up or come home dreading the potential “Ant line” to some unprotected food source.
So as predicted, I have some tips…
1. Baby powder works pretty well in keeping them a way.
2. giant ziplock bag everything, even things that seem sealed
3 Squish the scavengers, if they never make it back to the nest, you won’t see an ant line.
4. Incense, they flee from smoke.
5. If it’s really that bad, a good exterminator can find the source of the nest, which is likely outside of the house somewhere and take care of it on that level.
Good luck.
Cinnamon. Works like chalk lines.
But yeah. Find the nest. Or hire someone to find the nest.
I’m sorry:( Ants suuuuck
Twitter Name: thepsychobabble
Did you ever see that show on Animal Planet where people have all sorts of insects or rodents or snakes invadin their house? I couldn’t stop thinking of the ant one while reading this.
These people had ants crawling all over the insides of their walls, inside their pipes….everywhere.
I’m assuming your problem isn’t too that level, I hope not at least. If it is you should definitely call Animal Planet because i think they spring for the help to get rid of them and that would be handy.
If it isn’t then the best suggestion I have is Terro or an exterminator. I’m sure those are earth shattering, totally new ideas.
Twitter Name: themommytherapy
Um, a 12-gauge shotgun?
Twitter Name: mharnetiaux
If you know where the ants are coming in, rub raw garlic across the path-they hate the stuff. If you know where their nest is, stuff cut garlic bulbs down there & laugh maniacally.
I know it sounds kind of harsh but if you can find the nest pour boiling water over them. That will kill them.
Twitter Name: penbleth
RAID won’t kill your pets or your kids and it will KILL the ants instantly. Once they are dead you go and wipe up the dead ants and the leftover Raid. Spray back between the cabinets & fridge or behind/under the sink, wherever you think they are coming from. I have had ants get into my kitchen twice in the last 5 years and I used RAID both times. Both times they died and went away.
Twitter Name: PeggySueCusses
I second the baby powder for ants. Something about their legs and the texture of the baby powder makes them stay away. I swear by it and I had those biting red ants when I lived in AZ. If you can find where they’re coming in, sprinkle some there and around the edges of baseboards and such. They’ll stay away for weeks, even after you clean it up.
Good luck. I hate ants too but not as much as spiders, which I have here.
Twitter Name: jennsplace
yeah, we have carpenter ants that swarm every spring and I won’t do the laundry while they are swarming. They come in 4 sizes. Big worker ants, Bigger heavy worker ants, Huge male winged ants, and OMG are those really ants they are huge female winged ants. The winged females get to be a half inch long. And their pinchers are huge. HUGE! They do pop when you squish them but when they are swarming, I end up vacuuming them up and even though it’s over for the year, I still get the heebies from them.