Ants!

Freakwater · 01-20-2006, 10:08 AM

Not carpenter ants, but the little ones.
Anyone recommend an exterminator in the 'Couv?

Thanks,
Freakwater

Waterfish · 01-20-2006, 10:21 AM

Have you tried Terro ant poison? They take it back to their nest and it poisons the whole colony.

Worked for me anytime I had the little ants show up.

shelikeschrome · 01-20-2006, 10:31 AM

I heard sprinkling a little sevin around perimeter ares also works. Supposed to be good for fleas on dogs too. Haven't tried it yet but came from a very good trusted source. Never heard of Terro. Where did you get it?

walkersteelhead · 01-20-2006, 10:32 AM

Terro works good.

HOGGEMIN · 01-20-2006, 10:33 AM

Howdy John at least you don't have ants in your pants..........LOL

hey call me about our trip in November it is all booked up with a waiting list already. Fish on buddy.

Freakwater · 01-20-2006, 10:56 AM

It's not like there are millions of them. They have been showing up sporatically for a year. Now they are showing in bigger numbers. Can't tell where they are coming from. They are coming out of one of the wall outlets. I'll give Terro a try, thanks. Hate to pay for an exterminator if I don't have to, but it's driving my girlfriend nuts.

Mike I'll give you a call soon. Let's get some sushi.

Freakwater

HazMatt · 01-20-2006, 11:33 AM

PLEASE be careful with Sevin! It can/will cause seizures in cats...Check with a vet if you have a cat.

Disclaimer: Information cannot be used for illegal (read: harming the little pests) purposes.

BTW -
Terro works wonders on the sugar ants! I had hundreds last year and it took a little while to get em all, but it does work. Follow them back as close to the nest as you can get to put this stuff down. It is amazing to see how many come out to get this stuff! :shocked: Don't be shocked when you have a hundred come out of your outlet to get to the liquid. They will be there awhile and then go back to the nest. Just keep putting the stuff down on the cardboard for a couple weeks and they just disappear...

skybuster · 01-20-2006, 11:35 AM

I had them when I lived in Parkrose and called an exterminator. They told me that I could probably fight them just as well myself, and that they could not guarantee that the problem would be permanently solved for a couple hundred dollars.

I went to Home Depot and bought a gallon spray bottle of some ant killer, and a white powder.

I sprayed all my pipes and stuff in the house with the spray, and spread the white powder around the foundation on the outside. Never had a problem again.

wthr4d · 01-20-2006, 12:20 PM

Terro is the STUFF! we used to get them every time it rained, they would get flooded out and come in through a wall outlet in the kitchen (sound familiar?). I bought the Terro, pulled the switchplate and looked for their trail. I loaded up the cardboard dot and slipped it in the path of the ants and replaced the cover Plate. I had to repeat it a couple of times in a week, but they stopped coming.

They did come back a year or two later butall I had to do was get the other half of the bottle of Terro I had left over and repeat what I did before. all settled for another year!

Good luck, and make sure to keep your counters wiped clean while fighting them. you want the only food for them to be the poison bait.

Paul

shelikeschrome · 01-20-2006, 01:44 PM

Thanks for the info on cats and sevin. Didn't know that. Do they have to ingest it? I've used it on occasion in my yard and on dogs. I have cats and there are tons in the neighborhood. Where did you get the terro?

wthr4d · 01-20-2006, 04:40 PM

I picked up the
Terro at Riteaid but I know yhou can get it at Bimart and just about any other place that sells that kind of hardware/extermination stuff. not that expensive either.

Paul

ampersat · 01-20-2006, 05:20 PM

Another vote for Terro.

A couple of tips:
- that little bottle will last forever, even when you're generous with the stuff
- be generous with it. I'll put down six to ten drops on the first pass. If it all disappears, put down more. It'll harden after a few days and that's usually when the nest is done.
- when you run out of the little cardboard dots, cut pieces of cardboard off of soda cartons. They're coated on the outside and you can find colors to match most anything so it's not too conspicuous.

If you spray stuff, you'll kill the ones you see but you'll just chase off the rest of them. Terro works because they're drawn to it.

Hare's Ear · 01-20-2006, 10:14 PM

Another vote for Terro. The active ingredient is borax - as in 20 mule team. Anyway, pretty safe around the house. I have a client that is an exterminator. Guess what he uses - something with borax in it.

There a several products with borax as the active ingredient. Most ants are looking for either sugar or fat. Terro attracts ants looking for sugar. If your ants don't seem interested in Terro add a little cooking oil and mix it up.

ampersat · 01-21-2006, 05:51 AM

Correction: the active ingredient is boric acid, not borax.

FishinTechnician · 01-21-2006, 06:54 AM

Ditto on the Terro. I have heard them called sugar ants. Just keep after them and they will disappear, but it takes consistent treatments. We had them living in the foundation, under the patio and sidewalks and even in the hot water heater.

hawgcatcher · 01-21-2006, 11:57 AM

Terro is great. I get mine at bi-mart or Ace hardware. Strange that we have not had many since last summer then with the rainy weather they started up again.

Remember when we are gone the ants will survive.

elkstopper · 01-21-2006, 11:59 AM

Mix up some borax and sugar has always worked for me

Jettin' Fool · 01-21-2006, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Mix up some borax and sugar has always worked for me

I have been told to use a home made killer than is similar. DON'T use regular sugar as they will take the granules back for food.

1 part powdered sugar
1 part boric acid
1 part dry yeast

The ants are attracted to the powdered sugar and end up taking the yeast back to the nest for food. The queen will eat the yeast that is coated with boric acid and it dries her out and kills her.

Don't waste your time spraying...it will keep them away until they hatch again and again and again.

KILL THE QUEEN!!

JF

fishloader · 01-21-2006, 04:37 PM

shave one half, light the other half on fire,kill em when they come running out

TonTo · 01-21-2006, 06:56 PM

Quote:

shave one half, light the other half on fire,kill em when they come running out

Get em with an ice pick

shelikeschrome · 01-26-2006, 10:24 AM

I don't think they are all sugar ants. The ones I have really stink when you squish them...odorous ants. Going to try both ways!

StinkyH · 01-10-2008, 06:59 PM

Bumping an old thread...

Another testament to Terro liquid for killing odorous ants. This is the stuff.

Had issues with them coming in the house last few winters. They pretty much just walked over the solid baits but the Terro really brought them in to feed. Sucks to just watch them feed but I knew they were taking it back to their nest so I just refilled the feeding area. The bottle of stuff is the trick. The Terro traps you can buy just dry up. The bottle you can use anywhere.

I like the recipe above! Also like the info about the exterminator stating a home owner can do just about as much as they can to get rid of them.

Last summer I found a large nest in my front yard under a rock in a flower bed next to our house which I proceeded to nuke when I found it.

Haven't seen but two odorous ants this winter until this week when I found four tonight in my kitchen. I did seal up some baseboards with caulk the last few years to prevent their entry but to a few places. I put down some Terro tonight.

Didn't think that the rain would push them indoors but I am the wiser.

Seems like an on-going battle. Soon as I see one I am on guard! Will try the powder in the spring to hopefully finish these things off.

StinkyH

cptnchaos88 · 01-10-2008, 09:12 PM

use white vinager it works great and wont hurt your pets,it will kill plants or grass so there is a draw back to it but other than that it is great.

ampersat · 01-10-2008, 09:32 PM

Another huge fan of the liquid Terro here. I've put it outside, inside, all over the place. If I see an ant, I put some down and pretty soon the whole nest is feeding on it. By week's end, no more ants. One thing: protect it from sunlight. It's mostly sugar with the boric acid dissolved in it; in sunlight, it skins over and the ants can't consume it.
As for pets, there isn't enough poison in a small bait to cause them harm. I wouldn't feed it to my pets and certainly place it so they can't get to it. But if they do, there's little chance they'll become ill from it.

drhall99 · 01-10-2008, 11:10 PM

Yup, use terro. NEVER let an exterminator spray your house for ants unless you can't get rid of them any other way. The stuff they use is very toxic and long lasting, meaning that you will be poisoning your family as well.

Reel_Big_Fish · 01-11-2008, 08:36 AM

I just had this issue last week. I found where they were coming in and caulked the area. I put one of the little traps outside where their entry was. I have found a few straglers in the house, but nothing in the last two days. They must have been in before I caulked. I'll have to pick up some liquid Terro this weekend and shoot around the foundation.

Thanks for bringing this back to the top.

Trick · 01-11-2008, 02:35 PM

Just incase anyone didn't know what a Odorous Ant looks like. I had never heard the term until now.

Wolf EEL · 01-11-2008, 05:10 PM

Chinese chalk, looks like a piece of white chalk, just take it and write on cement and ants will carry it to their nest,and I think they like it because I have little red ants attacking my house for 20 years. These are not your average ants they have brains and use them. Boy they are smart. I have sprayed everything known to mankind to try to get rid of them. For example when I spray aroung the house they figure out to go on the telephones lines to bypass the spray. They come into my house many differnt ways. They like my freeway system that runs thru my house, water pipes. But when I spray all of them they find any hole in the house and try to make a new home by pushing sawdust piles out of the holes to make new nests. So I am declaring world war 3 this year on them. Keep u posted on how the war goes.

Pete · 01-11-2008, 05:17 PM

Instead of normal caulk, try Colgate. Looks and works the same, but the ants won't burrow through it again.

However, I'll happily trade my rats for your ants. Yuck!

pathfinder · 01-11-2008, 06:46 PM

Call in a Napalm air strike,That seems to always work. A little extreme but hey , the wife always say's she wanted a new house.

:l augh:

spooner · 02-10-2008, 08:59 PM

thought i would bring this back one more time.....
I been fighting these things seems like for ever. i bombed my kitchin then put out torro, not on them littel squares i put out and envelope with lots of drops on it they came in hords then they were gone. then a week lateter I seen a few so I pit it in every room lots on evelopes agin and the founed one in the back room coverd with them so i put them all in there and they are all over it. sprikeld some borax and some sweet and low. Ill let you know how it goes. any one herd of using sweet and low? my neghbore told me about it.

ampersat · 02-10-2008, 09:47 PM

Hadn't heard about sweet and low but Terro works.

Flatfish · 02-10-2008, 09:51 PM

Hire a pro. Stay away from the national companies. I would work with someone local. Check refrences.

Unless pests are a regular problem, you do not need a contract for extended service.

Hook-Line-N-Sinker · 02-11-2008, 09:07 AM

Finally broke down and made the trip to Bi-Mart yesterday morning for Terro. The stuff definately attracts the buggers. I hope it works. Much rather pay $3 for a bottle of Terro than $150 for a professional to come out.

StinkyH · 03-24-2008, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hook-Line-N-Sinker

Finally broke down and made the trip to Bi-Mart yesterday morning for Terro. The stuff definately attracts the buggers. I hope it works. Much rather pay $3 for a bottle of Terro than $150 for a professional to come out.

Ants started showing up about a week ago. Terro worked great for me in the past but this latest group of ants ignored it. Read up that they have two different feeding times - during one they crave sugar, the other they crave fatty proteins. Tried another gel called Combat. They ignored this one as well. Not a high number of ants but they were poppping up all over the house, one here and one there whereas they were only seen in the kitchen area before.

Took the advice of folks on this thread and bought the large bottle of Sevin. Mixed up a batch in my sprayer and went to work. Put one gallon on the foundation on the outside of my house and then went into the crawlspace. I sprayed about a half gallon on the inside surface of the foundation in the corner of the house under the kitchen and also hit the floorbeams. That yard sprayer works great as you can adjust the nozzle so you have more of a fat stream vs mist. The stream went about 15 ft which was nice to be able to lob the Sevin where I needed it. Two days later and the ant activity has all but halted. If I do see any more in the kitchen, I will be going under the sink and sticking the spray nozzle into the holes by the plumbing coming throught the walls.

Thanks for the suggestion regarding the use of Sevin!

somegeek

Thumper · 03-24-2008, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StinkyH

Two days later and the ant activity has all but halted.

You know, even ants have mothers.....

StinkyH · 03-24-2008, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thumper

You know, even ants have mothers.....

Sorry - this is the price for invading my turf... besides, looking at what these ants can do... I can't help but think... they're savages.

Mad Mikey · 03-24-2008, 08:55 PM

I'm glad someone brought this thread back up. I've had the little buggers for two years. They aren't bad as long as I keep my kitchen floor clean.

Even though I clean my floor at least twice a year they still show up!

I tried some drops on cardboard squares, ant traps etc. to no avail. Sounds like I need to try this Terro stuff. The last stuff I used that had the cardboard squares was some other brand.

Thanks, I'll get some tomorrow.