Tricks from the web

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 5, 2006

I'm not naming names, but I read (maybe I misread it) in the ant thread (now gone) that you can get rid of ants by pouring boiling water on them.

Well, I tried this a few days ago and although I haven't checked to see if the ants are actually gone, I am horrified to note that we now have straw where there used to be grass. The boiling water killed all the grass!

My wife now thinks I'm an idiot.

Well, actually, she's merely had it confirmed.

Saint Fool · Jul 5, 2006

According to Jerry Baker, it works. He doesn't say anything about the grass turning into straw, though.

Nangleator · Jul 5, 2006

I tried it a few times on one of those big colonies (of the twenty overlapping anthills variety,) and it didn't have a lasting effect.

It was fun though. Fun of the ant + magnifying glass + sun variety.

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 5, 2006

Maybe the problem was that I didn't have an anthill to pour it down, they are living under the lawn with no visible entrance. I found them when I was edging along the sidewalk. They just streamed out like army ants in a jungle movie (I didn't realize the little red ants stung!) and I just poured it along the edge of the grass. Now there's this footwide dead streak going along our sidewalk.

CaroGirl · Jul 5, 2006

And I bet you still have ants too.

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 5, 2006

Like I said, I haven't checked. We've had a busy week.

The remedy I just read about intrigues me. You dig up one ants nest and get them all in a bucket and then pour it on another ants nest.

War!

Granted, I haven't found their nest yet. So I can't do that one.

Jaycinth · Jul 5, 2006

The previous ant thread said if you sprinkle cinnamon along their trails they won't follow them. Well, my daughter discovered that if you sprinkle cinnamon on the big red ants they just totally freak out and do a 'flickty' dance then curl up like mutant rats in sun-light.

I prefer to dispose of hot cooking oil by taking it outside and pouring down the anthills along the side of the patio. The boiling oil also discourages weeds.

CaroGirl · Jul 5, 2006

I must say, I don't mind the ants that are outside as much as I mind the ones that come inside. For those I put drops of ant poison along their chosen route (believe me, their chosen route is easy to spot). Poof. No more ants. For the ones outside, live and let live, I say.

ghost · Jul 5, 2006

Poor little ants. Is it their fault that all they want is to find a bit of sugar?

arrowqueen · Jul 5, 2006

No it's not. I'm just not keen on the ones in my kitchen, carrying out two pound bags.

Nangleator · Jul 5, 2006

Shadow_Ferret said:
The remedy I just read about intrigues me. You dig up one ants nest and get them all in a bucket and then pour it on another ants nest.

War!

Dude!

That sounds more like entertainment than a cure!

Would you have to dig all the way down and collect a queen? Displace an entire colony on the top floor of another? Sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

But still... That would be better than any eighteen SciFi channel movies put together!

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 5, 2006

It said ants are territorial, so you just need enough for free-for-all, I guess.

Let's get ready to rumble!

AnnMB · Jul 5, 2006

Uhhh . . . guys . . .ever hear of ant spikes? They sell them at Walmart, Kmart, Lowes, etc. They're not that expensive and work better than boiling water (and won't kill your grass).

But I have heard that boiled ants dipped in chocolate make for a tasty treat . .

Nangleator · Jul 5, 2006

Well, the spikes would have to be, like, really, really tiny in order for the ants to get hurt stepping on them. And super sharp. And you'd need a bunch...

Oh. Never mind.

threedogpeople · Jul 5, 2006

The best, non-toxic, solution that I've found is to mix a bit of sugar with Boric Acid powder (available at the hardware store or pharmacy). Sprinkle it around the nest or next to the ant trail. The ants will go after the sugar and in the process get boric acid powder on their legs. The boric acid powder "dries out" the ants. It will take about a week for all of them to be dehydrated but it will take care of the problem.

It will also work for roaches (a common concern for anyone that lives in the south).

This is so mild that you can use the mix in food storage areas and it won't kill anyone (or the grass for that matter).

Oh and the bonus is that the boric acid powder is much cheaper than chemical poisons.

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 5, 2006

Stakes? These aren't vampires.

Staking ants. Whoever heard of such a thing!

But then, maybe that explains why sunlight through a magnifying glass burns them up.

writerterri · Jul 5, 2006

Hey, next time pee in the hole. That would be funnier. And then your wife and the neighbors can certify you a crazy idiot.

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 5, 2006

That has never worked.

writerterri · Jul 5, 2006

Bummer

L M Ashton · Jul 5, 2006

I use boric acid with sugar and it works. The ants take it back to the colony, so it kills the entire colony, not just the few who pick up the sugar.

It works on all but one of the varieties of ants we have here, of which we have easily more than a half dozen. It only doesn't work on our large brown ants. Those ones I ill using other ant bait.

AnnMB · Jul 5, 2006

Shadow_Ferret said:
Stakes? These aren't vampires.

Staking ants. Whoever heard of such a thing!

Good Lord! Vampire Ants! I think I just found the inspiration for my next novel!

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 6, 2006

Gah! They're in the house! Time to try the cinnimon trick.

It won't encourage other bugs, will it? Seems odd to spread something that is a food to make something that eats food go away.

Elincoln · Jul 6, 2006

We always used a tobacco solution for our ant/bug problem. Crush up an old cigar and steep it in water. Then put it in a squirt bottle and go to town on the hill and/or bugs. Works great on Aphids.

arrowqueen · Jul 6, 2006

Works with people as well. Of course you have to make them ingest the nicotine solution. Spraying them with it just makes them get cross and thump you.

ChaosTitan · Jul 6, 2006

AnnMB said:
Good Lord! Vampire Ants! I think I just found the inspiration for my next novel!

Vampire Ants. :ROFL:

If that hasn't been a made-for Sci Fi Channel movie yet, it's probably going to be soon. Followed up by Vampire Fleas, Vampire Termites, and Vampire Wooly Bears.

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