The oppressive heat here in the south has taken quite a toll on life in general. The death toll is higher among the elderly and the young and those with breathing difficulties are finding that the outside world has nothing to offer them but heat and humidity, making their already congested lungs fight that much harder to breathe. The drought seems to be never ending, although we have had a quick shower or an occasional "bucket dropper." It's not been enough rain to replenish water supplies or keep the grass from drying out and crunching underneath our feet. We are now under level four water restrictions and can only use water for drinking, cooking, and bathing.
Because of the lack of water, there is now becoming a myriad of food for those little pests we call ants. They are scavenging the entire state and coming inside houses to get a break from the heat as well as find the necessary water they need. Other insects are finding their way inside the house as well, but the ants are taking over. There is no end to them no matter how much we spray and bait for them. Nothing is keeping them out. I half way expect to come home from work one day and find that the house is either gone or that it is "seemingly" moving on its own as the ants carry it off somewhere.
As soon as we think we have cleared them from one place, the ants show up somewhere else. There is a litteral graveyard of ants in the floor every day and still they keep coming. The ground is teeming with them. There is no place to stand without them crawling on your feet, up your legs, etc. They are on the roof, in the attic, under the house, in the kitchen, bathroom, have been crawling along the baseboards, along the window sills, coming out of the cabinets and there is no food left open or in boxes without being zipped up in plastic bags. We've put out poison discs, have pest control treat the house and yard once a month, spray diazanon (sp) and other insecticides in the yard, around the house, under the house, in the house, on the tree trunks, on and around the outside garbage can, everywhere. The ants disappear for 24 to 48 hours and then are back, and seem to be worse.
Apparently there is now a shortage of bug sprays in my area and we are lucky to find one can of Raid or other brand of ant spray on the shelf at any store. Boric acid has even disappeared from store shelves as fast as it is stocked. Does anyone know of anything that works to get rid of them? Or are we doomed?
Helpful suggestions are welcomed.
The little pests in question are Argentinian Ants. (some call them sugar ants and well... I won't mention what my Dad calls them)They live in colonies and have more than one queen per colony. They are also socialable with other colonies so they won't kill each other off. Most of the time these ants don't bite, but I have been bitten more times than I want to count. I was also rudely awakened two nights ago with a couple dozen of them feasting on my arm. I'm still trying to figure out how they got in the bed with me since the only ones I saw were the ones biting me. Yipes was not a word in my vocabulary that night, but a few other colorful, more unladylike words were.
Because of the lack of water, there is now becoming a myriad of food for those little pests we call ants. They are scavenging the entire state and coming inside houses to get a break from the heat as well as find the necessary water they need. Other insects are finding their way inside the house as well, but the ants are taking over. There is no end to them no matter how much we spray and bait for them. Nothing is keeping them out. I half way expect to come home from work one day and find that the house is either gone or that it is "seemingly" moving on its own as the ants carry it off somewhere.
As soon as we think we have cleared them from one place, the ants show up somewhere else. There is a litteral graveyard of ants in the floor every day and still they keep coming. The ground is teeming with them. There is no place to stand without them crawling on your feet, up your legs, etc. They are on the roof, in the attic, under the house, in the kitchen, bathroom, have been crawling along the baseboards, along the window sills, coming out of the cabinets and there is no food left open or in boxes without being zipped up in plastic bags. We've put out poison discs, have pest control treat the house and yard once a month, spray diazanon (sp) and other insecticides in the yard, around the house, under the house, in the house, on the tree trunks, on and around the outside garbage can, everywhere. The ants disappear for 24 to 48 hours and then are back, and seem to be worse.
Apparently there is now a shortage of bug sprays in my area and we are lucky to find one can of Raid or other brand of ant spray on the shelf at any store. Boric acid has even disappeared from store shelves as fast as it is stocked. Does anyone know of anything that works to get rid of them? Or are we doomed?
Helpful suggestions are welcomed.The little pests in question are Argentinian Ants. (some call them sugar ants and well... I won't mention what my Dad calls them)They live in colonies and have more than one queen per colony. They are also socialable with other colonies so they won't kill each other off. Most of the time these ants don't bite, but I have been bitten more times than I want to count. I was also rudely awakened two nights ago with a couple dozen of them feasting on my arm. I'm still trying to figure out how they got in the bed with me since the only ones I saw were the ones biting me. Yipes was not a word in my vocabulary that night, but a few other colorful, more unladylike words were.
