Since the rain kicked in, we have been infested with ants! I thought I would chronicle what I am doing to battle them since we seem to cycle through fleas every 3-5 years and I tend to forget what really works. (Bengal house spray and K-9 Advantix on the dogs currently)
So, first things first, I cleaned out every cabinet and wiping down the wood with vinegar to destroy scent trails and remove all traces of spills and food residue. We put everything open, like cereal, in lock and lock containers. I tossed anything sticky, like left-over cough syrup from last winter. I also tossed or moved the few things I still had sitting around to 'decorate' the kitchen because wiping around things is a PITA.
I caulked everywhere I saw ants coming in. I had already caulked around the windows last fall, but now the countertops and door frames and even where the trim meets the ceiling are all sealed up. As of this morning, they are coming in 2 places, somewhere beside the fridge and the kitchen window over the sink, from a hole about the size of...an ant.
I went all around the house and put granules on every anthill inside the fence and threw handfuls in the vent openings under the house as well. It rained, so I am not sure how well that will have worked, the stuff under the house will be okay and I did not see any ant lines, I think they are already in the wall.
I went to the local hardware store, where I spent 45 minutes chatting with Jerry who lives about 1/4 mile from me and who saw a coyote or dog kill the yorkie that lived next door to him about a month ago. I came home and cried a while. But I also came home with boric acid and some kind of horrific smelling contact-killing spray from Borine that lasts for 3 months. I mixed the boric acid with honey and put it around the kitchen counters and in the cabinets on cupcake liners and pulled the fridge out and sprayed the hell out of the wall and floor with the spray and pushed it back in place.
I just pulled it out on Monday after watching Billy the Exterminator discover roach nests in refrigerators. So it was clean under there, I had already washed the wall and floor and the back of the fridge with Mean Green spray cleaner. No roaches, btw. Or raccoons, which is another thing he found in the back of a fridge. I was a little bummed about the lack of coons, but I am over that now.
Keep your fingers crossed, though I may have too much boric acid in with the honey because they are not going for it like I thought they would. I may mix it with popsicle drips because they go for those like crazy.
Okay, that's it, my one-two-three attack of cleaning, sealing and baiting.
