Ants! Bloody ants everywhere!

sgosden

My house seems to be gradually filling up with them. Last year I took out a nest by application of kettle. This year they're coming through the skirting boards!

I've been recommended some traps but they're all poison based, which I'm not happy putting down with a 12 week old dog roaming (who has appointed himself chief ant hunter/eater). 

help!!!!

Sambostar

Best bet is to take them down the vets, they dispatch them for £15 a head.

Fretwired

Get one of these .. your dog will have a playmate ..

57Deluxe

Fell asleep on sofa one night only to wake up bleary-eyed to see a black line across the carpet... closer inspection it was ANTS!  - they had trekked up from somewhere underneath the house into the cupboard by the TV and across the lounge to my half dunk tin of supermarket Lager!

cj73

Just wait till the cyberants arrive 

digitalscream

Just seeing the title, I could've sworn this would be an Emp thread.

scrumhalf

Be careful.

If you've watched Tom and Jerry you know they can wreak havoc by ganging up into the shape of almost anything.

Skipped

The roaming dog makes it awkward.
If you can figure out that problem....here is what I would do.

The ants are probably in the cavity wall. They will be emerging from a hole in the skirting board and you need to patiently watch to see exactly where this hole is. (It is much easier to spot later in the year when flying ants slowly squeeze themselves out of the same hole.....but it is better to act now).

This hole will lead directly to the nest!

Search online for an Ant killer in an aerosol form that comes with a plastic straw . Shake the can and push the plastic straw into the hole. The foam will find the nest.
In my experience this is much more effective than waiting for the ants to eat poison.

In my case the ants (and then the flying ants) were emerging into the kitchen from a door hinge on the kitchen door. Of course they were actually emerging from a small hole next to the door hinge. I cannot believe it took me several years for the penny to drop that this hole would - by definition - lead to the nest, which was in the cavity wall.

sgosden

Fretwired said:

Get one of these .. your dog will have a playmate ..

dog doesn't like cats...especially strange long looking ones like that!

sgosden

Skipped said:

The roaming dog makes it awkward.
If you can figure out that problem....here is what I would do.

The ants are probably in the cavity wall. They will be emerging from a hole in the skirting board and you need to patiently watch to see exactly where this hole is. (It is much easier to spot later in the year when flying ants slowly squeeze themselves out of the same hole.....but it is better to act now).

This hole will lead directly to the nest!

Search online for an Ant killer in an aerosol form that comes with a plastic straw . Shake the can and push the plastic straw into the hole. The foam will find the nest.
In my experience this is much more effective than waiting for the ants to eat poison.

In my case the ants (and then the flying ants) were emerging into the kitchen from a door hinge on the kitchen door. Of course they were actually emerging from a small hole next to the door hinge. I cannot believe it took me several years for the penny to drop that this hole would - by definition - lead to the nest, which was in the cavity wall.

they've got multiple entrance points that I've found (chief ant hunter has found really). I'll gas 'em all.

ChrisMusic

Why is it that we 'have to' kill everything ?
Spiders, wasps, hornets and now the poor ants are becoming subject to our genocidal tendencies !  
Surely we have the humanity to look for other solutions where possible ?

As the weather warms they are looking for food to replenish the nest.  There is little available outside at the moment, which is where they will spend most of their year foraging if left to their own devices.

We had them in this time last year, so thanks for making me aware of the impending "invasion".  They will probably be sending out scouting missions in the next few days here too.

Last year we first discovered them in a bag of sweet stuff on the main work top.  Traced the trail back to a hole in the skirting by an outside wall.  They leave chemical trails which they follow and reinforce when they have found some goodies on the end, or the trails peter out if they are of no use to the colony.  Very clever things, ants !

I was a bit slow off the mark in taking a parallel strategy to that which I use for wasps etc, so they were becoming a nuisance scouting for food on the work surface, which we kept clear of anything, and started looking further afield.  The last straw was when they found the bin.  Got all/most of them out of that, and moved the bin out of the room.  Tried to disguise the trail with something citrus.

Then we put some very nice sticky toffee icing, which was still on the cake wrapper, down right in front of the hole in the skirting.  *Warning this may not work with dogs, cats, or kids in the house* !   Now they had a high energy food source right where they came in.  So guess what ?  Wrapper constantly covered in ants.  Apart from the occasional scouting party following the old trails up to the worktop (and back again), they pretty much immediately stopped coming in any further, well why would they?

The other trails 'went cold', the weather warmed, and we haven't seen another ant inside since.

No doubt they will be back for some toffee icing again this year.  Happy to oblige and help the colony out.

The ants (wasps et al) have been around since way before us humans, and no doubt will be around way after we have gone.  Watch them closely, and you will see they are remarkable.  I have immense respect for them.  And surely all life is too precious to expunge unnecessarily ?

BigLicks67

Here's what I did - Put down ant powder near the crack/hole in the skirting board, then use a putty type filler to to seal the gap, the ants will try to chew through the filler, but the ant powder will be in the filler mix and put them off. I did this last year and it worked a treat. Make sure you hoover up any powder residue and your dog will be fine.

 

jellyroll

He bloody is. And Dec too.

Emp_Fab

@ChrisMusic Well said old bean, well said.

Fretwired

sgosden said:

Fretwired said:

Get one of these .. your dog will have a playmate ..

dog doesn't like cats...especially strange long looking ones like that!

It's an ant eater not a bloody cat. Cats are a waste of oxygen, time and space unless they are something decent like a lion or a tiger. Domestic cats should be exterminated.

Fretwired

sgosden said:

Fretwired said:

Get one of these .. your dog will have a playmate ..

dog doesn't like cats...especially strange long looking ones like that!

It's an ant eater not a bloody cat. Cats are a waste of oxygen, time and space unless they are something decent like a lion or a tiger. Domestic cats should be exterminated.

littlegreenman

Fretwired said:

sgosden said:

Fretwired said:

Get one of these .. your dog will have a playmate ..

dog doesn't like cats...especially strange long looking ones like that!

It's an ant eater not a bloody cat. Cats are a waste of oxygen, time and space unless they are something decent like a lion or a tiger. Domestic cats should be exterminated.

Option 1: You forgot the winky emoji to show you were only joking

Option 2: You're a twat.

Fretwired

littlegreenman said:

Fretwired said:

sgosden said:

Fretwired said:

Get one of these .. your dog will have a playmate ..

dog doesn't like cats...especially strange long looking ones like that!

It's an ant eater not a bloody cat. Cats are a waste of oxygen, time and space unless they are something decent like a lion or a tiger. Domestic cats should be exterminated.

Option 1: You forgot the winky emoji to show you were only joking

Option 2: You're a twat.

Or Option 3:  A tongue in cheek comment aimed at @ChrisMusic ; .. for the record I've owned two cats as pets.

littlegreenman

Fretwired said:

littlegreenman said:

Fretwired said:

sgosden said:

Fretwired said:

Get one of these .. your dog will have a playmate ..

dog doesn't like cats...especially strange long looking ones like that!

It's an ant eater not a bloody cat. Cats are a waste of oxygen, time and space unless they are something decent like a lion or a tiger. Domestic cats should be exterminated.

Option 1: You forgot the winky emoji to show you were only joking

Option 2: You're a twat.

Or Option 3:  A tongue in cheek comment aimed at @ChrisMusic ; .. for the record I've owned two cats as pets.

I did get that, just saying that the winky would have removed the possible doubt.

Oh, and one doesn't own cats. As the saying goes, dogs have owners, cats have staff

ChrisMusic

Fretwired said:

Or Option 3:  A tongue in cheek comment aimed at @ChrisMusic ; .. for the record I've owned two cats as pets.

O:-)



Although you may have underestimated the power structure with regard to cats  

Bridgehouse

littlegreenman said:

Fretwired said:

Or Option 3:  A tongue in cheek comment aimed at @ChrisMusic ; .. for the record I've owned two cats as pets.

I did get that, just saying that the winky would have removed the possible doubt.

Oh, and one doesn't own cats. As the saying goes, dogs have owners, cats have staff

I've thought for a while that a 'tongue in cheek' emoji would be useful.

I think Fretwired would have lost some of his meaning with a winky..