Because there is not nearly enough stress in my life lately, about a month ago Doug and I noticed ants in our dinning room. So we called an exterminator. And then a week later we noticed ants in our kitchen, so we called the exterminator back. At which point the exterminator told us we have the hardest species of ants to get rid of (odorous house ants in case you were wondering) and it may take multiple visits and multiple treatments and did we want to sign a service contract? You bet your ass we did. I can deal with a lot of things but bugs are not one of them. My kitchen has been thoroughly disinfected and everything has been thrown out or cleaned, because GROSS.
So the exterminator has been to my house about 4 times, and the last time he was like, "I think this is it ma'am. I found three colonies and have flushed them out and you should be good." (I HATE when people call me ma'am. I feel about 80.) And I wanted to throw a parade. Because NO MORE ANTS. Last time I learned all about odorous ant nests and eggs and all sorts of things I NEVER, EVER WANTED TO KNOW.
Hey guess what? I now have ants in my bathroom and I DON'T EVEN WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT ANYMORE.
Guess who is waiting for the exterminator AGAIN? He is like my new best friend.
Anybody want to come over for a cup of coffee? Dinner? Anything else ants could have gotten into?
In other news the insurance company has not decided what they are doing about Doug's car and I was really frustrated last week and now I'm all "whatever we aren't paying for the rental car and if they total it this is one more day I don't have a car payment." Michael wants him to get a Prius. I just see dollar signs.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
We’ve had the same ant problem. For years we had a service contract and called them regularly to fix the problem. The ants never seemed to really go away. Always bad in spring and fall. finally ditched the contract adn save $400/year and got some Taro (sp?) at home depot. worked better than anything the stupid exterminator put down!
Second enthusiastic vote for Terro traps/products. We get the ones you put around the perimeter of your house, and usually see just two or three ants in our house all year. I think they have actual traps for current infestations.
I also used cinnamon in a few window frames-supposedly they are unable to cross it because they’ll choke. I had somewhat decent results, though it could have just been coincidence.
Sorry to hear about the mutant ants that somehow don’t go away… Yeah, I could stand ants when they’re like, um, one or two. But when they’re in colonies…. yeah, gross.
Hope you get a bargain from the exterminator though…
We get ants every summer. My husband has done the research and launches a full throttle assault with Taro. We use the indoor stuff, the outdoor stuff, all of it. Good luck to you!
I think that you should make some very extravagant New Year’s Eve plans and kick 2011 out very enthusiastically on its ass.
I am guessing our yearly trail of ants in the spring is a different kind. We get those jell traps, lay them out near the trail head, they walk in, take the poison outside and then it stops. It kind of is fun to watch when you first get the traps and the trail of ants increases for a bit and then decreases. I also spend a lot of time wiping the counter with windex a bit further out than the traps, I have heard that it ruins the scent trail and others don’t follow the ones that cross the windex barrier, I think it works in combination with the traps but that also just might be wishful thinking.
Good luck, it sounds horrible.
For the past two years in the spring I have had ants inside my dishwasher (along with everyplace else). I am not even kidding!! I hope next year I remember to put the outside traps around the house before they show up. I think I will go put that on my calendar!
I love the Windex tip. I’ll have to try that. Good luck!
Terro is good, but beware, it gets worse before it gets better, worse for like a day or 36 hours, by at 48 hours it’s BETTER. Be patient. There is also a natural spray, made with rosemary oil – smells strong but all natural herbal that totally works! I have them too, they live in the floor and I hate them. One tiny little microscopic kid-crumb and I have ants coming from Rockville. HATE ANTS.
Grrrr….
We had major ant problems until my husband (still getting used to calling him that!) sealed up all of the cracks in our foundation. Now, they don’t have a way of getting in.
Laura Plotkin
I really enjoy the blog.Thanks Again. Much obliged.