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Topic: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger (Read 356 times) |
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midwestbeth
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What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 2:57pm » |
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I have been invaded by ants! I live in the country & I know they were here first. I have no problem with the little buggers as long as they stay outside, but they seem to like it inside my house.
I have tried all the stuff you can buy thats sopossed to kill them. I'm afraid of what future cancer I may be subjecting my family and myself to. OTC stuff works for 24 - 48 hours and then, they're back.
Anyone out there have any sugestions for natural remedies to get rid of these tiny pests? I do keep a clean house and no food is left out, etc. I also have teenagers and the kitchen is hard to keep crumb free, but not only are these pests (ants, not teenagers) in the kitchen, but almost every other room too.
Please help! I'm at my wits end & I'm having bad dreams about bugs.
Beth
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Guiseppi
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #1 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 3:06pm » |
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I finally got rid of mine by crawling around the house on my hands and knees and finding where their damned trails enter the house, then spot treating there. I had to cut away any plants, bushes etc. which touched my walls, that's where the little buggers get in! Good luck, they're incredibly persistent!!!
Guiseppi
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Cathi04
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #2 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 3:06pm » |
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Beth, A friend of mine swears by cornstarch! She sprinkles it, like powser, in her carpets, on her floors, in her upholstery on her countertops..especially at night, when the kitchen counters are not going to be disturbed.
She once hear that the cornstarch somehow doesnt sit well in the digestive tract....... baby powder is positively deadly to them, BTW.......
The other choice, as a realtor, I have suggested my clients have an ecologically-safe exterminator out. In Oregon, we have Alpha Ecological, they do a marvelous job of treating for ants, and it is a spray that runs the perimeter of the house.
I hope you find a solution!
cathi
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artonio7
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #3 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 3:08pm » |
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Call an exterminator.... you never know what sort of damage these little creatures might be doing to your home.
just my 2 cents.
with warm regards,
Tony
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midwestbeth
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #4 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 3:38pm » |
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Thanks for the sugestions! I'll try the cornstarch tonite. I know where they're getting in, just want to replace the welcome mat with a go away mat.
If that doesn't work, I'll call the exterminator.
Beth
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Kirk
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #5 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 4:23pm » |
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I found that Baby Powder worked well. Unless you're talking about Carpenter Ants. In that case call an exterminator. Fast.
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vietvet2tours
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #6 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 4:32pm » |
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Ants 1 humans 0
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George_J
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #7 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 5:57pm » |
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Ants follow pheromone trails laid down by previous ants. The trail grows stronger with each ant that follows the trail, more ants follow it to the food source, and the number of ants increases. Interrupting the pheromone trail will interrupt the flow of ants until a new one randomly discovers a new route.
If you can find the place where they're getting in, you can pour a bit of chlorine bleach across the trail--this destroys the scent that they follow.
Next step is to track down the nest and nuke it.
Good hunting.
Best,
George
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Yorky
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #8 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 7:04pm » |
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we have some glue solution called "nippon"
very affective, they lap it up, its like sugar and water.
they eat it , go back to the nest......then die.
ants eat there dead........so they get poisoned also.
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BarbaraD
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #9 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 7:37pm » |
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Go to the Dollar Store and invest in Baby Powder. Powder all the ant hills and inside too. Carpets, floors, cabinets (it washes off). Ant hills will disappear (fire ants too). A friend of mine told me to do this and I thought she was crazy so she went out and got some baby powder and powder my ant problem - they disappeared! That was years ago and I've bought nothing else for them since.
Everytime we see an ant hill, we grab the baby powder - won't hurt animals and smells good.
Hugs BD
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purpleydog
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #10 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 7:46pm » |
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If you see ants following a trail in your house, take some soap and water, and wash that area. When you clean it off, the ants can't smell where the other's have been, and they won't go that way. But if you can get them at their source, that's the best thing. I've never used baby powder, but it sounds safe enough to humans and the environment.
I had ants in an apt I was renting, caught the bug guy who was visiting next door, he told me to wash off their trail. I did that all the way back to where they came in, and it stopped them. I never had another one in the house.
It doesn't sound like carpenter ants, but if it is (take a few ants in a jar to an exterminator to identify), then get the exterminator there right away. They can do as much damage as termites.
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Charlie
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #11 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 8:00pm » |
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I use a lot of ant goop. I spray a gooey mess of it around and the ant traps work too if you have them all over. We get our share.
Usually you'll find that something is driving them in.
Good luck kid.
Charlie and his magnifying glass
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midwestbeth
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #12 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 8:27pm » |
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Thanks for all the replies and sugestions.
I had a little bit of baby powder and sprinkled it all over my counters. Poured cornstarch outside where I believe the colonies are.
I have dogs and it's always a concern not to poison/kill them while trying to poison/kill whatever pest I'm doing battle with.
I'll go to the Dollar Store tomorrow and buy a bulk load of baby powder. It also smells so good. Brings back memories of bare bottomed babies  .
Oh and the ants are the regular tiny ones, not carpenter. Thank God!
Thanks again,
Beth
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alienspacebabe
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #13 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 8:34pm » |
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Linda_Howell
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #14 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 8:34pm » |
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This place and these people are a wealth of information aren't they?
From ant-killing to warts. Someone always has an answer to the questions put out here.
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AussieBrian
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #15 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 9:00pm » |
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I'm with Chewy on this one in that ants are God's creatures, too, and have just as much right to life as you do. They have feelings and suffer pain just like us, tend to their young as well as any animal on earth, and are an extremely important part of the world environment.
Burn your house down.
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Jonny
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #16 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 9:11pm » |
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on Apr 2nd, 2007, 9:00pm, AussieBrian wrote:
LMAO!!!!! 
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #17 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 11:22pm » |
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on Apr 2nd, 2007, 9:00pm, AussieBrian wrote:I'm with Chewy on this one in that ants are God's creatures, too, and have just as much right to life as you do. They have feelings and suffer pain just like us, tend to their young as well as any animal on earth, and are an extremely important part of the world environment.
Burn your house down. |
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #18 on: Apr 2nd, 2007, 11:52pm » |
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Cherry bombs in the ant hill worked for kids of my vintage. 
Charlie
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ClusterChuck
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #19 on: Apr 3rd, 2007, 12:10am » |
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on Apr 2nd, 2007, 4:23pm, Kirk wrote:| I found that Baby Powder worked well. |
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Hmmmm ... I guess THAT is why I don't have crawling critters in my crotch, and armpits ... I use it every day on my bod ...
Ant Free Chuck
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #20 on: Apr 3rd, 2007, 7:53am » |
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Funny story about baby powder. When Caleb was still in diapers I had him out in the yard with me getting rid of ants with baby powder. (when we moved to Shrevport we were invaded by ants).
As luck would have it he got diaper rash and I was changing his diaper, so I was powdering his little butt and screamed at me, "But Granny, I don't have ants!"
So Chuck - it works -- he never got ants.....
Hugs BD
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What don't kill ya, Makes ya stonger!
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Tara Ann
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #21 on: Apr 3rd, 2007, 8:33am » |
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Have your yard and the base of the outside of your house sprayed... for inside you Home Defense Max, you can buy it at walmart and spray the base boards all around the house. For the counters spray with mean grean cleaner every night and leave the counters wet with it all night. My house in WV was horribly infested with ants and spiders, I watched them pour in through a ceiling light fixture once, and that is what I did and it worked.
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midwestbeth
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Re: What doesn't kill them makes them stronger
« Reply #22 on: Apr 3rd, 2007, 8:49am » |
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Burn my house down? ROFLMAO!!!
I almost did that once. Put hummingbird food (sugar & water) on the stove to boil. Saw the time and rushed out the door because I was late picking up my daughter. Picked up daughter, then stopped at the store to get a few things for dinner. Debated going to walmart, but decided not to. When I got home all the smoke detectors were going off and the pot on the stove was red hot. Black volcanic looking ash had risen over the top of the pot. I grabbed the pot, put it outside and opened all the windows. My house smelled like burnt marshmallows for two weeks! If I had went to walmart, my house would have burned down!
Thanks for the sugestion, but I think I will use that only as a last resort.
Beth
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Do more than exist - live
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