Ewwwwww

[queenoftheskies]

Ants.

I woke up to them coming through my bedroom window...on the second floor, no less!!!

I guess they're trying to get out of the heat, but I don't really want them to share the apartment with us.

I've discovered that cleaner actually works better at getting rid of them than ant spray does. So, I've sprayed it around the window. But, I have some on my desk now and they make me want to scream.

Ewwwwwww.

Comments

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

Oh ick. Can you get some of those traps? Those worked pretty well for us our first year in the house, and we haven't had an ant problem since. Now we mostly get spiders and some long bugs that don't squish easily. :-|

[msisolak.livejournal.com]

These are California ants--so apparently they have underground nests all the way to Texas and beyond. With space for all the ant fifth cousins ten times removed and any friends they happen to encounter along the way. Ick is right.

[msisolak.livejournal.com]

At least yours aren't typing. Yet.

I resorted to poisoning mine off yesterday. The few stragglers keep getting the Giant Forefinger of Death.

(And somehow they're worse on the desk. Why is that?)

[kimberlychapman.livejournal.com]

Cleaner interrupts their trails so yeah, it can stop them from coming, especially if you also remove whatever attracted them in the first place.

We've learned from our bug service that water can attract bugs just as much as food, especially here in the desert.

The service we use, incidentally, is entirely eco-friendly and non-toxic to pets, humans, etc. It's chrysanthemum-based so it breaks down slowly in sunlight (over about 30 days, so they come monthly) and therefore does not end up being washed into groundwater and becoming a pollutant.

The consumer bug sprays often contain very nasty neurotoxins that will harm you and your kids and pets as much as the bugs. Instead, you can get a household version of the safe stuff. One we've used (until Wild Oats stopped selling it) is Bugs R Done (http://www.bugsrdone.com/), which is even food safe.

But if it's a serious infestation, you'll need a service to kill 'em off. The one we use is only in Nevada and Arizona from what I know (they're called Bulwark Exterminating), but if you check your yellow pages and look for eco-friendly info in the ads, I'm sure you could find a good one. Just be sure to quiz them on what makes them eco-friendly, because some of 'em lie.