Ants!

[Jurek]

It's mid March.
Fuck off out of my kitchen.

[Mrs Pingu]

If you look under the rocks and plants
and take a glance at the fancy ants,
Maybe try a few, (you eat ants?!)
The bear necessities of life will come to you.

[De Sisti]

It's mid March.
Fuck off out of my kitchen.

On the recommendation of my sister, I bought these ant granules.

In my case, the ants were under the floorboards in my living room and kitchen. As per the instructions, I dissolved some of the granules* in a watering can, removed the nozzle and
directed the funnel to every space (usually an aperture where pipes from the radiator went
under the floorboards) where I could drown the ants, their queen and colony.

I did it more than once, making sure it was tsunami-like for them. After about a week >10 days
there was no trace of any ants in my house. That was three years ago.

I have also used the same method to cull the ant colony under part of the patio in my garden.


* Don't hold back when you're flushing them out. Let 'em 'av it.

[Cudzoziemiec]

If you look under the rocks and plants
and take a glance at the fancy ants,
Maybe try a few, (you eat ants?!)
The bear necessities of life will come to you.

I can't remember what we did with the ants in the kitchen in India but yes, we did eat them. Inadvertently. They get everywhere. The small red ones are vicious when they sting and acid on the tongue, the large black ones have less of a bite in both senses.

[Little Jim]

Nippon ant powder is very effective (also gets rid of wasps).  Just a small amount, less than a teaspoon full in the area where they are active will destroy the whole nest.  They pick the powder up on them as they walk through it and take it back to the nest where it then kills all of them.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Bearing in mind these ants are in Jurek's kitchen, are they safe to use around food?

[De Sisti]

For ants outside the house, in addition to Nuedorff Ant Granules, I've used malt vinegar* with great success.


* Also fantastic at killing weeds

[andrewc]

An alternative solution to toxic chemicals..... https://squirreluniversity.com/do-squirrels-eat-ants/     or  https://wildaboutants.com/2013/12/31/anting-by-squirrels-and-other-animals/


Hope this helps....

[De Sisti]

An alternative solution to toxic chemicals..... https://squirreluniversity.com/do-squirrels-eat-ants/     or  https://wildaboutants.com/2013/12/31/anting-by-squirrels-and-other-animals/


Hope this helps....

I wouldn't want squirrels in my kitchen.

[Paul]

An alternative solution to toxic chemicals..... https://squirreluniversity.com/do-squirrels-eat-ants/     or  https://wildaboutants.com/2013/12/31/anting-by-squirrels-and-other-animals/


Hope this helps....

I wouldn't want squirrels in my kitchen.

A stoat would sort out the squirrels 

(Curiously, in typing this reply with the embedded quotes, the  face in De Sisti's reply is identified as ": jurek :".  )

[De Sisti]

I've witnessed a stand-off in my back garden between a squirrel and one of next door's cats.
I would have thought the cat would have attacked the squirrel, but once the squirrel turned
its back to the cat and started to raise and waggle its tail, the cat became scared or confused
and decided to stay motionless, as the squirrel slowly made its escape.

(If only I could have got the video on my phone working quickly enough to film the encounter.
I knew they would confront each other at some stage).

[Jurek]

Nippon has been deployed.

[T42]

We had ants every spring until we put wood ash from the fires along the footings of the kitchen-side wall.  We haven't had any for the last 5+ years now.  The ash has formed a crust under the action of rain: you can break through it with a foot but it doesn't blow around.

Our main insect problem is fruit flies.  They're even in the drip trays of my coffee machines.  The caffeine kills them but it's still unpleasant.

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I learned when watching a gardening programme on Friday night, that ants have a role in spreading cyclamen.  Ants regularly nest in under the block paving near our pond and cyclamen is now spreading its autumn joy around the far side of the pond.  It's quite possibly coincidence.

[Wowbagger]

We have a three-cornered leek problem in our garden. I have read that the seeds are spread by ants.

[De Sisti]

I learned when watching a gardening programme on Friday night, that ants ....... regularly nest in under ....block paving ....

Taken in June last year. Under one of my paving slabs. If you zoom in, you can see the rice-like
cocoons housing an endless supply of queen ants.

The red bits are Nuedorff Ant Granules that hadn't dissolved in the watering can (that I used to
flood the ants).

[rogerzilla]

Why is it called Nippon?  Is Japan an ant-free country?

[teamerchant]

It turns out we have ants all over our patio and lawn. Anyone got ideas for getting rid of them in ways that our guinea pigs (the original autonomous lawnmowers) won't object to?

We have squirrels but they are seemingly neglecting the ants.

[De Sisti]

It turns out we have ants all over our patio and lawn. Anyone got ideas for getting rid of them in ways that our guinea pigs (the original autonomous lawnmowers) won't object to?

We have squirrels but they are seemingly neglecting the ants.

Look upthread↑ for some (previously-mentioned) ideas.