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Message |
    
HS
Citizen
Username: Pseudoah2
Post Number: 43
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 10:42 am: |     |
We came home to find our drylock (like a mudroom, but with functionality of storing dry goods as well) teaming with ants. Their trail started from our back door to our recyclable containers (I know that is the source of the problem) and they ended up in our kitchen. We do not know of another place to store our regularly used recycle bins, but want to stop the invasion of the ants. Are there any ways that we stop this without poisoning our dogs with ant sprays and such?? |
bella
Citizen
Username: Bella
Post Number: 333
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 10:55 am: | |
We have always stored our recyclables in the garage. We just take the jars, bottles, cans, etc. out once or twice a day. |
tourne
Citizen
Username: Tourne
Post Number: 183
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 12:39 pm: | |
If not done already, make sure to wash out the containers first, clean out the recycling container and/or get one with a more airtight lid. |
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 15
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 1:29 pm: | |
Buy Diazenon. Sprinkle it all around your house in an unbroken line. It forms a barrier and the ants don't (or can't) cross it. It works. |
HS
Citizen
Username: Pseudoah2
Post Number: 44
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 1:53 pm: | |
Thank you all for the suggestions. It seemed a pain to walk to the garage (detached - back of house), but will see if this works for us.
We do wash out all things before placing in recycling bins. However, we do not have any lids for ours. Do you know of any place where we could buy medium-larger bins with airtight lids??
Is the Diazenon safe for pet? They frequent the area and the rest of the house for that matter. If so, where can we find it?
One step closer to stopping the invasion !!!
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Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 43
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 2:14 pm: | |
I've used boric acid alot. It dehydrates the ants and kills them. Dog's, cats, kids, are relitivly safe because ants are much smaller. (hopfully). Just sprinkel a little across the line they travel. For safe measure keep the dogs water bowl full. If you notice him drinking a lot of water, stop spreading the acid.
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Jackie Day
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 69
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 2:56 pm: | |
They sell recycling containers at Home Depot (well, first consider the current anti-HD rants on other threads), usually near the garbage cans. They are angled plastic containers with lids that flip up for easy access but which otherwise snap on. As an alternative to HD, you can get REALLY nice ones from The Container Store, but I think the closest one is in Paramus (we got ours in Maryland during a visit to relatives). The Container Store's recycling containers are black heavy-duty containers with lids which stack up for space-saving reasons. Not cheap, but really good. That should help your ant issues. I know the Paramus commercial strips on Rts 17 and 4 are like the circles of hell, but The Container Store is an amazing place if you've never been before. As its name suggests, they have containers and organizers for just about everything in a house or garage. |
Iaowks Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 374
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 5:25 pm: | |
I don't know about ant poison. I found that starving the ants was my solution.
Tom Reingold
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tourne
Citizen
Username: Tourne
Post Number: 184
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 11:35 pm: | |
FYI- Diazinon along with Dursban pesticides are being banned by the EPA due to their toxicity and a record of human poisonings. Dursban has been pulled off the market first and Diazinon is being pulled off the market this year. Read www.pesticide.org/diazinonNEWS.pdf. |
HS
Citizen
Username: Pseudoah2
Post Number: 47
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 14, 2003 - 9:40 am: | |
Thank you for all the suggestions. We jsut put them in the garage and are cleaning out the drylock - hopefully the ants will go elsewhere because of no food.... But, I think now we will try either the Container Store (which we have been too and they are AMAZING) or Home Depot for the recycle bins with lids.
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Rita Woodard
Citizen
Username: Rpwoodard
Post Number: 6
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 2:19 pm: | |
I've used baking soda to fight ants. From a website: "Whenever I see ants in my house, after cleaning the floor, I just sprinkle a thin line of baking soda along the ant trail, and along the molding on the floor, very close to the wall, and ants disappear for good. Also works when sprinkled on the front door threshold or saddle, preventing ants entering the house that way."
CT Dept of Environmental Protection: Use chili powder or the herb "tansy" at points of entry outside the house.
Rpwoodard: I sprinkle baking soda on the kitchen counter where the counter meets the wall. I definitely see fewer ants. Good luck
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Hank Zona
Citizen
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 707
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 2:26 pm: | |
tansey can be dangerous to children and pregnant women (I suppose pesticides are too though). When I had ants last year, I found two solutions. First, I washed down the affected areas with white vinegar and water (maybe lemon too..cant recall). That eliminates the trails that the ants follow to the source. Then I sprinkled a mixture of cinnamon and cayenne in areas where they were coming from...like behind my stove. Didnt smell bad and it did the trick almost immediately. If it hadnt worked, then Id have called in the big guns. I also had some ants this past spring, but only a few a day so I didnt get too worked up about it.
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