Lions, Tigers, and ANTS, Oh My!

So we've been having an ant problem this summer. Well, every summer we a small problem at this house, but this summer it has been a constant problem. Maybe its all the extra rain making them seek out higher, drier ground. I don't know why, but I don't like them. 

Losing the battle. We've tried fighting back, but its a losing battle. I can kill them if I spray them with bug spray directly, but obviously that only kills the ones you spray and at my house others will arrive really quickly and create a new path around the spray. We've tried caulking their entry points (they usually come in around our kitchen windows), but honestly I don't believe you can seal a house off from ants. They are small and resourceful; they always find another way in. Plus our house is old and imperfect, which lends itself to extra holes being available. I've also tried store bought terro ant hotels. They seem rather ineffective. Maybe some of the ants are dying, but I'm convinced our house is actually built on the the largest ant hill in the world. Thus we don't notice any change. 

Strategies for War My most effective strategy so far is just plain hygienic - I clean a lot. Every crumb of food is washed down the sink or put in the trash can immediately. Every dirty dish is washed before it is washed and put into the dishwasher. I hate double washing with a passion, but it seems to be making a difference so... I mop the kitchen floor daily. This strategy is effective, but also exhausting. I have two dogs and a crawling baby. There are more crumbs than I can keep up with; its amazing how much we eat. Every time ANYTHING is eaten I have to spend and extra 5 minutes re-cleaning the kitchen. 

Last week, after visiting a blog my sister-in-law suggested I decided to buy some borax and try that. So far, I haven't done much with it cause I went to visit my parents for the weekend the day after I bought it. I did sprinkle some at two of their most recent entry points just to see if it made a difference. It doesn't seem like it. Well, after the first night they did seem to decrease a little, but not now (I'll tell you more about that later). Maybe today I will actually make a better trap for them. 

Ants are created by God In my battle against the ants, I decided to do some research. Jason always has something funny to say when I say anything about researching - he finds my tendency to research EVERYTHING amusing. I figured God created ants. God doesn't do things on accident. They have to have some value, right? Some redeeming quality? Well, it took a little digging and overcoming my deep scorn, but they do. Turns out ants do a lot to make our soil good. They are a big reason I have such a healthy garden this year. All their moving around and tunneling and seeking stuff gets all that organic material mixed up - or something like that. In addition, they eat a lot of pests that are harmful to plants. Again helping my garden. They also help prevent some disease by eating up dead stuff. Ants are also a pretty important food source. For lots of birds, ants are their major food source, too. If you are interested, I thought this article was really interesting, actually made me want to know more about ants and follow them myself. I'd kinda like to see this exhibit at the Smithsonian one day. If you don't want to read the article, these videos sum it up pretty well. Watch the first one and then hit menu on the bottom right for a second video - they are short and worth it if you are interested.

I really thought it was interesting that they help plants. I remember seeing a trail of ants on one of the trees in my yard trying to get them away. I didn't understand what they were doing. In this situation, they were probably the good guys according to my reading. So now I appreciate ants. But I still don't want them in my house. So our war will continue. 

The Sugar Canister Has Been Compromised Yes, it's true. The ants have broken the seal on my sugar canister. This is what I was referring to earlier when I talked about the borax. Thousands of ants are treading on my pile of borax seeming very healthy as they carry their single grain of sugar back to the queen. I filled my sugar canister the same day I put the borax out. Let me show you what the ants have done. 

See their trail to my pretty green canisters. Here they are climbing my pretty green canister. Sorry the picture is sideways, it took forever to load and I don't want to do it again.

 

Here is the inside. 

 

Notice the very neat ridge. Remember I just filled this canister three days ago and then went out of town. They have been working hard. 

Today, I will be replacing my pretty green canister of sugar with a plastic container with a snap seal. It makes me sad. But I won't be sad to stop feeding these ants. I think they have plenty stored for winter now. Actually, I guess it isn't for winter since they hibernate all winter. Maybe they have plenty to prepare for hibernation. That just doesn't sound as good.