Houston, we have a problem

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Crazy Ants are here;

http://ourtribune.com/article.php?id=7273

[jayne]

I have found a very simple solution to the fire ants in my yard.....one day while putting chemicals in my pool I was bit by fire ants when the silly little things started biting I dropped the chemicals on the ant pile and started slapping the things off my feet......The next day I went to the co op to get poison to kill them and went back to the pool area they were gone...... so what was the chemicals I dropped? field grade baking soda....I buy it at the co op and sprinkel it on every ant hill I find...does it kill em or just make em leave I dont know.....But in a county where we are quarantined because of ants(cant sell hay out of county) I very seldom have ants and when I do I get the baking soda to em and the next day they are gone......some very large hills take a second dose but this year I have only found one small hill and one dose got em.....field grade baking soda in our local co op cost less than 10 dollars for a 25 lb bag....and much safer than poisen.......and my plants like it

[RNvic]

Thanks for that information Jayne as we have a bunch of ant hills this year and I will be sending John to get some Baking soda today.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

If you read the article, they say, you would rather have Fire Ants then these so called Crazy Ants. For the Crazy Ants travel are like a inch or so thick as they move, and they may not follow a path like regular ants. They found nothing that effects them yet also to shag them away. They reproduce fast then anything we have ever seen also. And they didn't mention much about them living with ant hills.

http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm

[Tuffy]

So far it looks like they are only in Texas, Let s hope they can exterminate them there before they can spread to other states.
I have had a problem with Carpenter Ants, and the exterminater is to come today. These thing are nasty...........

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Tuffy, there is a simple trick for Carpenter Ants. And that is in the hands of the exterminater. It's on how they decide to rid them with the Insecticides they use. When I was younger I worked Part time with an exterminater. Who always said get them the first time, and you will always have people bragging about you, and your business will increase. But, these people today, want to have a contract signed or whatever to treat more then one time. They should come out a second time to see if they missed anything, and at no extra cost to you. Mostly a week later.

They should always start from outside the building, working their way in through the basement or crawl space, working then from along the sides of the outer walls inside, till they reach the center point, and then keep moving on up, all the way up into the attic, this will include spaying the soffets soaking that wood from the inside. They should also try to find the satellite colonies that will mostly be in near by trees. For this is where they came from. The nest in the house is only a small colony to the satellite colonies outdoors.

Then, the should do a inspection to find openings around the building, and soffet vent screen damage, and inform you to repair them, and chaulk were needed.

If they don't do these things for you, expect them there a few more times, so their money keeps coming in.

Just so you know boric acid can be bought at dollar stores. Needless to say the well known choice of many exterminater's for inside border use and also basement and attic use.

If you wanted to be creative, I could teach you how to rid them from your home yourself, if you have an idea of where they are. It's simple. You go to a pet shop, buy a bunch of crikets, kill em, chop em up, put where you see the ants, for they more so want to come an eat at night. Take your boric acid make a line along the wall where they come out and go back in, and I always put a line on the oppiste side of the criket chops. The ants walk through the boric acid, bring it back to the nest, and by, by ants..... Note, you can also do this in the evening around the base of trees, providing for a non-raining night.

And get those tree's trimed off and away from your house, and get the gutters cleaned out....

[Tuffy]

Thanks BBBB for the advice. My landlord is paying the exterminator. I really don't care as long as they get rid of the nasty pests. I don't have any trees close or overhanging the house These were large flying ants, at least 1 inch and only on my back porch ( which is inclosed) I swated them and the next evening they were gone. I never did figure where they were coming in from. I see one every now and then, but not like I did at first. The exterminator will be here today.......

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Tuffy, just be cautious, as the stuff their using these days is just as harmful to you, as it is them ants. They use the same junk on ants as they will on Roaches. No one wants to do their job safe these days when it comes to chemicals. They learn from a book, and get a license. Many have no clue of the harm they can cause to humans. When we did resteraunts or offices, we had to go in the next moring with a clean up crew, and clean everything in site before the work day started, or they were not allowed to go in.

[Tuffy]

Well, The exterminater was here and will be doing a monthly spray every month for a year!!!!!!!!!! He started spraying upstairs and worked his way down and then outside, I asked and my landlord who was with him asked if what he was using was harmfull to my cat and myself and he assured us it was safe.. No special precautions are needed. So my landlord told him to go ahead. My landlord has used this exterminater on his other property and on the boarding Kennel, so I guess everything is ok......

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Tuffy, did this stuff to appear as a milky white liquid?

As I said, repeat work, job security. See what I mean.