Get Rid of Ants Naturally

[Emmy]

I just moved into a new place and have already encountered my first stripe-tailed scorpion and a slew of black ants.

Some of you already know about my "kids," my 5 year old Siberian husky and my 4 and 2 year old cats. The first I brought in was my older cat, Yang, who is incredibly sensitive to chemicals and what not.

Since I am not interested in compromising my kids' health in any way shape or form (I live in Arizona, so I have to worry about heat enough, thank you!), I decided to go digging for all natural ways to combat the unwanted houseguests.

There is a long forum here (http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...494323783.html) about how to kill ants or deter them.

I'll summarize for you:

Those willing to kill the ants (and not worried about Karmic backlash) can use boiling water (on the colony), cornmeal, white vinegar, cream-of-wheat, yeast/baking soda mixed with sugar or bacon grease, or oatmeal. I suppose you could use WD-40, as well...

Those who are little more cautious about Karma (unfortunately, I fall within this category. Makes life a little more difficult sometimes ), can use cinnamon, citrus peels, peppermint essential oil and water mix, fabric softener sheets (like Bounce), cuttings of tansy, water mixed with hot sauce, chili pepper, cloves, vinegar, cayenne, citric extracts, cream of tartar, salt, perfume, black pepper, and cucumber peels.

Those of a neutral approach can take a shovelful of a nearby ant colony and mix it with another and vice-versa and let the ants kill each other.

I have lived in Texas and dealt with fire-ants, so these little black ones don't bother me nearly as much - but I know that they're grease ants because they're going after the cat food and something in my bathroom kit (soaps and whatnot).

I'll let you know which ones I use and which ones work

[Emmy]

Ok, I've tried the cinnamon for 3 days. I was observing the ants (and trying to figure out where the heck they're coming in from - to no avail), and noticed that it seemed to burn them to walk on the cinnamon. It's good for keeping them away from areas (like around my toothbrush holder), but not in high traffic areas (around the cats' food bowls).

Tonight! The fabric softener sheets!

[Emmy]

I just did a little Google/Wikipedia action and discovered that Tansy is also known as Mugwort. Time to hit the local herb store, apparently!

[MadClikr]

I've had mixed success with vinegar on the common black ants around Northern VA. It seems to be more effective earlier in the season, but later on, even after reapplying, their will to come in is even greater than the deterrent. At that point, I switch over to a more toxic spray along the doors and a few windows to keep them out, else they go after the birds and I. I hate using it though, and I have to be careful to fully ventilate and evacuate the area before spraying.

I heard about the new scorpion problem.... best of luck getting rid of them. I don't think I've ever seen one outside of a zoo, and I think I'd be terrified to share a bed with those things...

[Emmy]

Thanks! I've decided that the ants are of a less concern than the scorpions (Two in a week!).

I went through last night and made a strong tea with all the bug-unfriendly herbs (fennel, cinnamon, mugwort, peppermint, curry, chai tea, orange peels, rosemary - essential oil AND plant, sage - same, sandalwood - same, lemon essential oil, etc.) and poured it into a spray bottle and sprayed the concoction on everything. The amount of bugs have gone down (one or two moths as opposed to the multitude from before), so I'm hoping that's a good deterrent until the landlord can come out with the toxic sprays.

However, the ants remain as ferocious as before.

[Emmy]

Yay! The landlord has agreed to send out for an exterminator!

Back to the ants at hand: Fabric softener sheets.. Oh yeah, the work really well... I saw the ants crawling all over it and using it to cross my cinnamon moat. [/end sarcasm]

The cinnamon, orange peels, and mugwort/tansy mix is working really well for keeping the cat food clear, but the little things must love my toothpaste or something b/c they've been crawling all over it like there's no tomorrow. The also seemed to like the Scrub Free Shower Cleaner? I'm not sure what the story is there, but it's not killing them off fast enough

More later!

[Trudy in Illinois]

It sounds like where you're living is built over an enormous, subterranean ant colony. Bleach is also a deterrent. Pour it around the outside of the place.

[mspete]

When camping we sprinkle Comet cleanser around the wheels of travel trailer to keep ants from coming into the trailer. We also sprinkle it around the artificial turf that we put down in the sitting area. Seems to work for camping. Worth a try.

[Emmy]

Trudy: It's quite possible. They're coming out of some pretty weird places. I will try the bleach down the drains and see if that will deter them long enough.

MsPete: I love Comet! I may try cleaning with it and seeing if that works.

I'm kinda iffy about getting too many chemicals involved because of the animals and the ants being in their eating area.

[Emmy]

Final comment from my end: When my HOA has a GREAT deal with an exterminator for $15/visit (monthly, about), I don't know why the previous tenants never sprayed before.

He came out, things are dead, and haven't had a problem since. Turns out I had all the nasties in Arizona living in my yard/house - scorpions, 5 black widows, and a handful of brown recluses. The scorpions may take some footing to get rid of, since they're a bit more stubborn, but the rest were all instantly killed. I think I got the best sleep since I moved in to the new place last night.

And no ants in the morning.