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Yeah sure, change of seasons, warmer, yay. That just means ANTS for me. Doesn't matter that I'm now on the 2nd floor or that I keep the food and water sources tightly secured and wipe the counters and clean the floors constantly. I'm cursed with the tiny little ant bastards.
I've placed ant traps in places kitties can't get to, I've cleaned the door jambs and about everything else with vinegar and I've sprayed with pet safe mint ant killer. Yet they persist. I think my next step is to roll by Home Depot at lunchtime and buy some caulk to find and seal every itty bitty area where they may be sneaking in. I've noticed (and reported though the landlords seem unconcerned) that there are places where clearly the foundation is moving as there are in some places huge gaps below the baseboards.
It's probably the same amount of ants that everyone else deals with but after the trauma of the previous ground floor apartment where I was absolutely overrun with them no matter what I did, I'm super paranoid about them even though I'm aware that they're essentially harmless.
Other ideas and possible solutions oh so very much welcomed. Oh and on a better note, I'll be picking up some bits there to start some seeds to plant some ornamental tiny mint and catnip outside and maybe some flowers. Partially for the ant deterrent benefit, mostly for the pretty.
I've placed ant traps in places kitties can't get to, I've cleaned the door jambs and about everything else with vinegar and I've sprayed with pet safe mint ant killer. Yet they persist. I think my next step is to roll by Home Depot at lunchtime and buy some caulk to find and seal every itty bitty area where they may be sneaking in. I've noticed (and reported though the landlords seem unconcerned) that there are places where clearly the foundation is moving as there are in some places huge gaps below the baseboards.
It's probably the same amount of ants that everyone else deals with but after the trauma of the previous ground floor apartment where I was absolutely overrun with them no matter what I did, I'm super paranoid about them even though I'm aware that they're essentially harmless.
Other ideas and possible solutions oh so very much welcomed. Oh and on a better note, I'll be picking up some bits there to start some seeds to plant some ornamental tiny mint and catnip outside and maybe some flowers. Partially for the ant deterrent benefit, mostly for the pretty.
no subject
Date: 13 Apr 2017 08:43 (UTC)no subject
Date: 13 Apr 2017 10:34 (UTC)It may just be luck or the drop in temperature but since last night there's not been as many. I used clear silicone caulk and plugged up all of the gaps between the door jamb and the floor (there was at least an 8mm gap there).
no subject
Date: 13 Apr 2017 10:49 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Apr 2017 14:01 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Apr 2017 15:09 (UTC)Also, some of these suggestions might help, as well. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/how-to-get-rid-of-ants_n_1385182.html
I can sympathize, though. I once lived in a rented house that would always get those damned HUGE Carpenter ants coming from the outside wall of the bathroom. Our landlord was such an idiot! He could have given a rat's ass, he did essentially NOTHING. Ugh! Critters, stay outside, ya lil' shits!
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Date: 12 Apr 2017 17:58 (UTC)LOL I've tried most of the suggestions on that list.
Oh on my last place, it was a fiasco. Aside from the ants from hell (thankfully not carpenter), I also had termite swarms and MASSIVE camel crickets. So glad I'm not there anymore but between that and a previous apartment where they replaced my stove that broke with one full of roaches and then some neighboring apartment brought bedbugs, I'm super paranoid about bugs. Amusingly, unless they're the bitey kind, I no longer have much of a fear of spiders since they eat other bugs.
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Date: 13 Apr 2017 14:31 (UTC)I don't blame you for having a thing about bugs after all of that. If you didn't, If I were you I'd consider a career in entomology! LOL! :D
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Date: 13 Apr 2017 14:35 (UTC)Reminds me that I need to go poke our chief vector biologist to submit her effort report so I don't have to take her research money back. Heh.
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Date: 12 Apr 2017 16:31 (UTC)no subject
Date: 12 Apr 2017 18:00 (UTC)I have secured silicon caulk to get rid of the gaps so hopefully that'll make a good start. I also had them make me a little sample can of cream paint since I have untreated wood spots near the cabinets that they never painted and I can gauge the ant-eradication progress better against a cream background.
no subject
Date: 12 Apr 2017 18:10 (UTC)