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#1
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Tiny red/orange ants in kitchen?
Sounds like my kitchen. Try baits designed for pharoah or carpenter ants.
There are other names for these little buggers, and fumigation does no good. Think of Mongo in Blazing Saddles: "Don't shoot him, you'll only make him mad.." You will just have to find the right bait so the food gets back to the queen. "Becky Taylor" wrote in message ... My family has had a problem for a while now during the summer with tiny little (about 1/16", if that) red/orangish ants that have been plaguing out kitchen. They used to be coming from the drain or the "seam" where the sink met the counter, but I just had an incident where they had come from underneath the moulding to, for the first time, go after our dogs' food. (Other times, they've been attracted to remains of other protein foods in our sink - hamburger grease and residue, scraps of eggs, etc.) Dismantling the counter to take care of this would be difficult, and fumigation would be a near-impossibility - we have two dogs and two cats and no other place to stay. They haven't proved a big problem - just a quick mop-up of they and their trails when they every few days or so ppear - but, of course, I'm unnerved by a resident insect population in the house, and the dog food thing is not good. These ants don't seem to be attracted to the typical supermarket "big ant" bait traps. Are there any steps I can take to get rid of them - and what kind of ant _are_ they? Many thanks for any help. |
#2
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Tiny red/orange ants in kitchen?
We get them here, too. They go for the cat food. They do find their way in from
outdoors. The hard part is to find the little rascals--they're hard to see. But they can be found, usually marching in a line. Actually, a two-way line, like an ant highway! If you find that, spray as much of the line as you can with ant and roach killer. I haven't seen any now in the last two weeks since my sharp-eyed daughter found the line. Good luck, Ken |
#3
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Tiny red/orange ants in kitchen?
God, it sounds like "grease ants", the scourge of my childhood. I remember
my mother ended up putting all fat-containing stuff in tight containers for about a two year period, meaning that she never found a solution; I think the ants finally got bored. I dread that they will find me someday but so far... "KenKM" wrote in message ... We get them here, too. They go for the cat food. They do find their way in from outdoors. The hard part is to find the little rascals--they're hard to see. But they can be found, usually marching in a line. Actually, a two-way line, like an ant highway! If you find that, spray as much of the line as you can with ant and roach killer. I haven't seen any now in the last two weeks since my sharp-eyed daughter found the line. Good luck, Ken |
#4
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Tiny red/orange ants in kitchen?
Becky Taylor wrote: My family has had a problem for a while now during the summer with tiny little (about 1/16", if that) red/orangish ants that have been plaguing out kitchen. They used to be coming from the drain or the "seam" where the sink met the counter, but I just had an incident where they had come from underneath the moulding to, for the first time, go after our dogs' food. (Other times, they've been attracted to remains of other protein foods in our sink - hamburger grease and residue, scraps of eggs, etc.) Mop the floor and clean the cupboards ) Keep dog food cleaned up - primary culprit. These sound like grease loving ants (dog food, eggs, hamburger grease). We have used boric acid liquid bait with great success, in different climates. The container I have now is called "Ant-Kil", from Home Depot. Just about any hardware store would have some version of the same stuff. Our container says, for grease ants, to mix a few drops with a few drops of salad oil and place it next to the trail. Under the sink or baseboard where they enter would be good. Always gives good results for me. Try to caulk seams and cracks where they enter, but the bait should take care of them, at least temporarily. Getting rid of dog food helps a lot, as there are always crumbs on the floor. Dismantling the counter to take care of this would be difficult, and fumigation would be a near-impossibility - we have two dogs and two cats and no other place to stay. They haven't proved a big problem - just a quick mop-up of they and their trails when they every few days or so ppear - but, of course, I'm unnerved by a resident insect population in the house, and the dog food thing is not good. These ants don't seem to be attracted to the typical supermarket "big ant" bait traps. Are there any steps I can take to get rid of them - and what kind of ant _are_ they? Many thanks for any help. |
#5
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Tiny red/orange ants in kitchen?
My experience has been that if you get rid of the food source, the ants will
leave. In our house the cat food was the target. We placed the cats' food bowl in a slightly larger container that was partially filled with water. This artificial "moat" prevented the ants from getting to the food (ants don't swim). They soon tired of searching for another food source and left. Good luck, Ken "Becky Taylor" wrote in message ... My family has had a problem for a while now during the summer with tiny little (about 1/16", if that) red/orangish ants that have been plaguing out kitchen. They used to be coming from the drain or the "seam" where the sink met the counter, but I just had an incident where they had come from underneath the moulding to, for the first time, go after our dogs' food. (Other times, they've been attracted to remains of other protein foods in our sink - hamburger grease and residue, scraps of eggs, etc.) Dismantling the counter to take care of this would be difficult, and fumigation would be a near-impossibility - we have two dogs and two cats and no other place to stay. They haven't proved a big problem - just a quick mop-up of they and their trails when they every few days or so ppear - but, of course, I'm unnerved by a resident insect population in the house, and the dog food thing is not good. These ants don't seem to be attracted to the typical supermarket "big ant" bait traps. Are there any steps I can take to get rid of them - and what kind of ant _are_ they? Many thanks for any help. |
#6
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Tiny red/orange ants in kitchen?
Thanks very much - you folks have all been exceptionally helpful and
friendly. I (and my dogs) much appreciate it! "Becky Taylor" wrote in message ... My family has had a problem for a while now during the summer with tiny little (about 1/16", if that) red/orangish ants that have been plaguing out kitchen. They used to be coming from the drain or the "seam" where the sink met the counter, but I just had an incident where they had come from underneath the moulding to, for the first time, go after our dogs' food. (Other times, they've been attracted to remains of other protein foods in our sink - hamburger grease and residue, scraps of eggs, etc.) Dismantling the counter to take care of this would be difficult, and fumigation would be a near-impossibility - we have two dogs and two cats and no other place to stay. They haven't proved a big problem - just a quick mop-up of they and their trails when they every few days or so ppear - but, of course, I'm unnerved by a resident insect population in the house, and the dog food thing is not good. These ants don't seem to be attracted to the typical supermarket "big ant" bait traps. Are there any steps I can take to get rid of them - and what kind of ant _are_ they? Many thanks for any help. |
#7
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Tiny red/orange ants in kitchen?
ConcertinaMusic.com wrote: My experience has been that if you get rid of the food source, the ants will leave. At least half the battle, and the info that insecticide producers don't want you to know ) In our house the cat food was the target. We placed the cats' food bowl in Very clever. Our dog food attracted mice as well as ants. Late one fall, we had the fire department out when the dryer started smoking for no apparent reason. A mouse had begun storing dog food around the flame thingy in the dryer and his stash caught fire ) When the fire fighter told me what he found, I first suspected my son, but there was no way a mischievious kid could have gotten dog food into the confined space it was in. a slightly larger container that was partially filled with water. This artificial "moat" prevented the ants from getting to the food (ants don't swim). They soon tired of searching for another food source and left. Good luck, Ken |
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