How to get rid of them which is the best method? When I google the
problem is is id 99% American information, even when i specify UK!

On 24/07/2020 08:36, Broadback wrote:
How to get rid of them which is the best method? When I google the
problem is is id 99% American information, even when i specify UK!

A kettle full of freshly boiled water normally does the trick.

Chris Hogg wrote:

Borax and sugar is often suggested.
Nippon used to be the recommended stuff, which was little more than
the above, I believe.

MSDS lists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosad

Broadback pretended :
How to get rid of them which is the best method? When I google the problem is
is id 99% American information, even when i specify UK!

Nippon is what I use, usually on sale for a £1 in the pound shops. One
tub has lasted a decade so far. We get them in the house, so I go
around the outside of the house on a dry day and sprinkle it around the
perimeter. No need for a lot, just a very light dusting.

If they are not marching toward your house I'd tend to leave them alones.
They do no real harm most of the time. Of course you can do as you say or
use that powder, but really, what is the point.
Of course ant hills in the lawn do annoy the heck out of gardeners!
Brian

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On 24/07/2020 08:36, Broadback wrote:
How to get rid of them which is the best method? When I google the
problem is is id 99% American information, even when i specify UK!

A kettle full of freshly boiled water normally does the trick.

On 24/07/2020 10:20, Chris Hogg wrote:

snip

Borax and sugar is often suggested. https://tinyurl.com/y2efh9nw

1+

Borax, or boric/boracic acid 1:3 with sugar, make a paste with a little
water. Works very well IME. The ants have enough time to take some to
the queen before they die. Harmless to pets. Unless you have pet ants.

--
Cheers
Clive

On Fri, 24 Jul 2020 13:56:46 +0100, "Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)"
wrote:

If they are not marching toward your house I'd tend to leave them alones.
They do no real harm most of the time. Of course you can do as you say or
use that powder, but really, what is the point.
Of course ant hills in the lawn do annoy the heck out of gardeners!

Have several times seen a green woodpecker eating ants on the block
paved drive.

Clive Arthur wrote:
On 24/07/2020 10:20, Chris Hogg wrote:

snip

Borax and sugar is often suggested. https://tinyurl.com/y2efh9nw

1+

Borax, or boric/boracic acid 1:3 with sugar, make a paste with a little
water. Works very well IME. The ants have enough time to take some to
the queen before they die. Harmless to pets. Unless you have pet ants.


Borax at 1:3 tends to kill ants at the bate station.
And works well for smaller ants. The smaller the
ant, the more greedy. The high percentage will
knock out some, in as little as two days.

You can mix borax and sugar in water, and make a
liquid bate. Or mix icing sugar and borax dry,
depending on where you're trying to apply it.

Those are good for the smaller ants.

Borax at 1:16 is more likely to be hauled back to
a queen. (The ants live long enough to make it
back to the nest.) For best results, if you see
a nest with several "trails", each trail should
have bate arranged so they will haul it back.
If they had three trails, and you only put the
1:16 on one trail, the queen might not get any.
Whereas if ants are hauling it back on all three
foraging trails, you're more likely to get the queen.

And sugar/borax is not good for mammals. I had one
mouse, next to a bate location, lying on its side
and exhibiting rapid breathing, and it seemed
unaware of my presence. That's a reason to place
a tile over the bate site. It's to keep the mammals
from eating it all on you. Mice, chipmunks, and
raccoons are candidates. The mammals, once learning
what you're doing, will eat the bate before the ants
get any.

It usually takes the mammals a few days to figure it
out, and then make a general nuisance of themselves.

And raccoons will take apart the commercial plastic
bate stations. If you're finding your plastic bate
stations scattered, that could be a raccoon having
a play with one.

The poison control center gets reports of pet poisonings
with borax. But a relatively small number. I don't
really know how many bottles of bait it takes to
"tip over Rover". If you have a dog that will scarf
down chocolate bars or boxed chocolates, anything is
possible.

I have a maple tree in the back garden, and when
the sweet sap is running in spring, you'd be surprised
how many members of the animal kingdom figure it out. And
the squirrels are just like little kids - they get
a "sugar high" and become quite animated. Same goes
for fermenting fruit, a number of species know
where the pub is.

Paul

On 24/07/2020 20:52, Paul wrote:

And raccoons will take apart the commercial plastic
bate stations. If you're finding your plastic bate
stations scattered, that could be a raccoon having
a play with one.

Funny you know what he said about "When I google the problem is is id
99% American information"

Over here coons are zoo animals. And it's bait BTW. Even in the US.

Andy

Vir Campestris wrote:

Funny you know what he said about "When I google the problem is is id
99% American information"

Over here coons are zoo animals. And it's bait BTW. Even in the US.

You'll be telling us next that you don't get 'dillos as roadkill out in
your neck of the woods!

After serious thinking Paul wrote :
And raccoons will take apart the commercial plastic
bate stations. If you're finding your plastic bate
stations scattered, that could be a raccoon having
a play with one.

We don't tend to get many raccoons in the UK.

On 24/07/2020 21:58, Andy Burns wrote:
Vir Campestris wrote:

Funny you know what he said about "When I google the problem is is id
99% American information"

Over here coons are zoo animals. And it's bait BTW. Even in the US.

You'll be telling us next that you don't get 'dillos as roadkill out in
your neck of the woods!


Raccoons are pests in Germany after they all escaped from a zoo
that the RAF bombed during WW2 !

If your bait is raided in this country it is probably a badger.
They are also very partial to broad beans, having recently done some
serious civil engineering to dig under the chain link fence surrounding
the local allotments :-)

Harry Bloomfield wrote:
After serious thinking Paul wrote :
And raccoons will take apart the commercial plastic
bate stations. If you're finding your plastic bate
stations scattered, that could be a raccoon having
a play with one.

We don't tend to get many raccoons in the UK.

The mammals are merry old pranksters.

And we're not allowed to kill raccoons here.
I'm not really sure why, as there's no shortage
of them. They will tear through an attic space
wall for example, to make a den. That's what happened
to a buddy at work. Hole in the wall.

It's almost impossible in some parts of the
country, to keep lids on garbage pails. It's
one reason you can't place receptacles near the
curb for pickup the night before, because the
animal kingdom will have a go at them over
night. In the country, they build stout wooden
enclosures with a very heavy lid on top, to
keep them away from that stuff.

The last time I saw the raccoon here, he was so fat he
could no longer climb the chain link fencing. Reduced
to more of a "ground rodent" now. Can't get up to as
much mischief.

Paul

Paul Wrote in message:
Clive Arthur wrote:
On 24/07/2020 10:20, Chris Hogg wrote:

snip

Borax and sugar is often suggested. https://tinyurl.com/y2efh9nw

1+

Borax, or boric/boracic acid 1:3 with sugar, make a paste with a little
water. Works very well IME. The ants have enough time to take some to
the queen before they die. Harmless to pets. Unless you have pet ants.


Borax at 1:3 tends to kill ants at the bate station.
And works well for smaller ants. The smaller the
ant, the more greedy. The high percentage will
knock out some, in as little as two days.

You can mix borax and sugar in water, and make a
liquid bate. Or mix icing sugar and borax dry,
depending on where you're trying to apply it.

Those are good for the smaller ants.

Borax at 1:16 is more likely to be hauled back to
a queen. (The ants live long enough to make it
back to the nest.) For best results, if you see
a nest with several "trails", each trail should
have bate arranged so they will haul it back.
If they had three trails, and you only put the
1:16 on one trail, the queen might not get any.
Whereas if ants are hauling it back on all three
foraging trails, you're more likely to get the queen.

And sugar/borax is not good for mammals. I had one
mouse, next to a bate location, lying on its side
and exhibiting rapid breathing, and it seemed
unaware of my presence. That's a reason to place
a tile over the bate site. It's to keep the mammals
from eating it all on you. Mice, chipmunks, and
raccoons are candidates. The mammals, once learning
what you're doing, will eat the bate before the ants
get any.

It usually takes the mammals a few days to figure it
out, and then make a general nuisance of themselves.

And raccoons will take apart the commercial plastic
bate stations. If you're finding your plastic bate
stations scattered, that could be a raccoon having
a play with one.

The poison control center gets reports of pet poisonings
with borax. But a relatively small number. I don't
really know how many bottles of bait it takes to
"tip over Rover". If you have a dog that will scarf
down chocolate bars or boxed chocolates, anything is
possible.

I have a maple tree in the back garden, and when
the sweet sap is running in spring, you'd be surprised
how many members of the animal kingdom figure it out. And
the squirrels are just like little kids - they get
a "sugar high" and become quite animated. Same goes
for fermenting fruit, a number of species know
where the pub is.

Paul


What's a raccoon? & why is it relevant?
--
Jimk


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