Ants... REALLY???

whimsy515

I live in Florida, and as some of you may know we are no strangers to insects. My DH put the crib in DS room and I noticed a dead ant or two. I didn't think much of it because we had just had a cold snap, and figured they came in to get warm and then died due to no food. Then all of a sudden I'm noticing more and more ants in the hallway around his room. I looked into it, and see that you can spray and remove food from counters and such, but they aren't in my kitchen. They haven't gotten to any food, yet they are still around. I always keep my house clean and this began to really bother me. Lizards in my house? I'm totally ok with, and let them back outside. Bugs? HELL NO!

So my DH sprayed the house. I take a shower and came out to an ant massacre. Obviously he sprayed somewhere near their nest. I go into DS room and see more of a massacre. And then I notice a cluster of them in the top corner wall, where there must be a tiny hole. These bastards are living in my sons room and has taken over! I feel gross, and I already feel like a bad Mom. We'll talk to our landlord, but it literally takes a year for him to get anything done. While I'm glad to find this problem now before DS arrives, I am so sick over this!

It's carpenter ants if that matters. Any advice/tips?

megmegs

Can you put ant poison around the outside of the house as well? We had to do that a couple years ago; they were climbing up the outside of the house and into the dryer vent.

whimsy515

kitchencolors said:

We dealt with what I've been calling "apocalyptic ants" when it first got cold here and rained the first (and only time) in November.  I called an exterminator.  They were seriously pouring into my house from three different holes in a band of ants that was like an inch thick.  It was horrible. 
I felt so ridiculous for calling an exterminator for ants, but when the guy walked in and saw them he started laughing at my bait stations, saying there was no way they'd fix the problem.  That made me feel a little better.  I joked with DH that we would name this baby Hugo (after the exterminator) if it is a boy. Best $225 I've ever spent in my entire life.

Anyway, ant sympathy.  The little effers are awful. 

I want to call a professional, but we'll need landlord approval. We're in a rented house, so it's not like we're bothering other tenants, but my landlord can be a dick.

kalette

Ant poison that they way is way better than spraying poison around the house. I'd try that first. We used to have ants every summer when I was a kid and we'd put out some Terro ant poison and they would be gone (with no bodies to clean up) in a few days. They take it back to their colony and share it and all die there.

whimsy515

kalette said:

Ant poison that they way is way better than spraying poison around the house. I'd try that first. We used to have ants every summer when I was a kid and we'd put out some Terro ant poison and they would be gone (with no bodies to clean up) in a few days. They take it back to their colony and share it and all die there.

Ohhh, I'm so looking into this. Thanks!

RedInLove

There's a landlord on SAHM whose tenants are having an ant problem right now. Theirs sounds like sugar ants, but they mentioned peppermint oil. Maybe that could work for you in the interim?

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12253199/ants#latest