A pox of ants sits upon our house.

[ladyattercop]

I don't know how many people read this blog because of Strange Fiction, but if you've read the comic at any time during the past five months, you've noticed my productivity slide firmly down into nothingness. I haven't been able to draw lately. I find myself utterly unable to do anything beyond a small doodle

Comments

[ladyattercop]

These are a bigger than the buggers you have. If they're the same species we had at my office a few months ago, then they're called "white footed ants" (I think). We're in the middle of a terrible drought right now, so I think they're coming inside to get the water in the sink it. That's where they like to commune: the sink. At the moment, they're ignoring the dog & cat food, and crumb-filled toaster oven.

I've been using ground cloves to cover their trails and keep them away from the sink, but you can only keep your counters covered with spice for so long. d-: I've found a couple of recommendations for baiting them using Borax and sugar water, so we'll see how that goes.

Believe it or not, we don't have any of those teeny, tiny little fuckers in our home... at the moment. We call sugar ants down here, but they're actually pharaoh ants (thank you Google). They're also right pains in the asses, because nothing kills those little bastards! I've microwaved them before (don't ask), and they weren't even fazed. You just can't get rid of them.

When I was googling them to find out if "sugar ant" was their proper Christian name, it mentioned they're a big problem in hospitals, because they've been known to contaminate sealed sterile dressing and have even been found inside of surgical wounds. Jesus Raptor Christ! Thank you Google. I will never again stay in a hospital voluntarily now, because of the fear of finding fucking pharaoh ants in my goddamn wounds!

[ariandar]

Ugh! Disgusting... It's like they can pass through solid things. How the fuck do they do it?

I'm going to try planting marigolds under those windows AND possibly borax and sugar, if that doesn't help. I want to avoid telling the landlord, because I know he'll use chemicals. Yick.

[ladyattercop]

Oh my god, I know! I'm not squeamish nor am I easily grossed out, but when I read that bit about the ants being *inside* surgical wounds, I shuddered. That's grade A nightmare fuel right there. Bleh!

I don't want to tell my landlord either, because of fear of whatever spray they're going to use. I'm not too keen on the chemicals being around our furry babies, let alone myself. I'll let you know how the Borax + sugar water + cotton balls baits work out. Although, I'm not sure they'd kill your little bastards. They'd probably just carry the baits back to the nest and have a feast.