The Great Ant War of ’24 & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up On the Edge #712
On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, I declared war. By Wednesday, July 3, 2024, I had annihilated my Lilliputian foes. Because my final war tactic was so successful, I feel somewhat of an obligation to share it with you. You might also be in the midst of a vicious battle with tiny black ants. If you are, I know how to win!
The initial and unprovoked attack on my home began on the first hot and humid day of late spring. They come every year but generally the troops are small and remain contained around the perimeter of my pantry with a few stragglers making their way into the kitchen. Some strategically placed ant bait traps generally do the trick in neutralizing any threat of war. Until this year.
The little buggers seem to have caught onto my method of elimination and now they avoid the bait traps. Or they simply have become immune to whatever poisonous substance is used in the bait traps. Either way, I was losing this year’s battle with these teensy terrestrial terrors and I was not happy about it. They were crawling all over my kitchen walls and getting into everything in my pantry despite all of the preventative measures I take. It was time for me to escalate this battle to a full blown war.
Before I continue this tale of war, let me give you some background on tiny black ants and my lifelong fear of these minuscule mites. It began when I was 8 and they attacked me first, thereby initiating a 42 year long conflict. I was the flower girl in my uncle’s wedding. My gown was a lovely shade of lavender (similar to the color of my dress in these photos) and I was wearing a crown of baby’s breath on my head. Forty-two years is a long time ago so my memory is rather foggy, but I will never forget the feeling of the itty bitty fancy wedding ants that hitched a ride on my floral crown and were having a dance party in my hair.
Fast forward to 4 years later when I was 12 years old. Puberty had set in and pubic hair was beginning to develop. I had spent a summer’s day swimming and sunbathing at the local pool as I did most summer days in my youth. We would sit on the ground eating frozen candy bars with nothing between our butts and the grass except the thin strip of swim suit lycra that covered our private parts.
On this particular summer’s day, I had come home and was in my bedroom changing out of my swim suit when I felt an unfamiliar tickling feeling in my pubic region. No, it was the kind of tickling feeling that you might be thinking one would experience for the first time at 12. It was the undeniable tickling feeling of a wee insect crawling on my skin. I looked down and spotted a tiny black ant crawling around in my sparse pubic hair.
And. Then. I. Freaked. The. Fuck. Out.
I screamed so loud my mother thought there was a really bad guy hiding in my bedroom who had jumped out and attacked me! She came tearing up the steps in a panic, flung open my bedroom door, and saw me jumping around, completely nude, frantically smacking myself in my pubic region.
And. Then. She. Burst. Out. Laughing.
As she should. I bet it was quite a sight to behold.
And now…I literally hate little black ants as much as I hate all parasitic creatures like head lice, fleas, and ticks. But it is more than severe hatred. It is absolutely 100% certifiable phobia. Tiny bugs crawling on my body is more than I can stand and I will literally lose my freaking mind. I don’t like losing my mind and this ant army kept provoking me so it was time for me to unleash my wrath on these diminutive dickheads.
So I took to Google for some help and I found a video called How to Get Rid of Little Black Ants using a DIY Ant Killer Solution (Kills Wasps too). You don’t even have to watch the video because it’s a super simple recipe that combines apple juice and boric acid. The apple juice is the bait to attract the ants and the boric acid will be carried back to the colony, hopefully eliminating them all. Generally, I prefer much more humane methods of pest removal. But I have told you already that I am extremely paranoid and fearful of these puny pests. If they enter my home, I will kill them.
For my ant killer recipe, I started with 1 cup of apple juice and 1 tablespoon of boric acid. When all of the boric acid powder did not dissolve, I added some more apple juice until it did. You don’t want so much acid that it kills the ants on contact because you want them to carry it back to the colony. Once my poisonous solution was made, I filled a few caps from Gatorade bottles with it and placed them on my kitchen windowsills and in the corners of my pantry.
Within minutes, one Gatorade cap became a very popular ant hangout. They swarmed around it drinking from my pool of poison, encouraging their comrades to join the party. They didn’t visit any other cap of death but that’s okay because it only took one capful to do what I needed it to do.
By morning, there was nary an ant to be seen. In the last 48 hours, Jeff spotted one straggler on the kitchen counter and this morning I found a dead one inside my refrigerator door (so gross). I have no idea if I killed the colony or just did enough damage to their troops that I forced a retreat. I don’t really care why they left, as long as they left!
Have you ever had to battle the ants? What strategies did you find were most effective?
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Shelbee
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shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
28 Comments
Steph@Stephcreatesthings
Battling ants can be so exhausting! I just went through this in my front flowerbed. They were taking over. I went out and bought the seven dust product at Lowe’s. Seemed to work. I hope you get that ant issue under control. Thanks so much for hosting this wonderful linkup.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Steph! I hope the ants keep away from your flowerbed now! I found a large anthill right in the middle of my backyard last summer and I poured boiling water into until I killed everything including a giant patch of grass. I hate these little buggers!
xoxo
Shelbee
Suzy Turner
OMG Shelbee, this made me LAUGH!!!! Oh I can just imagine you as a wee lass jumping around like an absolute nutter LOL!! You poor thing! I can totally understand why that would have given you a lifelong hate of the little buggers. Funny though, I can’t bear having ants in the house for obvious reasons but the other day I sat and watched the larger black ants trying to carry an almond I’d dropped across the terrace and up the step and through the little crack in the tiles. They were struggling but were determined but they kept dropping it, so I gave them a hand, breaking it up into pieces so they could carry it up the wall. It was absolutely fascinating! I probably won’t do the same in the new house though LOL!!!
Big hugs
Suzy xx
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ha. I am so glad to have given you a giggle, my friend! I swear my life is one giant comedy of errors sometimes! I have explained to my children that when it comes to tiny bugs and parasitic creatures, there are no rules with regard to bad language. I curse up a storm when the ants take over, dropping F bombs all over the place as my children stare at me dumbfounded. Ants are fascinating creatures, for sure, but I’d prefer to observe their behaviors on the television screen instead of in my kitchen!
xoxo
Shelbee
Anne M Bray
Hahahaha. Love hearing about your ant trauma.
Here at Walgrove Manor, we also have ants. They’ve been kept at bay for a couple of years (not sure by what magic) but sometimes we’ll get ant freeways.
I have a couple of ant stories too.
The first is from the time I was on honeymoon backpacking around Nova Scotia (another story for another time). We were camped on the beach in Margaree and there were lots of ant hills. There were also earwigs. I don’t know what got into me (my inner 10 year old boy?) but I started dropping earwigs down the anthill openings. Ant chaos ensued! The personal result was an abiding horror of earwigs. What are they good for anyway?
The second is (sort of) seeing a giant ant movie in Izúcar de Matamoros, Mexico. We were stuck there with a busted engine and living out of the van at the mechanic’s (“Van Life” before it was trendy). We walked into town to shower and caught it at a movie theater. I had bad tourista and my memory is more about my gastric distress rather than giant ants taking over the world. I would advise you not to see it.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
OMG, Anne, now I am laughing at your ant and earwig trauma! For real, what good are those disgusting earwigs for? They used to horrify me as a child. I don’t see them often anymore which is a good thing. Yesterday I was painting the railing in my basement and a rather medium sized spider literally jumped off the wall at me when I disturbed her corner home. I screamed really loud and Jeff had to come move the spider to a different location so she would stop jumping at me. Damn jumping bugs really freak me out! But I am getting better and only kill the real nuisances. The spiders I try not to kill if I can avoid it. Those icky house centipedes as well. I usually spare them because they eat the other yucky bugs. You can be certain I won’t be watching any movies about ants or any other kind of insect or creepy crawly thing! May you have a bug free weekend, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
Oh, you do paint the best pictures. The story about the ant in your budding pubic hair and your mother’s reaction is priceless. 🤣🤣🤣 And the ants in your hair? Yeah that would freak me out too. In any case, I am very glad you were able to rid yourself of the ants. Ugh. And what a simple method!
And your outfit is lovely!
xoxo
Michelle
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Hehehe, thanks so much, Michelle! I do love to weave a good tale! I got that from my mother. She was a quite articulate and animated story teller and I am grateful that I inherited that talent from her! Happy weekend, my friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Suzy Turner
OMG you do make me giggle!!!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ha. Good! That was my goal! Happy weekend, my friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
Happy Friday!
I was laughing at your story because I have declared war on local bugs as well too! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Jennifer! I must deal with these terrors with a sense of humor or I might lose my mind! Haha. I hope you win your war!
xoxo
Shelbee
Nancy
Haha, quite a story! We have then too, a lot! Not in the house though. But outside, it’s really ridiculous. Gerben now put vinegar on the ant holes. I’m not sure if it helps. But they are a pest!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Hehe, thanks, Nancy! I tried spraying a vinegar solution around the perimeter where they were coming in but it didn’t do anything to deter them. Last summer, I found an anthill in the middle of my backyard and I dumped boiling water in it. That took care of the problem and killed my grass!
xoxo
Shelbee
Melynda Brown
I know what you are going through! Texas ants are the worst and we have many kinds. We also had very wet spring so that brought them out of the ground seeking dry shelter, which meant my house. They were in my bed, my cupboards and even in my mouth guard I use for sleeping. We have been battling them since spring and while it is better they are still found if I do not keep up on my cleaning schedule. I made bait stations (like you cap of poision) but they were not hungry, we have sprayed a commercial product that destroys the pheromone trail that they leave behind to find their way back to your house, once again. All the tricks I used in all the other places I have lived, just don’t work here. I have learned that you do not want to crush them, becasue that send out a different pheromone to call the others for help…yeah it has been fun. My best working solution has been to wash every surface in the kitchen with vinegar, they can’t smell their own trail and we are not getting chemicals in our inside area…
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh my gosh, Melynda, that sounds absolutely frustrating and horrifying! When the ants start infiltrating everything like your mouth guard, I’d be wanting to burn the whole place down! I am not very keen on the idea of using chemicals either and frankly the boric acid made me a little nervous, but nothing else worked for me. I tried spraying a vinegar solution all around the perimeter where I spotted the ants, but it did absolutely nothing to deter them. As much as I enjoyed visiting Texas, I don’t think I’ll be moving there. Ever. I hope you are able to maintain control of your ants!
xoxo
Shelbee
Di
Oh Shelbee, I know it wasn’t funny at the time, but you wrote such a delightful story about the ants-I had to laugh! Our kitchen is also invaded by these industrious little critters at this time of year, every year. Next year I will have to try your plan. At the first sight of an ant trail, usually coming in from the kitchen window or wall outlet, I spread a product from the garden center called diatomaceous earth. It is quite a powdery mess but it works quickly! Love your boho maxi and tasseled shawl-you look cool and comfortable for summer. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your weekend!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Di! I do enjoy weaving elaborate tales about my life experiences. It is much like a comedy of errors for me! I am sorry that you also have to battle the ants but it sounds like you have found an effective solution. I can’t get over how quickly the boric acid solution worked. Everything I read about it said it generally can take 7-10 days to kill the colony so I expected to see ants for at least a few more days. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. I hope it continues to work for my ant problem!
xoxo
Shelbee
Sally in St Paul
My god, what a nightmarish experience – no wonder you have an ant phobia! So glad you prevailed against your foe.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Sally! It was terrifying as a child, but I can laugh about it now. As long as the bugs stay away from me! LOL
xoxo
Shelbee
Joanne
We have been infested with the larger carpenter ants this year (not a huge surprise since they are building a house 3 down and dug up all the trees, yard, etc.) but they have been awful to get rid of. Part of my problem is that I have a hard time NOT killing the ants in the house so they rarely get to bring the bait back to the colony to kill the others. I did buy a few cans of Raid and sprayed the entire perimiter of the house and then put the ant traps in all our sheds and the garage… It seems to have worked pretty well… so far.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh no, Joanne! Carpenter ants sound just as horrible as the tiny black ones! Although the smaller the bug, the more it frightens me. So the larger ants would creep me out less. Is that weird? Those tiny parasite sized bugs are the ones I really can’t tolerate. Because they can crawl on you without you noticing immediately. ICK! I hope the Raid keeps your ants away!
xoxo
Shelbee
Gail
Oh you did make me laugh….although I know these things can be terrifying. We get pesky ants every summer. They chuck up sand on the drive so I know they’re excavating. I kick it back down the holes. We see the ants on the one day of the year, in August, when ants get wings and fly. Creepy!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Gail! I am glad I could make you laugh! And you just terrified me even more with your creepy flying ants! If they started flying around at me I would totally lose it!
xoxo
Shelbee
Your True Self
Hi, Shelbee – You had me laughing through this – totally enjoyable and important, too! My husband and I are saving this for the next Invasion of the Ants! Cute outfit and photos, too 😉 – Angie, http://www.yourtrueselfblog.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ha, thanks so much, Angie! I really appreciate that. I am glad I gave you a good laugh along with a helpful tip!
xoox
Shelbee
Marsha Banks
Oh, Shelbee! My mom used to call those piss ants! I’m not sure why, but that’s what they have always been to me. Luckily, I’ve never had to deal with them like you have had. Your war appears to be over which is a good thing! At our house up north, we would get mice in the house every few years when they would harvest the fields behind us. I can remember one time glancing up and seeing two beady little eyes looking at me through the hole they’d chewed in the corner where the wall met the ceiling! And, I cannot, just cannot do centipedes or millipedes. They are the insect’s version of a snake as far as I’m concerned!
Love your outfit…what are you wearing…a ruana, shawl? It’s really cool the way you’re wearing it! Thanks for the feature, and thanks for the link party!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh my goodness, thank you so much, Marsha! This comment made me giggle! I swear I have dealt with nearly every possible household pest imaginable! We had lots of mice in our last house and they always seemed to get most active at night right above my bed. Ugh. It was so gross and annoying. When we moved from that house, I remember having to scrape a dead mouse carcass off the garage floor! The centipedes used to really freak me out. We had a lot of those when I was a kid. How I would scream when they would run across the room (or across my foot as happened one time). They don’t freak me out so much anymore but one time I spotted one in my basement that was so big that it cast a very large and scary shadow. I jumped up on a chair and screamed for Jeff. He couldn’t believe the size of the thing either. It was so fat that it could barely run. It sort of lumbered into the shadow of box and then Jeff smooshed it. Yuck!
Yes, I am wearing a thrifted ruana that I tied in the front to cinch in the waist. It is cute, isn’t it?!
Have a lovely weekend, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee