Ant Attack

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dibbons

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La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
It seems every year at this time the ants make an unwelcome visit inside the dwellings around here. I don't know the species, but this variety is very tiny. And if I'm not mistaken, the inflict a sharp bite on skin (yesterday I felt an "ouch" between my fingers and found an ant present in that same spot).

Last year, after internet research, I made a sugar water/borax bait. These ants never touched it. They prefer meat/protein over anything sweet. If the dogs leave some dry kibble behind in their feeding bowl, these ants are all over it. And if a dead insect is in the area, they climb all over it and sometimes try to drag it away. So the battle begins.
 
I've had some good results with this stuff. I didn't buy it from this web site. I think Amazon but it works pretty good. Has more of a protein dog food smell to it. I am pretty vigilant when it comes to ants. One of the prices you pay when you build in the middle of the woods.
Advance Carpenter Ant Bait
 
Sounds like what we call "fire ants". You'll never see a guy get undressed so fast when you realize you laid in a pile of them suckers. Faster than a virgin on his wedding night.
 
I've spent what seemed like hours following one back to it's nest and poured copious amounts of boiling water on them. They also have "satellite" nest where the workers move the eggs to a different location from the queen because they run out of room I guess.
 
Found this mowing the other day.

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Good ole Comet Cleanser does a bang up job on ants. They track it back into their nests on they little feets and it kills the nest.
This is fun when you're young an flexy, not very efficient :lol:
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My youngest brother tried the gasoline & fire trick on fire ants a bunch of years ago. I'd gone by to see his new motorcycle when this happened. He threw the gas on the mound but didn't have anything to light it. He went in the house & got a kitchen match, struck it & pitched it into the area of the gas. Unbeknownst to him, in the time it took him to go get the match, the gas fumes had spread out over the yard. I guess he was standing in the fumes & when it lit, instant no hair on his legs. I laughed my *** of while he was jumping around. Unfortunately, he did not find it funny.
 
My youngest brother tried the gasoline & fire trick on fire ants a bunch of years ago. I'd gone by to see his new motorcycle when this happened. He threw the gas on the mound but didn't have anything to light it. He went in the house & got a kitchen match, struck it & pitched it into the area of the gas. Unbeknownst to him, in the time it took him to go get the match, the gas fumes had spread out over the yard. I guess he was standing in the fumes & when it lit, instant no hair on his legs. I laughed my *** of while he was jumping around. Unfortunately, he did not find it funny.
:lol: Kinda narrow minded of him. I am glad he wasn't hurt though.
 
Carpenter ants eat wood, I have my doubts about a product made specifically for them, but who knows?
Ya but if they are going after the dog food I think it would work. Technically carpenter ants don't "eat" the wood, they like to mine it and make nests in it. They eat meat, bugs mostly and each other. They like the sweet stuff in the spring but mostly they like the protein.
 
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One of the varieties we had out in the mighty Mojave. About 3/8" long and very aggressive. I had one crawl up my torso and sting me on the neck while I was grilling his homies with the magnifying glass :lol:
 
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One of the varieties we had out in the mighty Mojave. About 3/8" long and very aggressive. I had one crawl up my torso and sting me on the neck while I was grilling his homies with the magnifying glass :lol:
Yea we got those or a variety much like them. Beware.
Not ants, but I had a good friend build a home in the desert. He told me he would throw his pants on the floor before bed. One day he woke and put his pants on and then felt what he thought to be a bee string near his scrotum. He said he never got his pants off quicker. What he found was a 4" centipede in his pants. I've hung my pants for the last 35 years.
 
Was sitting smoking a stogie and I noticed an ant come upon a dead roach. Then the ant starting dragging it and actually hoisted it into the air from one end. Probably equivalent to a man dragging a moose around. Brutal strength on a very small scale.
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It seems every year at this time the ants make an unwelcome visit inside the dwellings around here. I don't know the species, but this variety is very tiny. And if I'm not mistaken, the inflict a sharp bite on skin (yesterday I felt an "ouch" between my fingers and found an ant present in that same spot).

Last year, after internet research, I made a sugar water/borax bait. These ants never touched it. They prefer meat/protein over anything sweet. If the dogs leave some dry kibble behind in their feeding bowl, these ants are all over it. And if a dead insect is in the area, they climb all over it and sometimes try to drag it away. So the battle begins.

We had them in Maryland, gave up and hired an exterminator.
 
I don't know what those little ants are called, they are about a 1/4'' long and move in swarms. Their bite is mild. They are fun to watch around a bug or worm. Carpenter ants are black, both large and small, and build their nests in wood. They dig tunnels and chambers in wood that is usually touching the ground. When splitting firewood, they will scatter and hide or bite. And carry their eggs away. I have seen the red/black ants that build mounds on the lawn. A real bad bite. Instant pain. Long lasting. I was sore for a week. Some kind of poison?

Once a year I see ants or termites crawl out of the ground. There is so many of them it looks like the ground is moving, then they fly away.

Have carpenter bees as well.
 
Amazon.com : diatomaceous earth 20 lb bag

Diatomaceous Earth is ground up fossils, from the ocean floor I think. It's like razor blades on ants but humans can actually eat it. Sprinkle this stuff anywhere you want including in your dog's food and watch those little buggers run for your neighbor's!
 
That sounds like fire ants. We use a granule style insecticide. Sprinkle it on the nest and it wastes them all.
 
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D E mine about 30 miles from here. Been mining there since 1893. There was a power plant out in the oil patch that burned D E like coal to produce electricity.
 
Amazon.com : diatomaceous earth 20 lb bag

Diatomaceous Earth is ground up fossils, from the ocean floor I think. It's like razor blades on ants but humans can actually eat it. Sprinkle this stuff anywhere you want including in your dog's food and watch those little buggers run for your neighbor's!

We sprinkle it on our cats food. It wastes fleas.
 
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