How to get rid of ants (Without calling an exterminator)
I Hate Ants.
Eventually, it got so bad that we had to bring in an exterminator. It seemed crazy to hire an exterminator to deal with little sugar ants, but nothing else we tried would work. So we plopped down $100 every three months to keep the ants under control. (It may not have been $100 for each visit — Kris thinks it could have been $300.) It didn’t really help. After the exterminator visited, the ant problem would subside for a couple weeks, but then we’d be right back at war with them again.
Sad but true: the ants were one of the reasons I wanted to move out of that house.
I Hate Ants.
We’ve been lucky at our new house. In the almost four years that we’ve lived here, we haven’t had an ant problem.
Then on Tuesday night, Kris asked, “Why is there an ant highway at the bottom of the stairs?” In our secret couple-language, an “ant highway” is the long teeming swarm of ants running from their point of origin to whatever it is they’ve decided they’re hungry for. Kris followed the ants to their destination; I traced them to their source. They were traveling through four rooms to find their treasure: a sticky mess I had made on the kitchen floor. There were hundreds (thousands?) of ants feasting on a hunk of goo.
I berated the little bastards with colorful euphemisms.
But I didn’t call the exterminator. Kris and I are older and wiser now. We’ve learned that we don’t have to pay $100 to get rid of ants. Instead, we use about one dollar’s worth of a single product: Terro. I hate ants, but I love Terro.
What is Terro?
Terro is essentially borax mixed with sugar water. You can buy a small bottle for about five bucks at your local hardware store or supermarket. 
Is it possible to spend even less to get rid of ants? The Frugal Life has a large list of tips for getting rid of ants. Kris and I have tried most of these. They didn’t work for us. Some of them (like cinnamon or cayenne pepper or soap) deterred the ants for a while or thwarted their immediate goal, but they didn’t actually address the root problem, which is the fact that we had a nest (or two) of ants outside our house. Terro does this. And for whatever reason, we’ve never had luck spraying the little critters with Raid (or other chemicals). (Though doing so is very cathartic.)
Yes, this post reads like a product endorsement. I don’t care. Nobody paid me to write this. I’m just grateful for a product that can save me so much money. And kill the damn bastards that invade my home.
Flickr photo by sbfisher.
Addendum: I have the best readers in the world. Your comments are great. And, via Michael, here’s a short story called “Leinegen Versus the Ants”. Those of us who have been there can sympathize!
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There are 251 comments to "How to get rid of ants (Without calling an exterminator)".
I HATE ANTS!!
We had this exact same problem! I was away on business and talking to my wife on the phone. She heard our 19month old daughter in the den yelling uck! uck! uck!
My wife ran in and found ants everywhere! Of course there was nothing I could do at the time so she had her father come over and spray RAID everywhere. along the inside basement foundation. This was a month ago, and so far no more ants! If they comeback, I’m “looking forward” to trying out the Terro!
So, is your wife completely unable to kill ants herself? Jeez.
She probably wanted to take her child out of the house…and you care why?
We have tried everything and nothing is getting rid of them. Raid Borax and other products are not working now what?
I tried Advion Ant gel and it worked like a charm, they come running out all over it eat and disappear, you just have to have some patience, if theres alot of colonies you need to apply more often. I got it under control in 3 days and have not seen an ant in several months. Just follow the instructions on application. It is far less toxic to humans than raid.
I am sending this to my parents, who wage a huge New Mexico war against ants each year. Although, if it works I’m not sure what my dad will find to do with his time.
Thank you!
Um, JD? When I get ants, I usually find that it’s something I forgot to clean up, so I just make sure to scrub the kitchen down. Cleanliness is next to antlessness, as they say.
You want to know what freaks me out, however? I live in a really nice garden level apartment, very dry, large and plentiful window, hardwood floors. It’s beautiful. Except every other month, I find a BIG EARTHWORM writhing on my carpet. I have no idea where they come from, but man, they give me the screaming phantoids.
I just finished spraying all those pesty little critters in my kitchen. apparently they like the brand of cat food I get. I’m going to the store NOW to get Terro!
Getting rid of the food/sticky-stuff-on-the-floor that the ants are eating is a surprisingly effective tactic–and it’s free…
I read somewhere that if you put water in an old tin – like a tuna can – and put that under the legs of a table, the ants can’t get to the table. Of course, the ants can take over the rest of the house…
p.s. That photo is going to give me nightmares! 🙂
Rather than spend money on boric acid, try $.02 worth of corn meal! Sprinkle corn meal wherever you see ants. They take it back into the hills, everyone eats it, it swells up and kills them. No more ants. No harm to pets or children. No toxins to clean up. Just a Momma’s tip.
Yeah, tried this, it DID NOT WORK. Believe me, I take care of my elderly stroke-victim mother in her own home, to make sure that she gets the care that she needs, NOT what is provided at a nursing care facility. She has to wear disposable underwear & we have pads on her bed, so we have a problem with ants, but I didn’t want to put out poison, as we have pets & small nieces & nephews that frequently visit. I was told about the corn meal method, tried it for an entire month, but would come in & find my mother CRAWLING with ants. Maybe for a small ant infestation, but I finally used Terro & got rid of ’em. Should have done it sooner!
I tried it and it did not work at all. The stuff was terrible, what a waste of money. I went back on this site and realized that this reading was AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR TERRO!! WAKE UP EVERYONE THIS IS A PAID SPONSORSHIP.
Taro does not work.
I have used many bottles of Taro in an attempt to do away with the sweet-loving ants that infest my house. As yet I have had only limited temporary success on occasion.
I hat ants and truly want to destroy the colony. Taro does not work.
Why such an angry response just because it didn’t work for you? Methinks she doth protest too much. Maybe it works for some but not others, it’s cheap… I think worth a shot.
Ant Hater, maybe it didn’t work for you because taro is a root vegetable used to make poi. Terro is liquid ant bait. Try that, not a tropical potato.
We’ve had an infestation of two types. Ghost (little white/beige butts) and regular black ants. Instead of buying that Terra – which is borax and sugar water, I bought Borax and mixed it with double amount of sugar. ie. half cup of borax 1 cup of sugar and the same amount of water as the borax – so in this example half cup of water. boil the mixture down – if there’s too much borax, the ants sense it and won’t eat. It took about 3 days for the black ants. now the ghost ants are eating up. I’m going to change out to peanut butter and borax as some ants like protein.
Now when you say boil the mixture down how long do I boil it? It’s been on for a few minutes now and was turned a dark yellow color after being very clear
Try talcum powder (or even talcum deodorant for hard to get places). It keeps the ants out and is more environmentally friendly and cheaper.
tried to talc/baby powder….it doesn’t keep them away
My product that I swear by, not just for ants, but for any hard-shelled pest, is diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle that liberally around, sit back, and wait. Pests crawl over it, it makes cuts in their carapace, and they die of dehydration — the pest equivalent of bleeding out. Best of all, it’s not poisonous, so perfectly safe for areas where food, pets, and children need to co-exist with it.
Agreed! DE (diatomaceous earth) is a fabulous solution for anyone who wants a foolproof pest-fighter that is actually safe enough to eat *and* costs way less than an exterminator.
Caveat: You must buy food-grade DE (available on Amazon), not pool-grade. The difference is in the much higher percentage of cancer-causing silica in the pool grade. Food grade is safe to eat, breathe, touch, and even rub on your pets in flea season.
I am interacting with one “Wizzie” Brown who is A&M Extension Service – she says DE is not greatly effective for the S. Invicta that I am fighting though says that Laundry Grade Borate – Borax, or sodium tetraborate; Must be applied in a sheen that ants will eventually carry into the nest; For the species I am battling the mound is only a trash-dump and they come up just where ever they please
Thanks. I’ve had to use something similar but more chemical in nature. Same basic principle. Raid is a temporary and worthless solution because it doesn’t destroy the nest. (We get them in the walls here in my apartment building.)
I put the solution near their entrance and then use my special technique to get rid of the invaders: The vacuum.
If your vacuum is the least bit powerful, the suction will kill the ants. Killed and cleaned in one swoop, no chemicals.
I’ve had luck with lavender as a spider repellent (damn things like to show up on the wall next to my bed and scare the bejesus out of me) and I’ve read that bay leaves are also effective if left on windowsills.
Lavender is also a good alternative to cedar protecting wool items from the dreaded moths. I knew there was a reason it was one of my favorite scents.
Thanks for the giggle….u sound like me 🙂
I have the little tiny black ants. I find them on my kitchen counter. Can’t find where they are coming from. I have tried borax mixture, terro, corn meal, cinnimon oil. Nothing works except orkin and I cant afford them. I had ants in the past and all of the above worked, but they were the larger variety. These ants are so tiny they are hard to see. I need something guys! I’ll try anything, even an exorcisim if it will work.
I’m not a violent person, but there is nothing that gives me more glee than watching an ant die. Or carry poison back to their home. We’ve battled them, too, and I’m totally on board with the Terro inside, and we use the diatomaceous earth on the outside (Make sure it stays dry!).
I hate ants. We had them so badly at this house, I would wake up during the night and fling off my covers and turn on all the lights, because I was dreaming that they were crawling all over me.
I hate ants.
As I write this I am looking at about 800 small tiny ants on my window seal eating Tero. I have been fighting them since mid April in in WV. It is now mid October and the temperature is about 50 degrees but they wont give up. Through all this misery I had to tell you I never laughed so hard when you said you felt them crawling on you and threw off your blankets because that’s exactly what I did 2 nights ago.
I’m with Cairsten. Diatomaceous earth is basically ground up fossils, but so fine that it won’t harm your pets or kids. Kind of like eating dirt. I’ve sprinkled it around the baseboards of the house and nary a pest in site (works well for roaches!).
Cats are also good pest catchers…
I agree with Momma. We used grits for ants–just sprinkle it on top of the ant hill. Very effective and cheap!
what a great post! thanks for the info!!!
Thanks for the great tip! We actually get hobo spiders where we are. We have an exterminator that uses organic chemicals come and treat the inside and outside of our home to keep the arachnids out. I think it’s been keeping the ants out, too.
Terro works wonders for me. Just have to watch the beagle around it.
And keeping a clean kitchen and having well-sealed doors and windows is key to preventing the problem in the first place, but not everyone has those luxuries…
If you can find their nest, boiling water works wonders. Just boil up a pot of water and dump it on the nest. They’ll cook up in a matter of seconds and be gone. Not to mention it’s safe for the kids, the dog, the cat, the hamster. Just keep them away for a bit until it cools off.
Haha! I take it you don’t like ants JD.
Starving Artist, how in the world does an earthworm get in your house?
The worse problem that I had was a small snake in the middle of my dining room floor. That was scary.
Terro, huh? Sounds much cheaper than the Sevendust I’ve been using. Sevendust definitely does the trick, but at $5 a bag, Terro’s got it beat.
Thanks for the tip!
Momma – good suggestion. Seeing as the cornbread I make is not edible, I may as well give the cornmeal to the ants.
Im glad I found this. Its a broken record, I have ants AGAIN! The numbers are biblical. Terro did kill them when they came in, but they just keep coming! I clean up piles of em, but it never stops until winter. Got a few ideas from here, CORN MEAL, who knew? Wish I knew that a few years and a few hundred dollars ago. Im trying that TODAY!
Thanx, to the author of this site. You ROCK!
Rob in Lexington, Il.
The Terro liquid worked for us, except for one persistent, recurring nest where we had to use the Terro ant dust. I wasn’t too happy about it, since it’s poisonous, but the liquid just didn’t do it. The ant dust solved the problem within a few hours.
I live in Texas and my house came with every pest known to man. Roaches, termites, various kinds of ants, spiders: big and hairy or small, slugs, gecos, lizards and my favorite, the snake.
The termites were treated before I moved in, no activity, they’re gone. Then one kind of ant moves into their old homes. Sugar ants appear in the kitchen. Slugs (in a drawer? WTF?) won’t go away. The pink, small gecos are fine. They give my cats entertainment. The larger lizards scare the cats. The dead baby copperhead in my kitchen….um…. not a fan of that one by any means. The adult live ones in the yard? Yea….. I don’t go in my yard at night.
But the roaches? Blech. These things can fly and I can spot them across the room without my glasses (I’m 20/200). I’ve got the chemical treatment. Keeps them at bay and they show up dead. The treatment doesn’t kill any of the other things that make my house ‘alive’.
I will try the stuff described though, on the other various things in my house.
And this post was quite funny.
Sounds like you’ve got some real problems! I have a recurring ant problem, and the Terro cut them down majorly last year, but they have come back in force this spring. I’m back to using terro, and am going to get some boric acid and make a little stronger batch (I’ll get those little bastards) and see what happens. On red ants I used some yellow crystals of ant poison (can’t remember the name) and they would kill multiple colonies within 2 hours, but the little house ants were too small to deal with it so it didn’t work for them. But not to worry, I WILL FIND THEIR WEAKNESS!!!
If Terro is borax + sugar, can you just make your own cheaper?
Yes, you can make your own Borax and sugar. You mix it with a little water. The ants will come to it and after about 3 days, they begin to dwindle. I’ve used Terro. Not sure if it’s more effective than my mix. I need to try it again.
my grandmother swears by terro. we haven’t had ant problems too much- but i’m a super neat freak and all food items are stored in airtight containers.
(we had various food contamination problems when i was a kid…)
My favorite and affordable product is called “Grants Kills Ants” You stick it in the ground or behind an appliance along the “Ant Highway” and they start eating the jelly contained inside the metal casing. That jelly has poison in it and they carry it back to the hive and eat it, and since ants eat their dead, it spreads quickly.
The entry hole to the jelly is too small for pets or children. but you should be careful regardless.
Made me laugh…can almost feel your frustration JD
Terro rules! I had the same problem about 10 years and nothing worked. I’ve been using it since then.
Okay, wise guys. Obviously my messiness is the source of the ants, at least in this case. (When we lived at the old house, they had a super-human (or super-antian) ability to get into anything food related.) And cleaning the mess up does make it so they’re not clustered in that spot. But they’re still always scouting for more stuff in their nefarious ant-like ways. Ugh, I hate them.
@Momma
Does the cornmeal really work? I hadn’t heard that one before. It sounds like it’s an urban myth. But if you promise me you’ve tried it, I might take a chance. 🙂
fiveberries wrote: I’m not a violent person, but there is nothing that gives me more glee than watching an ant die.
HA! I agree. I’m a pacifist by breeding, but not when it comes to ants. (My brother feels the same way about spiders.)
Gwen’s “slugs in a drawer” and Starving Artist’s “earthworm on a carpet” had me busting a gut.
Steve wrote: If Terro is borax + sugar, can you just make your own cheaper? Yes, if we had borax. But then that’s too much work. For some things, I’m willing to pay the money. $5 for a bottle of Terro that lasts us a couple years is perfectly fine by me. Call me unfrugal if you must, but it works, and I love it.
I hate ants.
Great comments so far! 🙂
How ironic…we have a really bad ant problem here too. I went outside and poisoned all the nests I could find, but these things will not subside. I’ve tried all my usual tactics and nothing. So today my Mom says that she got some new stuff for me to try. And guess what it is? Terro. I had never heard of it until today and now you write this little post on it. Last I had checked, one ant was eating it, but I’m hoping they give in to peer pressure…all the cool ants are eating it. 🙂
I feel like I should have a “Get Rich Slowly product page” where I hawk those things I feel most strongly about. Like Terro. And, well, Terro. (Have I really raved about another item before? The Kill-a-Watt electricity usage meter? Programmable thermostats? Surely there’ve been a couple of other things?)
Thanks for the tip. We get an occasional visit from tiny ants every now and then, usually for the same reason (someone, usually me, spilled something). I’ll have to give this a shot next time.
Any idea if this is pet safe? Some stuff is okay after it dries. Perhaps not with the Borax.
I like this bit from Amazon: “Attracts and kills all common household ants including argentine ants, ghost ants, cornfield ants, pavement ants, acrobat ants, white footed ants, little black ants, odorous house ants, crazy ants, big headed ants and other sweet eating ants.”
I think I’d keep the acrobat ants. No thanks on the crazy ants or ghost ants.
-John
Oh, I hear ya! Last year, we just about went NUTS trying to get rid of the ants that invaded every single freaking night without fail. Like you, we eventually found something that worked, but we found another cheap solution as well: We used that blue painters’ tape to seal off every point of entry we could find. We just didn’t want any kind of chemicals *in* the house because we had a young child who was still crawling then. Using the tape inside and the pesticides outside worked like a charm.
Does anyone have thoughts about cheap ways to kill cockroaches? Killing them slowly and painfully would be most satisfying, but really anything that will keep them from coming back is good.
@JD,
Would you include Bacon Salt on the product page? My life has been changed for the better from buying Bacon Salt on your recommendation.
Bay leaves repelled cockroaches for me.
I moved into a new apt and they bombed to no avail. Someone told me to break large leaves into 2-3 pieces and toss around…after less than a day I didn’t see any. I now have them all around the house in conspicuous spots. (Behind beds, dressers, tv centers, under couches etc.) Every 3 mos or so I vacuum up the old ones and put out new ones. Going on 4 yrs and never seen one. You can buy them in bulk and makes it cheap.
***Bay leaves are poisonous if consumed (for humans at least)
Thank you! Thank you! I am totally stopping at Lowe’s on my way home.
now if someone can just tell me how to get rid of the squirrels in my attic 🙁
At our other house we were surrounded by black walnut trees. The squirrels thought the house was a den ….they cost us thousands of dollars in damage and exterminators ….UNTIL I bought a trap….I filled a garbage can with water…trapped the squirrel ….with gloves on I picked up the trap and put it in the water filled garbage can put the lid on the can. after a while I got rid of the dead squirrel and repeated the action over and over again…..when a squirrel was in the trap all the other squirrels stayed far away….
J.D., don’t forget Bacon Salt.
I recommend everyone who dislikes ants read the short story, “Leiningen versus the Ants.”
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who did like ants. I am so thankful for the advice, I have a roommate who has a bad habit of leaving plates of food on our kitchen counter. He might as well be inviting the buggers in through the front door!
Ha! Terro is great! A couple summers ago I told my sister about our ant problem, and she gave me those pre-filled plastic Terro traps. It wasn’t sugar ants we had; it was these giant ants that just roamed the house. I’m used to sugar ants being attracted to stuff I leave out, but that didn’t appear to be the motivation behind these giant black ants wandering around and freaking me out. Their nest was somewhere in the walls of our house. I found a higher-traffic area, set out one of the traps, and pretty soon, the entire plastic trap was filled with these ants trampling each other into the goo. When the gel ran out, they left for home… and then … I never saw them again. Wheeeee!
By the way, J.D., you can’t forget to put bacon salt on your “GRS product page”.
Since I already use borax for cleaning and laundry, I just mix it up with some peanut butter and put it in an area my cat can’t get to. The ants will swarm on the paste for about a day, but after that, no more ants.
I also spray Poison-Free Ant and Roach spray by Victor (a cedar-based product) in those areas that my cat can get to (like near his food bowl). Not as effective as borax in the long term, but keeps the ants away for a day or two.
Hmm, I hadn’t heard of this product yet! Baby powder has worked tirelessly for me, though I’ve never had such a large crowd of ants.
We buy a big bag of generic powdered sugar and a box of Borax (found in the laundry detergent aisle). You mix equal parts (usually a tsp.) together and put into a lid (from the recycle bin of course). Then put it where the ants are. No liquid, easy peasy. No more ants.
Plus, it is cheap.
When I started reading the post, I thought “I wonder if he’s tried Terro”! I completely agree with the recommendation of Terro. The first day or so you’ll see the huge pile of ants at the Terro, streaming to and from the nest, and think “What have I done?”, but just wait, you’ll be happy.
As to the recommendation to try to make your own, I tried that before I found Terro (I didn’t know until this post that it was borax), and it didn’t work for me. For $5 for a bottle that will last for years, I’ll go with the Terro.
Terro is the bomb! I’ve used it myself and it works. I used to live on an anthill, in an apartment, so no matter how clean I was, it didn’t matter because one of the neighbors would always invite the damn little super-human ants in. My roommate really hated ants.
I just hated the mess. And I abhor RAID and other sprays…
Wow! I have never heard of Terro! I wish I had! Luckily, we haven’t had any ant problems in this house either, but I’m right there with you on the hatred of ants. Ugh.
Hee! I loved this post. My family have been waging wars against ants as long as I can remember. I now live on the 8th floor and apparently the little blighters are too lazy to walk up that high, but I dread the day I’ll have to live near the ground again. My mother has tried just about everything, but I’ll copy down all these tips in case there’s something new.
Josh (#5) wrote: “I read somewhere that if you put water in an old tin – like a tuna can – and put that under the legs of a table, the ants can’t get to the table. ”
Heh, this is second nature at my mothers place now. It works, if you don’t mind your house looking a bit odd. At mum’s the butter sits in a butter dish in a bowl of water. Biscuits cooling from the oven sit on their cooling rack over a tray of water. The dog food is in a bowl in the middle of a bigger bowl of water (the cat has 5 minutes to eat and then all her leftovers go in a jar for later). You don’t need to leave messes for them, once they’ve discovered your home they’ll chase after EVERYTHING.
Great post JD… I too am mostly a pacifist (I even feel kind of bad when my mom kills the snails in her garden, even though I understand why she has to do it), but nothing creeps me out quite like an ant-swarm >:(
My husband and I have been dealing with ants lately, and the Terro works wonders… ironically, in response to those who post about “keeping the area clean”? Our ants have completely ignored ALL of our food mess, and are going straight for water! So now we give them tasty poison to drink instead >:)
I am a big fan of the Terro pre-filled traps myself. I have had little ant-motels by Raid and Contact, and other companies, but most ants here (Phoenix, AZ) are attracted to them. Insert Terro, and I don’t have any more issues.
I on the other hand, would love to hear what people use for scorpions. We see them inside at least once a week and the little buggers hurt. We use a black light + raid outside on our cinderblock walls to kill the ones we find, but we are losing the war.
The ONLY thing that really works is to kill a ton of them all along the path where they are traveling. I just use a piece of paper and put it on top of the trail and smash them and leave their dead bodies there. They will all be gone in several days. I’ve tried everything and this works every time and it’s VERY cheap!!!!! The other ants quickly get the message and stay away.
I have ants in my bathroom!! I have no idea how or why they are there but they are so annoying. Thanks for this tip!! 🙂
$33 a month isn’t bad. That’s a little cheaper than I pay for my exterminator. They come once a quarter, and I don’t have to ever see any bugs. I consider it part of the cost of owning a house.
It seems to me that the Terro product is a bit of a rip off when you can buy a box of borax in the laundry section of your grocery store, mix it with icing sugar, and put it out for the ants. We had a very bad ant problem when we used to rent an older house and this took care of it for good.
My wife moved out of our last house for a few different reasons, but one of the main reasons for her was our recurring ant problem. So far, so good in the new house!
hey daniel, with respect to squirrels in your attic: when i was a kid, we got racoons in our attic, and the dnr told us to put a radio up there, turn it on really loud, and leave it there. we did this, took off for a day, and the racoons were gone when we came back. i don’t know if it would work for squirrels?
Started reading Leiningen vs the Ants and it triggered flashbacks of this movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047264/
Haven’t actually tried it myself, but as Momma suggested, I just read about the cornmeal trick the other day myself at http://kitsapsoundings.blogspot.com/2008/04/more-helpful-tips.html
I know I’ll sound like a freak, but that’s a lot of animal lives to take. And they really weren’t hurting you or doing anything harmful. How about instead of killing thousands of animals, we all try not to leave sticky messes in our houses? 🙂 Your spouse will probably be happier with you, too!
If your house is made of wood, carpenter ants can be much more than just a creepy nuisance. They eat wood, and you almost never see them inside your house; only outside, on the house or near the foundation. They can do as much damage as termites (though it usually takes longer). So keep an eye out for them or you might find your beams starting to crumble!
I am a clean freak… and I have ants. Sorry everyone, but even clean folks get ants. And once they’ve found you, you can’t live clean enough to keep them out. We’ve repainted rooms, we’ve emptied the entire kitchen for three months and then restocked it with air-tight containers, we’ve recaulked every window, tile, shower, etc. seam we could find, we’ve scrubbed our baseboards, we’ve tried cornmeal, we’ve tried exterminators (still on contract – they come sometimes twice a week)… we haven’t used terro yet but you can bet we will as soon as stores open in the morning.
Like another poster mentioned, ants are not even always after food – they’re after water. We’ve had exterminators coming for over a year and still can’t get rid of the ants (they’re completely stumped on why they’re so impossible here – our home is only a few years old).
The other day, I went to get my baby from her nap and her room was covered by thousands of ants (and I had never seen even one in there before). I was beside myself and in tears calling our exterminator to come immediately. I wondered – what could it be? Their answer – her humidifier. The moisture and the heat from the motor. Are you freaking kidding me? So, to those who think ants just love messy folks – nope, also poor kids with stuffy noses who need humidifiers. Really, after a year of exterminator service, I don’t care how humane my approach is. I don’t care if I have to move out for a month, put a tent on our house, and soak the place in poison. No one can find the nests, they have no idea where they’re coming from. I will do whatever it takes.
I live in Hawaii–everyone, no matter how clean, how sealed their home is, has ants. It’s a fact of life, and better than the other infestations common here (such as spiders the size of your face and footlong centipedes). My husband and I live in a newish military house here, and our tactic is: geckos. We try to keep a gecko or two inside the house–I’m actually not sure if geckos actually eat the ants, but they keep down the population somehow. And, they’re free! (Plus, I hear they can save us a lot on our car insurance, or would, if we drove).
Also, we’ve learned to just deal with the inevitability of ants as much as possible. There’ve been bad times–I once discovered a swarm coming from the light in our bedroom, which covered our ceiling in big black spots, and yesterday they ruined all the juice I had stored in our pantry–but it’s not awful, for the most part.
Plus, we live in Hawaii. Complaining about ants seems pretty petty, given the benefits to living here (and they’re not nearly as expensive a hazard as groceries…$8/gallon of milk, anyone?).
Well, making your own Terro would be a good use for using up the other half of the box of Borax you bought if you were to make your own laundry detergent as described in the Simple Dollar…
I have no alternatives to suggest.
Just want to say thanks to you and the all the other commenters’ for their suggested alernatives.
Will look for Terro first. Not sure if they have the product in our part of the world. Could be in another name.
We moved about one year ago – from a flat on the third floor with no insects whatsoever to a lovely two-story house. Which had a lot more space than our old place, great bathroom (that my wife really loves), and ants.
We don’t hate ants. We just don’t want to share our house with them. So we tried ant traps. We tried poison – albeit sparingly, given that our younger cat is quite fond of ants. They just kept on coming.
After a bit of detective work, I’ve found their (single) entry point. It was a fissure in the doorstep of the one door we never use, about 4mm diameter. We tried blocking that too – with everything from quick-dry cement to SuperGlue – only to find our small black friends either boring through the blockage or (in the SuperGlue case) digging around it.
In the end, on the advice of my mother, we placed one copper coin on top of the ant hole. One cent was the price we had to pay for ant freedom. We didn’t even glue it in place; just placed on top of the doorstep and forced the door closed on top of it. We haven’t seen an ant since – and it’s been almost a year.
It seems ants really really HATE the taste of copper.
> … you take a business card …
A perfect opportunity to put one of those credit cards to good use, I should think!
Having a small dog that sniffs/licks EVERYTHING and two small children, what I found out that works best for us is baby powder!
We used to get ants every spring/summer like clockwork until I started sprinkling baby powder everywhere and then they disappeared!
Hi Anthony,
I have no idea when you posted, as there are no dates showing but I wanted to let you know BABY POWDER is toxic. You and your dog do ”not” want to be breathing it.
If you want another powder that’s effective without the chemical fumes, use Diatomaceous Earth or Boric Acid. Lots of sites with helpful information.
This has been a very interesting,but can you tell me if this works on Georgia fire ants? Not only are their mound huge I am very allergic to their bite.
JD, I would LOVE to see a product page from you!!!
Thanks for the tips on ants, too. We have an exterminator; it’s worth the price to me. Our house backs up to a very pretty but incredibly BUGGY meadow. We had too many kinds of bugs to mention here. We were losing the game, so we brought in the special teams — $60 every quarter, after an initial $110 treatment. Worth every cent, in my book.
Love this post, but what about outside. I live in Canada and believe that my house resides on top of the Canadian Headquarters for ants. We can’t get a good lawn, they do find their way just inside my front door, but don’t have a problem in the house, just the odd one. My problem is really outside. I get up every morning to at least 15 anthills rebuilt on my stone walkway. Any suggestions. Barb
Ooh! I read Leiningen in middle school. I forgot how good it is, and that’s coming from someone who’s terrified of bugs.
I hate that picture. We’ve used similar stuff to this for ants successfully before. I don’t have an ant problem at the moment, but my house is invaded by slugs every night (never see them, just the trails). Not sure how they get in, or how to get rid of them.
we had the same problem- you know what worked for us? We put a composter in our back yard- now the ants do not go into our house, they go to the composter! Of course this doesn’t actually *kill* the ants…
I wonder if Terro and Bacon Salt would work better for the ants in JD’s house… :p
This actually just happened to me this week. Those little jerks ruined the dinner rolls I was saving and now its time to strike back! Thank you!
We tried the cornmeal thing with no luck. We suffered with ant infestations for years at our townhouse and now at our single-family house(they followed us!), and nothing worked until we got the Terro.
I’m late to the conversation, but last year ants were parading to our dog’s food bowl in the kitchen. We sprinkled a thick line of cinnamon across the threshold where they were coming in, and they quailed before it. (You could watch them walk up to it, pace around and give up.) Easy, cheap and not harmful to the dog himself.
I recommend a flamethrower. Torch the little bastards!
I *love* Terro. I have the same hatred of ants that many here do, and it’s the one thing I’ve found that really works.
One thing that I like about Terro is that it you can get it pre-mixed inside little plastic packages that the ants crawl into. More expensive than making my own out of Borax, certainly, but it also allows me to keep the stuff safely out of range of my cats, who eat everything and tend to disperse powder-based solutions while running around (cinnamon, baby powder, etc).
I have a fear of ants, apparently borne of two experiences: one, standing in a fire ant pile when I was two or three, screaming and not moving as they crawled all over me, and two, falling out of the truck on my first day in first grade at a new school IN SHORTS into an ant bed.
I am scarred for life. At least I don’t remember the first event. Now that my apartment has ants, I’m definitely going to get me some Terro!
Wow, this post has great timing. I’m just starting to see a few ants inside my apartment and I’ve been contemplating how to launch my attack without killing the cat at the same time. I’m going to try a few tips listed here!
I seem to have attracted a large amount of ladybirds lately. Every morning I wake up and there are three or four on the window, and at night there seem to be three buzzing round the light bulb! I have tried hoovering them up (I always feel so mean when I do that!!!) but they always come back. I have taped up the windows so I am not sure exactly how they get in. Slightly cuter than ants, but still pesty!
We had a horrible ant problem in our last house. They first discovered our house because of the cat food dishes. Fortunately, I already kept the dishes in a plastic tray (I am convinced you cannot teach a cat to eat neatly – they either will or they won’t), so I filled the entire tray with 1/2″ of water and put all the dishes in that so there was a moat. Ta da! No more ants around the food. But then the little bastards found the kitchen (roommate who couldn’t keep his dishes clean) and from there it was a losing battle till winter.
One of the things that we found only worked a little but was extremely satisfying to watch was Lysol. I don’t like having it in the house normally, but one of my housemates had a can of it, and after she was cleaning up in the kitchen, out of sheer frustration she sprayed the ants with the lysol. Seriously, it’s one of the single most satisfying ant experiences — they die instantly. INSTANTLY. Where once you had a trail of ants marching towards something edible, you now have a string of ant corpses, which are easily wiped up with a paper towel.
If anyone reads down this far .. don’t just blame messiness. I swear my fam got to be neurotic about cleaning up every crumb and wiping down everything with bleach and STILL the little buggers would be there as if to welcome us in the morning. Finally, we sprinkled borax on the outside of the window and no more ants .. sounds like terro might be the perfect thing for our new problem .. random ants in an inside bathroom. We can’t figure out where the things are coming from .. ugh!
In North Carolina, fire ants are moving farther up. For the house, I spray some bug barrier stuff around the foundation, windows, and doors once every other month (You can find this by asking for a chemical that would kill everything besides humans and cats). For my yard, I use something Spectricide makes I call “Ant Treat”. I have no idea what it’s really called, but THEY seem to love it. I certainly don’t want to deprive them of that joy.
about roaches,
i used to work in a cafeteria as a dishwasher on my old college campus for a couple of years. the head dishwasher old man and i were talking one day about the roaches they have there and that it didnt matter if they sprayed, they would just come back. he told me his trick on how to get rid of roaches, in a cruel and punishing way.
you fill the cap from a gallon of milk halfway with either baking soda or baking powder (i dont remember which), then top it off with sugar. the sugar attracts the roaches, they eat through it and into the baking soda or powder. that causes a chemical reaction in their stomach and the gases can’t escape. you’ll wake up in the morning and see blown up roach parts all over within a five foot radius.
no joke, i had the old man leave them for me to see since i didnt believe him. i suggest putting down newspaper for easy cleanup.
@Kerstin, #78 – find out where the ladybugs are coming from! I once had an infestation in my windows, and it was the most disgusting and horrifying thing ever. Individually, they’re cute. By the thousands, they smell and are revolting. Ugh!
All the commentors should go spend some time in tropical Africa. We had army ant battalions that were five feet wide and hundreds of feet long. Must have been millions of ants, and they ate everything they found – snakes, scorpions, goats, etc etc. Heebeejeebees.
Timeliest. Post. Ever.
I came home yesterday to 20 ants (that I could see) crawling around the door in my kitchen. And where there’s 20 … there’ll be a lot more. (*Shudder*) Buying the Terro today.
Thanks JD!
We have lots of ant’s in our area, and I was so glad the year I discovered Terro. IT IS AMAZING!!!
Yup. I read the headline and thought Terro. In fact, if you had come up with some other solution, I would have said, “Forget that, use Terro!”
Although… Sugar ants do have their plus sides. I read a story a little while ago about a guy that spilled his favorite soft drink into his keyboard. Usually (most always), this will not break your keyboard, but it did make it sticky, so keys wouldn’t release. Pretty soon, the ant highway was running right into the keyboard, and in a day or two, it was good as new.
Yeah, need something for the fire ants. Have tried boiling water, spectricide, everything. Even got desperately stupid once and poured gasoline on several mounds. Grass never came back, nothing there but bare ground. corn meal work on them? We’ve got 6 acres, so have quite a few of the buggers.
Beth in Georgia
Eeeeekkkk!!!
ants: Grants works for the ants that will go for it, but diatomaceous earth is cheaper and so safe it’s edible. If you have a large invasion force, also put a half cup of sugar outdoors near where they are coming in, to get them out of the house first.
roaches: powdered boric acid wherever they run. Try to keep it away from cat areas.
nothing else I’ve ever tried worked for these pests, but I have not tried the cornmeal or baby powder yet.
Last summer, we had an ant problem. But having a toddler who puts everything in his mouth, I set out to find a chemical-free solution. I posted what I found here, but I ended up using a mixture of cayenne and cinnamon at the entry point, and that worked. Honestly, I battled up until we had a little rain, then they were gone. My husband (from Ireland…land o’ rain) says the rain always seems to get rid of ants. Go figure.
As clean as you are, ants will find you. And once they do, I swear there’s no kind way to get rid of them. On that note, boric acid is toxic, but only in larger quantities. You might even find it’s an ingredient in your contact lens solution.
When we had a cat, we created a mote, like Megan. In a large bowl or tray (though not so big that she couldn’t reach), we added water, then placed half a brick in the center. We placed the dish on the brick. Problem solved.
JD,
Please contact us directly at TERRO. Our toll free phone number is:
1.800.837.7644
Or email us at:
[email protected]
You can also check out our other products:
http://www.wrsweeney.com
http://www.deerfortress.com
Thanks,
Your Friends at TERRO
Terro has been a God-send! Especially since its hard to come by Borax in my part of the woods where its a controlled chemical 🙂
However, I’ve encountered a nest of ants (the red kind with a very painful bite) that proved too smart for it.
After a half hour from placing the Terro liquid, i found that the little buggers got a whole bunch of loose soil from the garden and built a DAM around the Terro puddle.
I’ll try that Terro ant dust you mentioned if i can find it.
Terro is great but eventually we get a new infestation every couple of weeks. I think the problem is these Argentinian ants. Their queens live in harmony with one another, so one nest can have several queens. Rumor has it there an enormous interconnected Argentinian ant colony that covers the entire Southwestern United States.
I feel like we’ve been battling this same colony for a couple of years now. Maybe everyone can Terro their ant problems at once, and we might make a dent in the population…
I agree. I’ve used Terro for years with wonderful success. Glad you found it helpful as well.
JD, thanks for writing this. The language you used… cathartic, colorful euphemisms, … made it a truly enjoyable read. I chuckled through the whole thing.
Great stuff man, great stuff.
Now what would be really great is if you can post on how to get rid of *aunts*… 😉
Thank you for the recommendation — I just bought one and have arranged a trial run, so to speak — my family and I usually spend our entire summer waging a ruthless war with the ants which seem to never die and have infested our home and our garden. I hope this will be the “nuclear option” which finally knocks them out.
I do have one question — is it necessary to re-apply the liquid again and again?
In California – where the ants are – the termites aren’t. As long as I don’t have to deal with ant highways in the house I’ll take ants over termites any day.
I take the same approach as on eo fthe previous posters. Track down where they are coming in from and tape it off. My previous house had a lot of tape behind outlet plates and light switch plates. 🙂
@ trb
They seem to be collonising the area outside my bedroom window. And they are a very unusual mix – big, small, black with red spots, and red with black spots. I have given up for the moment and sort of hoping the wintery weather conditions we’re having in London atm will kill them off. Still, if this article is to be believed, they may be with us for some time!http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/display.var.572476.0.0.php?act=complaint&cid=1219968
I live in a neighborhood in southern CA where Argentine ants is a continuing problem. I have a 3-pronged solution to the ants and haven’t had a major invasion in several years now. It is 1) Terro traps indoors when we see more than a scout, 2) Triazicide outdoors – total yard coverage and surrounding the house (zero tolerance!) anytime I see a scout indoors or a trail outdoors near the house. 3) any food-related trash goes into a bag in the freezer until trash day and then goes outside in the bin. I was worried when we got (indoor) cats about a year ago that the ants would be a problem with their food bowls, but it hasn’t so far.
Living in Florida, ants are a problem. Terro works well. I also spray outside at the base of the house, doors and windows. Sometimes we still get them but we don’t get roaches. We removed all of the molding throughout the house, put in boric acid, replaced the molding and never had another roach, otherwise known as palmetto bug down here, again. Best thing we ever did.
Rosemary
http://her-home-blog.com
I have also used Terro before in the past. But this one came in its on thingy. So all u had to do was open it and set it out. Just don’t tip it over. Just writing about this is giving me the chill bumps! YUK I hate ants! We have lived in this house for a year. No problems what so ever with ants. Hadn’t seen the first one, until a couple of days ago. So I have to make a trip to town to get some Terro! Lets just say my son grabbed the pie from the fridge and left it on the counter. I just walked in the kitchen and ants were everywhere. I about died!
I have tried other things in the past.. None seemed to work… Until Terro!
I lived in the Caribbean where there are ants of all sizes and colors. I had an “ants in space” program. They would parade on the deck rail which was several hundred feet above the ground. I’d take a BIG BREATH and blow them off! What satisfaction, but didn’t affect ants in the house. We kept EVERYTHING edible in the fridge.
I’ve been waging war with ants for about two weeks now. I’m fairly certain that I’ve lost a little bit of my sanity over the ordeal. Luckily, I found this article a couple days back after a google search. I bought the little Terro ant baits (4 pack for $4)at Wal-Mart yesterday. Best purchase ever!! Admittedly, it was very satisfying to watch the little b*stards eating the poison all day yesterday. Bring that bacon home to mama, you little f*@&#rs. There were thousands of them! When I awoke today there were maybe one or two stragglers (out of thousands) climbing the wall. They’ll be dead soon. I only used one bait, so for a $1 this is the best purchase I have ever made. Thanks Terro and a bigger thanks to the writers of this blog!! I recommend the pre-filled baits… so cheap, easy, and no mess.
I live in an older house that was converted into apartments, and I have a 9 week old kitten.
Recently I’ve noticed random ants in the kitchen, and I’ve taken joy in crushing them beneath my shoe. However last night I discovered a mad cluster of them in my kitchen, with no clear train of where they were coming from or where they were going. I then noticed them in my kitten’s food dish!! Which I promptly disposed of, leaving my poor kitten with the daunting task of being fed once a day now.
I’ve been wanting a solution to the problem and after last night’s display of ant force, I am in a more desperate situation.
Is Terro safe for pets? Obviously their prize is my kitten’s food dish, so if I were to put it near it i’m sure he’ll be into it. If it isn’t safe for him, have you heard of any methods that are?
I’m desperate.
Yikes I hate ants (and those ants in the photo were swarming my apartment and it wasn’t pretty). They’re like the sand, they don’t care if you kill them. More keep coming like the evil zombies they are.
The ants in my neighborhood may be small, but they’re pure evil. One ant finds it’s way into the pantry and they’ll make my life hell for the next 3 months.
From nearly two years of battling them I’ve learned a few things. Your mileage may vary depending on the breed of ants and where you live.
1) Terro does work pretty well. But if you have an endless supply of ants in a supercolony living under half the state then it’s really hard to poison enough ants to completely get rid of them. It thins their numbers a bit and gives them something else to play with besides your food, but doesn’t really get rid of them all when you live on top of the Great Northern Californian Supercolony.
2) Cleaning up is a good solution, but if you’re careless just once or one wanders into your cereal and alerts the supercolony then it’s over and you’ll have to battle them on and off for 6 months. It’s really hard to erase their scent trail once it starts and even if you scrub and scrub some of them will still manage to find it.
3) Bleach, dishsoap and water is a good ant annoyant if you clean with it. The vinegar and soap ALMOST wipes out their scent trail. If you clean where they come in fairly regularly to refresh the annoyant for them then they may turn to easier targets like your upstairs neighbor who leaves her dog food out for their feasting pleasure. Then she gets to deal with them instead of you. Oh and this same mixture is pretty good for cleaning showers and countertops, too.
4) Don’t rent apartments whose walls are full of small holes like swiss cheese. The ants will find another way in if there are other holes. If you can seal up the holes in the wall and put diatomaceous earth in the wall holes before sealing it will help somewhat–until they find another way in. Ajax also works sorta like diatomaceous earth. It seems to gouge, bleach and kill them. I don’t like baby powder because it’s light, fluffy, perfumey and becomes airborne too easily and it is something you DONT want to breathe. You really don’t want that powdering scarring your lungs.
5) Be especially watchful for ants that come in, especially around the change of seasons. My ants like to try coming in during the spring when it first gets warm and in the autumn when it’s very warm during the day but is cooling off at night. Look for scouting ants and get rid of them religiously during these seasons.
For more information on ants and ant control, check out http://bobthebugman.com
I read this article awhile ago and thought, “phew! glad I don’t have to deal with that!”
………My car was having some work done, so it was just sitting around for like 6 months, and I just got it back.
Yep, you guessed it. The ants decided to move in somewhere in my car! Been spraying some stuff but it doesnt help. Going to look for the Terro tomorrow!
I ad a serious prob wit ants in my house my gran swore aw tea tree oil and grapefruit seed extract sprayed around the edge of ur rooms and where they come in i’ve tried it and i haven’t seen any for 2 years touch wood lol . And ur home smells really nice
Now you meet someone that likes ants, but not in my house! The ant baits have worked for me and following the ant highway and plugging the hole after the baits kick in will probably prevent future infestations. I found them coming in through a crack in my hard wood floor. Amazing.
Well… upon reading this post, I’ll be sure to take my butt to the store today and buy some Terro. We just bought our home in April and now my fiance is starting to regret it. The ants are starting to “take over” our home. They were all over the kitchen until I covered all baseboards with 7Dust. Then they started to appear in our room and the kids’ rooms. They have to be coming in through the windows. I bought some ant bait traps and I don’t think they’ve even touched them! They’re tiny little sh*ts, but so annoying, and I think they bite, too! It’s craziness! I think I’ll try the Terro thing and then see what happens, but I’ve been trying a few other things, too. Oh, and we have an Eyeclops, so we captured one of the little turds last night and checked him out… so ugly! I poured a little cinnamon on him just to watch his reaction and it was hilarious! Never seen a 4-legged ant move so fast! Yeah, we took 2 of his legs off while catching him… lol! Anyhow, thanks for the tips and I’ll let ya know what works for us!
I HATE ants… get this, the little devils actually found their way into the CLOSED microwave where I stored blueberry muffins!!!!!!!!!! Is there no end them? The microwave is on a cart, not connected to any cabinet in my kitchen & they still found their way into it over ONE night. Just had to share….sigh…
About two days ago, I noticed ants in the kitchen. It was one measly piece of granola bar that got trapped under the throw rug at the entrance. Damn. Cleared out the kitchen and mopped the floor. Took out the recycling.
Cleaned again yesterday.
Today – they are EVERYWHERE. Oh. My. God.
Went online – found the advice about baby powder – I have a defense built up – I have secured the perimeter.
Tomorrow I buy Terro and nuke the little bastards.
I am completely non-violent and usually rescue bugs. I have been stomping these little monsters with glee.
So much for my new found Buddist philosophies.
I was just about to call the exterminator when I read your site. I bought the Terro traps and the ants are gone! I was totally worried about using an exterminator because I have a daughter with asthma and two indoor cats. This was easy and effective! I’d tried other traps and nothing worked. Thanks for the information!
Well, I bought the Terro and set some out in the kitchen that day. Within an hour, the little buggers were all over it. It was then that I noticed they were coming from a crack under the windowsill. Oh, I was angry. However, I left them alone and let them chow down and the next day they were gone. I haven’t seen them in the kitchen since. A day or so later, however, they invaded my daughter’s room. I laid some Terro out in there and within a day or so, they were gone, too! Thank you so much for the info and the help! I never knew that $1.99 could be so lovely! Thanks! Peace!
I hate the nasty little critters, too! Thanks for the advise on the Terro and D. Earth. Another very simple solution, get a small jar, like a baby food jar, fill it half way with honey and place it outside near each of your doorways. I always hide it in the flowerbed, under the pinestraw – that way I don’t have to see the swarm of ants. The ants go for the honey and leave your house alone. Final thought – make sure you place the remainder of the honey in the fridge. If not, the ants will find it and come indoors. I made that mistake once…
Thanks for the tips. We are suddenly finding very tiny ants by the kitchen sink. My boyfriend followed them through the kitchen into the back room closet. He sprayed 409 on them when he found them at 6 in the morning and the next day I cleaned, what I thought was everything with bleach and pine sol. It lasted for about 2 days. We went away for the weekend came back tonight and like the scary movie, “Polterguist” (sp?) “They’re Back”
Again, thanks for the tips, I’m trying Terro tomorrow.
Thanks for the tips!!!! We live in a two story house and amazingly enough these pests found their way to our bathroom, our closet and my daughters’s room on the second floor. I know they are not after sugary stuff!!! we have none of that on the second floor. My husband bought some spray that kills them instantly but wont get rid of the problem as they seem to keep comming back and stronger!!! I will be on my way to invest in Terro and baby powder. We have two girls and I dont want to harm them with the Terro so i will put the baby powder in their room and the Terro in other locations of the house. Thanks again for the tips.
This recommendation got me out walking to Walgreens to get some Terro today. Granted, I attracted the ants a bit with my unclean sink, but even with the cleanup they were swarming and trying to get in my cabinets. I sprayed Raid, but it smells wretched, gives me a headache, and doesn’t work long. So I set out some Terro in a couple spots on the counter and the floor.
I tell you, it is an ant buffet in there. It makes me feel creepy crawly seeing them. They are coming from the walls of my very old apartment building, which is very irritating. But they all seem to think the Death Kool-Aid is delicious. Mwa ha ha! Doom to the ants!
Ok, I love the tips and I actually have some borax ( for my laundry). I will try that tomorrow and if it doesn’t work I’ll go for the Terro. I’ve been battling the little devils for over a year now . However,no-one has mentioned the problem we have. Some of them come in from the roof and down the ceiling! I knew about the talc but that won’t help there and we’ve yet to actually find the spot they’re coming in. I’ve sprayed the walls with alcohol and then vinegar. (May have to repaint after all this.) Kills them but only slows them down for a while. I don’t think they’re after food either,they completely ignored a plate of leftover birthday cake that was left out over night but were crawling everywhere else in the kitchen! Here in Alabama,we’ve had pretty severe drought conditions and I think they may just be looking for water. Thanks to Hurricane Fay, we’re supposed to get up to 10″ of rain in the next few days so hopefully they will all drown!
I have to respond to Kristina’s comment – even though I am WAY late to the party. I don’t have a sticky mess in my apartment. And I didn’t when the ants got there – before I even had a chance to buy groceries in my new apartment! That hasn’t stopped them from swarming all over the place. On my couch. In my clothes. Every time I enter my place, I have to do an ant check, figure out where they are now and do my best to clean them up. They are hurting me. I do not want bugs crawling all over me, thanks.
I’ve tried Terro, and it doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe I need to replenish the liquid more often? I’ve tried all kinds of baits, and my ants are just not interested. 🙁 They’re very interested in my new bath mat, though, much to my dismay. And the gym clothes I’d hung up to dry over the shower curtain rod. Ew!
Kristina Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I know I’ll sound like a freak, but that’s a lot of animal lives to take. And they really weren’t hurting you or doing anything harmful. How about instead of killing thousands of animals, we all try not to leave sticky messes in our houses? Your spouse will probably be happier with you, too!
I’ve got ants. I’m getting Terro tomorrow. Been battling these little b@$%stards for about 5 months now. Tried everything. Been spraying bleach on countertops and floor every night, and every morning, its a chore to get to the coffee pot. They’re after the sweets, they’re after the water, they’re after the sugar…… shoot they’re after everything. Told the landlord, cuz he owns the property our mobile is on, and he just says to clean up the house, and they’ll go away. I don’t know who is more irritating… the ants or this stupid landlord.
Going to get Terro tomorrow.
Thanks for the help guys!!!
I’m indebted to you for life!!!
Wife called down to me from our bathroom tonight, I come upstairs into our master bath to find ants flooding into our shower and starting an ant hwy into our bathtub… I found their entry point – they chewed out the grout and silicone around the bottom of our shower to get in… Nothing sweet in our bathroom that they would be after, just water at the most… I sprayed them down with my wife’s laundry stain remover “spray and wash”… I’ll look into Terro tomorrow if they are still attempting to break in, thanks for the advise…
I read the comments with intrest. While Terro works very well on “sugar ants” there are similar looking small ants that feed only on proteins (catfood, dogfood, meat). To achieve success with any type of bait, you must know the species of the ant you are dealing with and the feeding habits of thay species. Often, county extension offices (US) can provide identification services or local pest control companies will provide free identification. Just give them a call or drop in at their office.
As to the use of Raid or other spray insecticides; depending on the species, you could actually be making your ant problem worse. Several of the species of small ants have multiple queens and when the colony is stressed by the use of insecticides, the queens will split the colony up so as to keep the entire colony from being killed off. That is the primary reason that sprays only seem to give temporary relief…the ants have moved away and split up. Now you may have 10 ant colonies vice the one original.
Now a comment on the use of other products as mentioned by several commenters. It is a violation of federal law to use any product in manner other that what is permitted on the label of that product. The fines run between $750 up to $10,000 and may include jail time if deemed a flagrant or repeat violation. Granted the federal government doesn’t go around looking for violators on the web, but if you should have an accidental poisoning, be sure that law enforcement will get involved. It is much easier to use properly labeled products or professionally trained personnel.
One final comment on the use of grits and cornmeal. Adult ants cannot feed on solid food. They take the solid food back to the nest, feed it to the larvae, and the adults feed on liquid either reguratated by the larvae, or obtained by other foragers (tropholaxis).
Ant Infestation Indicators
You may see an occasional ant but this does not necessarily mean you have an infestation as one ant may be a scout looking for food. However, continuous or numerous ants are signs of nesting. Sawdust: You may see small piles of finely-shredded sawdust.
Sounds: You may hear a rustling or tapping noise produced when disturbed ants excavate wood.
Source: http://www.propestcontroller.com/ca.html
Great article and comments!!! I finally looked online and found this article. We have been battling ants this month and they finally got on my nerves. I tried the cinnamon and pepper which deterred them but they would just walk around the pepper and create a new line. They are so desperate they were coming in through the front door and going into the couch for a potato chip! (OK, so I need to clean up). Another set was invading our kitchen and with 2 small kids, its such a food fest with all the crumbs they create. They even go into the bathroom finding my son’s water gun. What they want, I don’t know!
The last straw was the other day. I came home at 8pm and set my purse down on the 2nd floor. yes it had an unfinished power bar in the pocket. They found it by 8am the next morning! swarms of ants!! I was so disgusted- I had to vacuum all the ants off my purse!
I drove to Target that morning and got Terro mini traps. They come 6 to a pack. I put 3 packs downstairs and enjoyed watching the ants go to the trap. Within a day, a large line was formed and now I can see that the ants are going away slowly. I am sooo happy!
AHHHH! SAME! Everday i had been killing ants with sticky tape. They climbed kitchen, my wall, corners of the house, my computer, and yesterday I FOUND THEM ON MY BED!
This have been happening for like a few months! I HAD ENOUGH! Its damn irritating looking at them crawling all over the corners! ARRGH….
I will try your method. Thanks for sharing this article~
As the proud owner of an anthill with a house on it, it has been validating to read about so many others being held hostage by the Great Ant Colony of the West. Sigh. I too have tried Terro products which give excellent temporary relief, and diatomaceous earth, which is good in some areas. These multiple-queen coloies just can’t seem to be eradicated, and sometimes I get so frustrated I have elaborate warlike fantasies of ant destruction. But, I can offer one other useful tool in the ongoing battle to keep them out and be poison-free: petroleum jelly. I feed the cats on a tray-table size tray on the floor, with a curved-down lip, under the edge of which I smear petroleum jelly, and the ants won’t cross it. The worse problem with this is sometimes cat hair sticks to it. Also, petroleum jelly is very safe and effective to caulk where the baseboards meet the floor, to seal those tiny cracks the teensy buggers get in. Again, dust and cat fur can stick, but is also easily cleaned off. I have even, in a fit of fury, caulked a kitchen window closed with petroleum jelly. The point is, ants won’t cross it, and it makes a good barrier for a lot of access points!
I love you….I have been dealing with these horid creatures for months and they keep showing up. even as I type one is creeping across the screen of my lap top as it sits on the kitchen counter. With kids at the age where chleaning the kitchen is thier chore….keeping it totally crumb free is real not a reality. I have envisioned little ant bodies on tooth picks as a warning to thier friends….the sucker don’t care. I have tried sweet baits that kill all of them before they make it back to the nest ….thus never solving the problem. If this works I will marry you for sure!
Oh, big heavy sigh. I’ve been fighting off these ants most of my adult life. This is not the first home of mine that they have invaded. I’ve tried EVERY type of commercial product available. I’ve used cayenne pepper, trying to trace it back on their path (that’s a very tricky thing, by the way). Recently, I’ve thought I had some luck using Bounce Fabric softener sheets, but who knows, really? Perhaps they just ‘gave up’ and went away. I usually battle them for several weeks each spring – and then they finally leave…….. until the next spring -This year they are being particularly obnoxious! I really take exception to anyone who believes I am being ‘unkind’ to animals because of my battle with these bugs too! Yeah, maybe if I had the resources to live in a completely impregnable home – and had the luxury of the time it would take to never leave a crumb around the house – – – – I would stand a better chance of not being invaded by these guys – but I don’t, and I will not happily ‘share’ my living space with them!!!
On goes the battle…….I’ve just bought another round of all the anti-ant prouducts available, and one of them has BORAX as a main component.
I hope you will all wish me Godspeed. lol. Kathy H
I have been dealing with ants off and on since August. They left during the winter, but have come back noticably since the weather has warmed up. Mine seem to thrive around my dish washer! I’ve tried spray(and had to lock my cats in the basement for 2 days so they wouldn’t get sick), ant traps, spices, powder, EVERYTHING! We have even put the traps in the dish washer between runnings to get to the majority of the ants, with no luck. Ironically, they have stayed away from the side of my kitchen that has my pantry!?!?!? I was looking online for exteminators, but will be trying the Terro first. I am one of those people who is terrified of them due to an incident in my childhood, so I really hope this works. If not, it will be the monthly expense of an exterminator for me.
Yikes! They’re back, or at least I know they will be inside soon. I’ve had a pest control service for the past ten years and even here in Florida I’ve never had a problem with any sort of bug. Late last summer I turned on the light in my master bathroom one evening and found little tiny black ants swarming out from behind an electric switchplate. They were crawling all over the walls. I grabbed a paper towel and crushed as many as I could. Believe me I lost a lot of sleep that night. Called my pest control the next morning and he came out and squirted something behind the outlet cover….end of problem. Two weeks later I flipped the switch on the opposite bathroom wall one morning and heard a kind of frying, sizzling sound. The light didn’t turn on so I got a flashlight and checked. Yep the wall was moving, crawling with tiny black ants. Called the pest man again and an electrician. Those little suckers had shorted out the light switch, had to have it replaced and the pest control company once again squirted something behind the switch plate and the ants were gone. About a month later I came home one evening and found my kitchen wall around yet another outlet plate cover swarming with tiny black ants….crazy ants? No spills, no sticky messes on the floors, counters, sinks or anywhere in the cupboards or pantry. These little devils seem to feed on electricity. This time we took a look around the outside of the house to try to find out where they were entering the house. I found a ton of them all over the wooden fence that butted up to the house on one end and a trail going up the stucco to just under the eaves. Pest guy sprayed with some very strong poison and then accessed the attic and sprayed up there on the west side of the vaulted ceiling. I haven’t seen an ant since then until yesterday. Now there’s a trail outside along the windowsill at the opposite end of the house and that trail leads from the windowsill up the side of the house to just under the eaves. I’m off for Lowes to buy some Terro. Wish me luck! I’ve heard that crazy ants can build nests in all kind of electronics. Disaster if they do that. They must die!
I have an ant invasion , and I perfer to buy some RAID.It work’s good I was just at the local Family Dollar and I bought the Raid product for 4.00 only.And it kills the ant’s right away so if you have an ant invasion I suggest buying Raid from you local Family Dollar , Home Depot or any other hardware or super markets you are farmiliar with.Well hope it help’s.! 🙂
I would like to thank you for posting this. Over the weekend, my apartment became an ant getaway! I could not determine where they were coming in from. I have two kittens so using a poisonous substance as Raid was not an option. After reading your blog and comments, I decided to give Terro a try. I bought the traps so the kittens would not be exposed to any chemicals. I set the trap out at night and the next morning the ants were in the trap and no where else in the apartment! I am so happy that I went with everyone’s recommendation! Day 2 and there are still a couple ants in and around the trap but again, they are no where else in the apartment! I am hoping that the ant situation has ceased and I am living ant-free. Thanks again!!!!
secret couple-language? really?
JD,
Thanks for the tip. I’m going to store tonight to buy Terro. We bought some other brand of trap because it was labeled safe around pets. But it hasn’t worked. We went from a few ants a day to 100 a day. They have decided to live in the dishwasher. (Yuck). I found little ant parts on the dishes. So now I have to wash dishes by hand until we get rid of the ants. They also crawl on the ceiling of the master bedroom on the second floor. Go figure.
you can also buy a large box of borax for $2. Saturate the source(anthill) with a hot water solution.
my motto, i hate anything with more than 4 legs, or less than two. I live by this theory…
We have ants like CRAZY, I have sprinkled cornmeal (about 30 min ago), but I am going to get the Terro anyway, You know, just to be safe 🙂
And for all of you who love watching these creepie crawlies die slowly, ME TOO!! When I see a (I shiver just thinking about it) spider, I get my aerosol hairspray and it freezes, then, I make my boyfriend squish it!
Thanks for the help, this post kept me entertained for a good 30 minutes, good luck all. 🙂
THANK YOU!!! For those who say you just need to be clean to keeps ants at bay… Bull&^%! I have lysoled my pantry 3 times, sprayed ant killer, wiped down all containers, thrown away alot of opened food and bought airtight containers for all my sweet things (honey, corn syrup, etc) and I still get those little ants in the pantry. Yuck!!! I am off to the store to buy some Terro.
i get the ants every summer inside and usually the traps get rid of them. but this year is the worst. i have traps from 3 different companies bug spray, boric acid powder, and nothing is helping. they were inside my microwave where i stored some food, also inside my refrigerator inside a box of dates and an open container of yogurt. i spend over an hour everyday zapping them with masking tape. i am going to try the terro next to see if that will help. if i leave a bowl with a residue of margarine on it near the sink there will be thousands of them on it when i get home from work. who has the time to be doing dishes several times a day.
Late to the game here, but just found this when I was trying to find the name of the stuff I used for a friend who has an ant problem. That stuff was Terro! I’ve used it numerous times–both at home and in my office when it was in an old building w/ ants–and it works great. For the person who said about mixing borax (or boric acid) and sugar, this is possible. I’ve done it, mixing with a little water in a plastic lid (like off of a yogurt container) but the problem can be getting the proportions right. Too much borax, the ants won’t bite. Too much sugar, they’ll just get the sweet and not enough borax to kill them. This is what I’ve heard, and have just found it easier to buy the Terro!
Sooo…I just read the short story and I suppose now I’m off to dig a moat….and set everything on fire.
Seriously though, I know it could be worse. I still hate ants.
A quick fix when you don’t have time to deal with the ants……spray the counters with ‘simple green’!
Hey JD,
I don’t suppose you have any similar recommendations for termite killers, do you?
ok folks, I’m another one with ant problems. I’ve been killing them all night and I just know I’ll be dreaming of them… the ant invasion started in my bathroom (they seem to love the tub)… and several of their family members all over the floor. then they seemed to have died down there and then suddenly popped up in the kitchen (we live in Phoenix, AZ). Found a pile of them in my sugar jar this morning when I went to make my morning java (nice…. NOT!) They seem to love the sink area. Must have killed a hundred of them in and around the sink. And having the granite/marble tops in he kitchen…. sometimes I don’t even see them all. I hate using chemicals so will be on the lookout for the Terro. And thanks to everyone who posted any (informative and also humorous) comments. Good to know i’m not alone in my ant misery:-)
I represent Terro and was delighted to stumble across your article! We’d like to send free samples of Terro Liquid Ant Bait to the first 10 people to contact me at [email protected]. Please put “Free Terro Sample”in the subject line.
Great advice. I got rid of ants and cockroaches using a very similar method. Been 4 months and had no new attacks yet.
I used boric acid, sugar, onion and a little water to make a paste for the ants. For the roaches I added a bit of flour and made balls that I strategical placed around. It took a few days but I can safely say it worked.
Calling the exterminator is bad for your pocket and your health. First, it costs money, and second the poison used to kill the ants ultimately has an effect on you and is linked to many diseases.
Although not a friend to your home, ants are a friend to the eco system outside. Poisoning ants, also effects other beneficial insects like Bees. I also dislike ants in my home. When I get ants, I do one of three things. First, I see where they are going and coming from. Usually, there is a crack somewhere that can be sealed with chaulk. Second, I clean where they are hanging out: ants love sugar. Third, I have a Dyson hand vacuum I suck them up in. When done I release them outside unharmed.
I just have to say that I am so glad I stumbled on this site! We have a horrible ant problem. Our house sits on a 3/4 basement. No doubt that the other 1/4 is one big ant hill. We will go get the terro tomorrow, and wage war!
Great information in these posts. It’s funny how obsessed I’ve become with sugar ants. I love insects outside and tolorate an occasional appearance in the house, but these ants have really posed a problem. I believe the furnace flue in my 100 yr old house must be home to them. The flue wall is in my kitchen and the ants only are active on the counter attached to that wall, leaving all foods in the pantry alone. Unfortunately that’s the counter with the sink, dishwasher and main eating surface. Since I recently redid my kitchen, ripping out the plaster is the last thing I want to do! No matter how diligently we clean the ants always come out. We’ve used corn starch, vinegar, boric acid, bleach and almost everything else. I cannot find a nest outside the house and the gutters are clean. after reading all these posts yesterday I mixed borax (I use it in my laundry) and pancake syrup. The ants had a party and invited all their friends. I have very few ants this morning. I’m eager to see if this will totally eliminate my infestation. I do have a compost pile at the back of my property and love what the ants do for my dirt – I just can’t deal with re-cleaning my kitchen every morning! Thanks for the advice!
I just got some of that Terro for ants. The ants love that stuff it is like an ant party in my kitchen. This is just Day 1 for me i will keep all infomed on how it goes
Im going to have to check this out because I always have a horrible ant problem when it starts getting nice outside. I just saw a swarm of them that has me all itchy. Thanks!
I’ll add my 2 cents…
I’m surprised this hasn’t been mentioned- but a fresh batch of beneficial nematodes will do an excellent job controlling the ant population outside. Also good for ticks and grub worms during the early part of the year. Make sure they’re the fresh nematodes that come on a little sponge from your local organic nursery. Spray it and forget it.
And as much as I don’t like a backyard swarming with ants, they do keep the tick population in check.
I find that vacuuming every single ant including the queen helps and then keep the vacuum on for a few minutes so that the heat kills them. Then throw out the bag to a far away place. 😀
We live in an older house, & have a huge infestation of ants every year…I have tried Terro, Grants Kills Ants, Raid, Combat, & just stomping them to death…NONE of it works! Grants Kills Ants worked last year like magic, however, absolutely none of these products have even put a dent in our infestation this year. I keep my house clean, I dont leave food out, & I kill the ants everytime I see them, yet we still have this massive infestation! I cant afford an exterminator at the time, so I could really use some advice on what would work!
burn the house down
can you pore the terro rite on the nests(holes) i only heard people putting it on the cards
Grits do not work. I’ve tried them on the little buggers and they don’t seem the least bit interested.
I’m off to try cornmeal… And if that doesn’t work — TERRO!
Great post.
Great article. We had a long sugar ant highway in our backyard cement crack that I sprayed with surface spray – the mean kind that continues killing for 6 months and that you need a mask to spray. Since then, the little s***s have started coming into the house. It’s the middle of our coldest winter yet so I reckon they’re after the heat; either that or we’re bringing them in with our firewood and they make their way across the polished floors to the bedrooms. I heard 50/50 mixes of icing sugar and baking powder kills the nests off so might try that. Not sure if they sell Terro here in Australia. So far I’ve tried lemon juice, vinegar, copper coins (stops working if they get dusty) and salt, all with moderate and always temporary success. I wonder if the type/no. of trees/plants in the garden can also affect ant nos./types…
I once lived in San Antonio, TX and my apartment was infested with those little red ants. Stupid buggers! They would get into everything! They would even manage to get into stuff I thought I had sealed up safely in an airtight ziplock bag. One groggy morning, I ended up eating a bowl of cereal that had ants in it. I obviously didn’t know it until I was almost done with my cereal. Mmmmm…… protein. Ha!
Great article! Currently being disgusted by the amount of ants in the kitchen! Almost called the exterminator thinking it’s THE solution! Now will definitely try Terro. Thanks!
After purchasing an older home in 2008, we had seen a minor ant problem and attempted to curtail their point of access by caulking the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. About a year later we moved into this property and saw an increase in ant traffic. We use dishwashing liquid detergent with water in a spray bottle to be pet friendly and this suffocates black widows as well as ants on contact while being pet and human friendly. It does take about three minutes for the spiders to die, but they will die after a good shower. Detergent in the water in pie pans that our pet food and water dishes fit in, prevent open buffets for the ants also. Now the best part. leftover pet food that is placed in the garbage cans outside guarantees heavy trails of ants and yesterday we placed Terro ant baits nearby, actually on the trail to try and see the effectiveness of the product. In the masterbath where ants came out of the shower door frame to access water at the bath faucet, traps were also placed. Bingo, within an hour massive amounts of ants came to share in the feeding freenzy. Additional traps were placed to accommodate the additional diners. While this was a horrific site to see, the effectiveness of the product was amazing. the ants had licked clean multiple traps, dead ants in large numbers were seen at the sites outside, very few if any ants have now been seen in the masterbath. Now I don’t expect this is the end of my relationship with the ants, I will continue to observe and provide a once in a lifetime dining experience for the ants as needed. They do retreat in the heat of the day, but I’m now ready for the evening battles. Thanks for Terro products
I can’t wait to try Torro. They’re in my kitchen (I’ve cleaned and cleaned) and run wild on my sidewalk right outside the front door. Can I use the Torro card trick outside?
I live in Missouri and I’ve got a huge ant problem. There’s thousands, and I DO mean thousands of the little buggers in my house and I find them in the yard. I have found a part of their nest and there were probably a thousand just there. I’ve been placing terro out for nearly 2 weeks now and it’s not even made a dent in the beasts. Any ideas?? My e-mail is [email protected]. If you can make any suggestion at all it’s quite welcome.
Try Amdro. We have used Terro for years and it worked well, but this summer everyone in our neighborhood has been really infested and Terro wasn’t cutting it.
Interesting thing is, Amdro is the same chemical. But it comes in little plastic drip-proof containers that contain a fair bit of the stuff. We put two out in our kitchen a couple of months ago and haven’t seen an ant since.
They come in a six pack and cost about the same as the Terro.
EDIT: Here’s the stuff:
http://www.amdro.com/Amdro_Kills_Ants/index.html
I am a neat freak and I also get these ants. They are a problem throughout my building so no matter how hard I try, my neighbours may not try quite as hard and they come to my apartment. Oh, and it is on the 8th floor, so the little buggers are apparently willing to do some work. Thanks for the advice. The ant that climbed onto my computer screen prompted me to search out solutions. I will be making a run tomorrow to pick up some Torro. But in the meantime, I can feel them crawling on me….even though I realize I am just being paranoid, it is still gross!
I have a very clean house but the ants are always going to my boxes on the shelves where i have ready made cake mixes and jello and what not
everything is sealed but yet i still get these stupid fire ants swarming over everything
i put some of that chalk stuff down and they act as if its not their and they just keep on doing their stuff, HOW DO I FIX THAT PROBLEM
I LIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES AND I CANT FIND THAT TERRO STUFF, ANY SUGGESTIONS
Ahhhhhh, Finally, relief!!!!!
We have had this ant invasion for a few yrs now. We have tried a multitude of things. But the are everywhere, still!!!!!
Last year it was so bad they would invade my bird cages, CLEAN CAGES! I felt I had to remove the birds til it was under control.
Under control???????? Whats that? We had tried almost everything already.
This year there was a new battle, in the basement. I had found a trail of them, they would all gather in one spot, and seemed as if they were just going back and forth along this one 6 foot area. All in a straight line. (Being good ants!)
When I trailed them to their entrance point…..It was smack dab in the CENTER of our foundation. (No digging that up!)
So I tried this TERRO stuff. They really liked it, and continued to come back for more. And still, nothing. They just kept coming! What the heck! Thought I was killing them, not feeding them!!!!!
But I didn’t give up. I continued to replenish the terro and whatched the ants come marching in.
Then, finally, I went down 1 day to do laundry and again there was a trail. A MUCH LARGER trail, and they were covering about a 3 inch path along EVERY wall. They had not traveled like this before, and there were a lot before, but nothing like this…. so I took a closer look.
This time they were not moving. Yep…Everyone was dead!
Thank you Terro. It took about 2 weeks of treating, but there are not any ants in our house. Only outside, where they belong!
JR
You can use the cleaning product COMET, not as an ant killer, but as a wall. If you find where they are coming in, just cover that spot with COMET and the ants cannot get past it and they will not walk over it.
I feel your pain. We have been fighting ants forever but this year seems the worst! I really loved everyone’s advice and will try them all till I eradicate the little suckers. I am the type of person that will capture a spider and let it outside but I am so frustrated with the ants this year that I start a happy dance when I see an ant carrying a toxic piece of the sugary substance home.
I have lived all over the country as a result of working in the construction industry. Seattle, Missoula, Raleigh, Albany, and numerous other places throughout my career. Never any insect issues until Raleigh, NC where the soil was very sandy which goes along with ant populations. No where as bad as when I finally retired to Florida, the capital of insect populations! Everything, from palmento bugs, ants, silverfish, earwigs…………….you name it, they have it right along with the snakes and alligators, wild boar………it’s all here!
Exterminators are a waste of money because they only do your property and the rest of the neighbors are doing anything! Average of $200 a pop, the exterminator would “dust” the attic, spray and insecticide around the interior and exterior perimeters, and spray the yard with pesticides. It all works for about 2-4 weeks and then you’re back to square one. I even have a built in pesticide system in my home but the insect still penetrate! When you live in a swamp, you’re going to have insects and all the other swamp creatures associated with it.
I do my own pest control using Ortho Self Defense inside with Bug Be Gone outside but you have to rotate pesticides or they become ineffective, so I use other various ones randomly. This has to be done on a MONTHLY basis-pest control tells you every 3 months which does not work in Florida!!
With all said and spent, I still get the insects, just reduced populations! It’s a battle you can’t WIN but rather only CONTROL!!! I also use a commercial ant killer………can’t recall the name brand but it looks like granulated sugar, probably some form of boric acid, which by nature, is used by most exterminators on ants. Works very well!
Two chemicals to look for in fighting pest are PYRETHERIN and BORIC ACID!!!
We’ve fought ants for several years..I’ve used Terro..and they leave for a few weeks and then return…and usually with a vengence…Now we’ve got 2 different kinds of ants..and I HATE the little suckers…I need some serious advice on getting rid of these..we live in an underground house and perhaps that doesn’t help things..no way to get to their nests…If you have any advice please feel free to give it to me..
Ant-Highway!! We saw what looked like some one had leaked a wet trash bag, looked closer and it was a stream of ants 100′ long!! Going to-and-fro! We sprayed, they died, they came back again. We will try to Torro product and hope it works. I am dreading they ,migh invade INSIDE the house!
I personally don’t see a problem with it, it sounds like a great idea and they took advantage of it. If I had the money, and knowledge for that matter, then I think I would like to do something similar.
you can also use baby powder and black pepper to keep them out!
There are a lot of great posts here. I too have found myself HATING ANTS! We just recently moved to this house, and prior to this, I have never had a problem with ants. Now these bastards are laughing at me as they rub out their little ant language like morse code on their antenna. We have had the exterminator out twice now…the first time the bait didn’t work. Today, it worked like gangbusters. However, I think he awoke a sleeping ANT-giant, BECAUSE these little bastards are sending out scouts like friggin’ gang busters. I wipe away one and 3 or 4 more pop up. I am going to try this Terro stuff. I have never ever considered buying, nor even wanted an ant farm as a kid, but I hate ants soo much now, I may just buy some ant farms and feed them Terro, just to watch as may revenge takes hold. HA HA HA…MUHAAHHAHAHHAA….WHO’S morse coding ant talk now beeotches?!!!
You all have great ideas. Thanks!
I’ve got them in my bathroom. They are coming through the cracks and that big hole that is on the inside of the sink (never understood why that was in any sink). I’m thinking maybe sealing the cracks with caulk may help, but for now, I taped up the bigger cracks, closed the drains and taped those holes in the sinks. I sprayed the ants that I saw with a bleach water mix and wiped them up (maybe I should leave them dead ants there as a warning). Works temporarily until I can get to the store. I am going to try the cornmeal first. If that doesn’t keep them away, I will try the Terro. Thanks everyone.
I’ve been trying Terro for about a month now since we used it in our work office and it worked brilliantly. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been working so well in our home. The Terro dries out after about a day and the ants stop eating it. I’ve tried to keep reapplying the Terro but the “mounds” grow out of control. I’ve also tried to rehydrate the Terro by applying a drop of tap water to it every morning, but that doesn’t seem to work either.
I’m about to call the exterminator.
Help!
Just moved into this home a month ago.Already have ants in kitchen and bathroom. As several have suggested I went and bought Terro yesterday after trying hot shot liquid baits (they don’t work)Last night the ants had increased in activity. They are loving this stuff.This morning I replaced a couple of the bait trays because they are full of dead ants. Activity has decreased and I am seeing dead ants in the trails. Looks like it’s working but will give an update in a few days to let everyone know how it’s going. I HATE ants and hope this works
Alright. We have ALOT of ants at our house.
I have made alot of borax mixed with all sorts of things. They have eaten plenty of whatever I gave them and they are dying in droves but… they just keep on coming!!! There are so many dead ants around the house it is not funny. Every morning it is the same. We clean up the night before, and they’re back again in the morning. This has been going on for four weeks now and my Mum has just about had enough. I put no bait inside at all, only outside around the house.
Any ideas??
I’m thinking of putting a barrier around the house which will trap the ones inside inside, (though I am worried they have a nest in the bricks).
Too many ants. We literally sweep up a full cup of dead ants each morning.
I am avery clean person, but every year I have been dealing with sugar ants. Until Terro nothing else worked and it was only $3.50 at a feed store I go to. It also lasts a long time.
Well I really have to thank you for this blog post and for all the comments that are here! I’m having this problem too and I too live in an older home.
I liked this article so much that I put a link to it on my own blog because I’m sure that there are people out there that are having the same problem and are looking for solutions!
This blog has four pages of comments and I’m going to read them all!
I’m especially wanting the solutions that are non-chemical because I have pets as well.
I love the idea that the ants will go away in a day or two!
I made homemade terro (borax, sugar, and water mixture) and I let them feast, but they still live. Time to try the real terro! Today, I even was just watering my plants and I got some on the rocks, and thousands of ants poured out! I found their “ant highway” into the concrete and then who knows where! There’s also another colony in my garden by my driveway and I tried the ant chemicals for te perimeter and it doesn’t work. I have been so frustrated since the problem started (first day of spring break). If terro won’t work, then nothing will. If anyone has any other suggestions to help, let me know. Thanks.
the borax mix works. It kills them ny the thousands. But if you have millions, it will take alot longer than 2 days. Try over a month. We ended up deciding we could live with the ants, rather then having our entire house covered in dead ants constantly. That was after a month of persistence.
So I have started getting ants in my room for the past week and usually I get a few here and there with the start of summer, but then one day I was going to clean my room it was kind of messy and I drink water alot from the plastic 32 packs and I just toss them to my floor and clean them up at the end of the week and I was starting to do that and I saw about 300 in one water bottle that had the cap of and they were these little black ant’s I tried terro but they are not going for it and its been about 3 days I have been living in my living room because its sickening
Thank you so much!! It worked like a charm!!! You saved my sanity!!!
I got rid of ants that were coming in my house
by sprinkling baking soda over some that was coming across my cabinet and going to the sink.They disappeared in 30 minutes and after 6 years, I havn`t seen any ants.This may not work for all ants, but it woeked for the ones I had.
I also got rid of the big red ants outside by putting Hominy Grits down the ant hole, you can also use cornmeal, it works too.
Equal artificial sugar will kill them all. Its the aspartame. Aspartame is poison to anything living.
You saved me! The minute I read your posting I ran out and bought Terro and placed it all over my kitchen. 48 hours later…no ants! Thanks for posting, and thanks for the great advice! 🙂
This stuff does work to kill them but you place them in your house which invites ants into your house. doesnt kill all of them.
I am so glad that I read your post before calling and exterminator. I tried everything that others have posted to get rid of the ants that I have been experiencing for the past few months. I will be going to the store ASAP to purchase the Terro. Thanks so much for your suggestion! I can’t wait to be free of these little creatures.
I HAVE RETAKEN 65% OF MY KITHCHEN IN THE FIRST 3 DAYS! I HAVE THE ENEMY DIRECTLY IN MY KILL ZONE AS THEY ONLY GO WHERE THE TERRO IS. I’VE ALSO GONE INTO THE ENEMY’ STAGING AREAS. tHANKS FOR THE WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION!
I must say that Ortho Home Defense Max works. It takes a few days but after that they are gone. If new ants come in the house, they end up dead along the wall.
me and my husband just bought our very 1st place and we moved our house close to a hay field, so we get a mouse ever now and then one stops by every 2 weeks and we set up a lve trap and catch the bastard then my husband torches it. we have that under control but whats really bugging me is the ANTS i hate these DAMN ANTS i clean and clean and even spray the counters down with bleach ever night b4 bed time 5am hits and guess what their back and i get to play ant smasher while waiting on my coffee i NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!. oh and also i have one more prob the place where we bought our trailer is know for having a stink bug issue, and guess what was infested? our home cant get rid of them aswell so if anyone could help me befor i torch my place please. tell me your ways thank you and i have this problem in the winter to they just wont die our home sat for a year or so w/o anyone living in it but was kept clean……..
I WISH TERRO WORKED! WE HAVE IT SITTING ON THE COUNTER WITH THE LITTLE VARMITS EVERYWHERE AROUND IT AND THEY WON’T TOUCH IT. TODAY I DISCOVERED THEM IN MY SPICE CABINET AND THAT IS THE LAST STRAY. I HAVE BEEN PRAYING TO MOVE FROM THIS HOUSE FOR FOUR YEARS AND I MAY JUST MOVE OUT ANYWAY AND LIVE IN A CAVE. COULDN’T BE ANY MORE ANTS THERE THEN HERE .
I live in Florida, and we have ants too. Terro works, but it needs to be diluted, according to an exterminator I talked to. Mix a drop in some water and put that out. Plus you’ll stretch that little bottle!
all these things they don’t like to smell.. coffe, cinammon, vinegar etc doesn’t kill them it mostly just makes them find another route. You gotta find something they can eat that will kill them.
J.D. the reason why Cinnamon didn’t work is because you didn’t use Cinnamon Oil. You probably used Cinnamon sticks which is nowhere near as powerful.
Cinnamon Oil, especially Ceylon Cinnamon Leaf Oil works to get rid of black Ants and all kind of other creatures that make your home their home. It’s not toxic, child safe, pet friendly.
Cinnamon Oil is an anti-microbial and disinfectant so you can even spray your ant covered fruit bowl with the fruit in it or that cake that is covered with black ants.
Just make sure you use only 1% Cinnamon Oil with 99% water. Anything more it will irritate your skin or tongue but it won’t kill you. If you put a drop of Cinnamon Oil into your daily cleaners, then ants will never be a problem. And only a whiff is needed and they run.
Many of these over the counter solutions do work. The problem is that their effectiveness depends on how well they are used. In some cases, there is a need for an exterminator just because infestations are complicated.
Ok, how long does this terro stuff take? We’ve had it out for over a week now and all I see is ants every where….the one in my bathroom is infested, they are definitely getting in it but I don’t see that it’s doing anything. I can spray them with windex and they die instantly, but of course my husband won’t let me while we have these terro thingys, he wants to see if they will take it back to their nest and kill all of them, but I’m getting a little weary of the ants crawling on everything. I’m starting to wander if we are living on an ant hill or something.
An exterminator told me that Terro straight out of the bottle is too strong. He suggested diluting it a little with water and that way the ants will eat it and go back to their nest to kill their friends. Hope that helps!
Seems to me your house was the problem, not the ants. Also, stop complaining because they’re there attracted to the scent of your gooey mess in your white trash house. Keep a house in ship shape and you avoid ants unless they are carpenter ants. Moron.
P.s. cinnamon works great and it’s becaus eit works on an evolutionary scale. Cinnamon trees have evolved to protect themselves against critters so use it for your benefit.
WOW thank you so much! Everytime summer comes the ants are back in our house. THere’s no sticky goo or anything our house is as clean as can be. There’s just ants crawling around randomly and it drives me nuts!
Your post made me laugh so hard!!!!!!
I tried Terro last year and no matter how long it was replentished daily, after three days I gave up.But one thing is currently working for me–cheaper than Terro (supposed to be the same ingredient)is plain old Borax. I put a tiny bit of jelly, pancake syrup or honey in a tiny glass bowl then add in a small amount of borax. Mix well and spread back a way directly on the counter they are coming to. This is day 3 and where there were 40-50 feeding on days 1 & 2, the number is now down to 8-10. Use the rest of the Borax for the laundry.
I love all these people who like to act like ants only come into your house because you’re dirty. I am a neat freak and I have been battling ants for over a month. First they were coming for water. Now they’re in our trashcan. The trash is taken out every other night, does not smell, and is in a container I clean once a month. No matter how “clean” you are if you have a nest nearby you have to deal with it. Borax and sugar didn’t work when the ants were after water. I’m going to try it now that they’re after food and see if it helps.
Thanks!
I tried it and it really does work well to get rid of the ants in that particular trail. However, as soon as we got rid of them for one day, another trail would find their way in somehow, they are very persistent and intelligent creatures!
I am FINALLY on top of the problem by using a combination of methods:
1. -Using Terro (or similar product) to tackle existing ant trails inside. You can also use boiling water or insect spray but you will have to clean the ants away afterwards.
– sprinkling a thick layer of talcum powder around the door seals or cracks where the ants have previously entered(inside and out).
2. – spraying insect spray all around outside of the house where the ground meets the wall. The ants that are hanging around will not like it and climb up the wall for air. Spray the ones that start climbing up the wall.
3. – Pour washing up liquid, bleach, coffee, vinegar, coffee cayan pepper, curry (or a combination of any of these ingredients that you have in the house) into a jug and top up with boiling water. Poor down on the grass where the ants came from and repeat several times.
4. – sprinkle a layer of orange peel, talcum powder, curry leaves, coffee, talcum powder cayan pepper, paprika (or a combination of any of these ingredients that you have in the house)over the area.
– Repeat steps 2, then 3 and 4 if necessary daily then weekly until the end of the summer.
Danielle not sure what you tried, but you have got to try Ceylon Cinnamon Leaf Oil. This is hands down the most effective black ant repllent. Works in minutes and it is safe to spray on food. All you need is 1% Cinnamon Leaf Oil with 99% water so a little goes a long way.
Having ants doesn’t mean you’re dirty or haven’t cleaned up. I am a cleaning fanatic. It has a lot to do with where you live (we are against a hillside) and the weather. I had tons of ants and started a monthly pest control service over 10 years ago. With the extreme temperatures we’ve recently experienced in So Cal, I all of a sudden have them in a bathroom, library, and kitchen. They are swarming my dishwasher, which I think is for water. They’ve even found their way into a small, under-counter freezer in my butler’s pantry! Thankfully, they were all frozen. Sweet revenge.
I used Terro years ago, and went to the hardware store and bought their traps once again. This is day 2 and they’re swarming. Can’t stand living like this, but hoping it works until my exterminator can get out here. He appears to be as busy as an air conditioning repairman.
The ants are coming through the walls–I can seem them coming through a little space in a cabinet in the library. The ones in the bathroom are in my daughter’s bathroom, who does’t live here anymore, so there’s nothing in there to attract them. For those of you who think this is because of not cleaning, you don’t know what you’re talking about. In the heat, they come in for water, and in the rain, they come in to get out of the water. It can largely be environmental. Yes, some people are dirty, but not this housewife!
Terro Sucks! I just tried it and got the liquid and the bait traps.The sugar ants simply walk on past it. What a joke!
My experience with Terro is a bit different. They make an ant train to it, get in it, appear to eat it, and this has been going on for months, and we still have ants by the millions. Doesn’t seem to kill them off. They just keep on multiplying.
Thanks for this suggestion, I’ll get some tomorrow! We just moved into our new home last weekend and I’m finding ants. Unfortunately, they’re nowhere near the kitchen, which is making me worried there’s a different problem. Still, I’m going to try this!
We have had a ant problem ever spring here in Washington. They first were sited under the driveway and would come up thru the cracks after a lawn mowing or watering. Once we spotted them trying to move the hive we attacked them and killed all that were on the surface. There would be a dark spot about a foot in diameter with ants piled on top of each other.
Now this year they have gotten under our brick patio and they make little dirt pilings where they seem to be ventilating their home. I poured water down holes and they have they that stuff mastered. I then took brake cleaner with the red straw nozzle attached and shot it in the holes. This slowed them down but they are returning. They are edging towards the house and are at the wall of our mud room. Each time I see them I collapse their holes.
It’s time to get dirty and work on them everyday to disrupt their perfect world. I’m going to lift a few bricks out of patio and see if I can expose them bastages. I will do a boiling water flood on them first so I can hear them little voices screaming. Afterward I will try make a mixture of 1 cup water, 2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons boric acid and try to maintain them from getting back into routine. I’m sure if you let them have a break at anytime they will return so bang them hard and keep it up until you finish them. If all this fails, I will throw the powdered cementing into the joints of the bricks and hose the bricks to harden the stuff up. This will cramp their style and air source.
Love the posts!! Here is what I have tried and seems to work. I take my dogs fresh lawn deposits (the softer and fresher the better) and I mix in the Borax. Mix it in very well, squishing it all with your fingers until you have mixed in about 3 tablespoons. Be sure to scrape it all off your fingers and from under your fingernails!!! As long as you don’t put your fingers in your mouth afterwards, you’re good to go! Needless to say, wash your hands well before cooking dinner…..
ever heard of rubber gloves?
Ever heard of rubber gloves?
I hadn’t had a problem with ants until my next store neighbor moved out a year ago. They were real pigs and trashed their house out. After they left, we started having an ant problem. I figure the ants no longer had a food supply so they came over to our place to see what we had. Terro has worked for us, but I’m getting additional ants this year, so I think other colonies are coming from the neighbors empty house. I’m going to take a five pound bag of sugar over to the other side of their house and dump it out every week and see if that keeps them over there.
Hey Danielle, You should use 1% of Ceylon Cinnamon Leaf Oil and mix it with rest 99% of water, which is most effective way to get rid of black ant and also safe to spray on food.
Thank you so much for creating this product, I have not tried it yet, but I will just as soon as I get a chance to get to the hardware store! I hate ants and I really cannot afford to hire an exterminator. Again, thanks!
I use clear toenail polish and coat the entry point, usually a small crack in the hardwood or molding. They HATE toenail polish. Then I go outside and spray WD-40 around the outside entry point. This works every year i do it one time, and no ants. They get the picture and go to the next house.
Terro only works if they are sugar ants. We have grease ants. Persistent little buggers that will eat anything. They even crawl into the laundry hamper to feast on dead skin cells (gross, I know). We’ve tried Terro, mopping the floors with vinegar, sprinkling all types of things but no luck so far….
How in the world can you ever find the nest?
I clean my house every day and yet they just move on to somewhere else.
I just put Tero on a business card and there are so many ants you won’t believe it. I don’t know if I like the idea of letting them stay there for days until they go back to the nest. If I ever find that nest I will burn it down. If I sprsy windex on them they die right away but then another army comes in 2 by 2 formation.
Hi everyone! I suggest trying diatomaceous earth. Home Depot sells it (not the food grade) or you can go online and buy the food grade. There is one site that sells a 10lb bag for I think $14.00.
I purchased a sifter from the dollar store and I put this directly on the ant mounds. Diatomaceous earth is like tiny shards that cut up the ants plus dries them out. I first used it at the apartment that I used to live at because even though they would spray, the ants would come back. I decided to attack them at their homes.
I now have a house and I have learned that I need to treat the mounds early to keep them away from my house. If you can’t find diatomaceous earth, Seven dust works well too.
Shell, It’s important to buy only the FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth, not the chemical for pools. Lots of information online. Also Seven is a toxic chemical which should be avoided. All these chemicals contaminate our ground and water.
I mix DE with water and drink a cup nearly everyday. It’s healthy for us but not ants, beetles, or other insects as it destroys their exoskeleton… Boric Acid is also good to put down for ants with or without sugar.
I am not not a biologist nor an entomologust but this cheap remedy works to rid yourself of these pesky creatures. Use 1/2 cup borax and 1/2 cup icing sugar and mix well and lightly sprinkle areas where they are seen. Do not put it directly on grass but place it along driveways, cement paths, garden perimeters or inside your home where ants are seen congregating like the kitchen pantry. Ants are resilient buggers, and soon you’ll see them disappear as they’re attracted to the sweet icing sugar smell to take it to their nest. The borax is the key, and soon you will see no signs of them for weeks, but re-apply it later and especially if it rains or if the mix hardens in the sun. Try it rather than harmful chemical sprays or costly exterminators. The commercial sprays are dangerous to pets, the environment and children. Happy Trails……
These guys were climbing up my wheels, so I applied a tape barrier to my wheel (Inverted a piece of tape, and used another piece of tape to tape it on; forces the ants to walk across the sticky side) and that took care of that. I’m just hoping they don’t find the other wheel soon, lol. [Should be an easy problem to address but… I ran out of gorilla tape, lol.]
Peppermint oil put on the nest.
Or I put peppermint oil on cotton wool balls or the round cotton wool make up wipes.
And the ants either keel over & die instantly or they will not come within 30cms of the cotton balls, it works like magic.