Ants vs. Chris: Advantage Ants

It was a beautiful day in La Vergne and I wanted to go out to do some mowing (well, I had to do it) so I headed out to the shed to grab the mower.  However, once there I was taken aback when I discovered that ants had come a setup what seemed like an entire colony in my shed.  Now, they weren't fire ants or carpenter ants so I wasn't afraid of them, but the quantity of little black ants I have heard can start causing problems so I knew something had to be done.

With the extra long break this weekend with sun forecasted all those days I made my plan and set to work trying to rid my shed and stuff from the clutches of those bugs. I started by emptying the shed so I could survey the problem and those guys were setting up camp everywhere.  Anything that was cardboard had to go but everything else was safe.  Next I laid a few Andro Ant Bait Stations along their paths and waited a few hours to see if they would work.  When I returned I was a little discouraged that not a single ant had wandered the half inch to the trap (the next day I noticed that the bait stations did work but slowly).

I really don't want pesticides on our property since little Adah loves to explore so I hopped on the internet to find non-toxic alternatives to commercial ant killers.  Sure enough Leah was right again that vinegar is good at everything.  Also, diluted rubbing alcohol is known to kill ants on contact.  Because of the sheer number of ants I loaded my little sprayer with water, vinegar, and rubbing alcohol and started the offensive.  It was successful but I knew this was going to take time and a few applications since new ants keep coming.  The next day I started with the alcohol spray and then a few hours later did the vinegar spray.

Now my shed is filled with dead ants and a very funky smell (I hate the smell of vinegar) so this gave me a good excuse to grab the hose and clean the shed (one of those plastic ones that you can just spray inside and out).  So, after allowing the shed to dry in the Tennessee heat I go out to put the stuff back in and discover more ants marching.  I am not worried though right now since I have the bait stations in place and there are a lot fewer ants.  I guess the moral of the story is that once the ants get a foothold, they are very persistent little creatures.