topic Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived. in Community Chat

It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Carmie — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 15:15:54 GMT

Every spring ants invade my kitchen. Well, they are here this morning for the first time.

Thankfully, they don't get into my cupboards, but they march across my countertops near the dishwasher. I don't have any food on my counters.

My husband just went to Home Depot to buy Terro ant baits. They work, but dang, I hate ants.

If you get spring ants...it's time to put out the Terro baits.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

SharkE — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 15:29:08 GMT

I'd call the exterminator. They spray around the foundation and when they find their mounds. Only cost me 100. No contract.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

catter70 — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 15:30:29 GMT

I've been having issues for 6 weeks or so. Of all places, in my bathroom closet. There's no food source, so I don't get it. Also, the space is built on a slab. It took weeks to get rid of them even with the terro bait and other ant baits. It started 3 years ago, last year having very few, but so far there have been a whole lot of them. Guess I'll have to keep traps out all year long.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

fthunt — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 15:32:48 GMT

It's time for flashlight & sharp poker and investigate your basement foundation.

My ant nest was on top of the cement foundation where it met the sheetrock. Up they came thru sink pipe & cracks elsewhere.

Gotta get the nest or ants.... forever.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Still Raining — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 16:00:39 GMT

They are coming in along a defined path. Trace them back and ****** it the bud. You can find the nest and entry or you can hire someone.

Little devils 🐜🐜🐜

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Meowingkitty — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 16:09:24 GMT

Our pest control put out some bait for them last week.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Meowingkitty — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 16:10:27 GMT

You can put down grits which they take back to the nest and it causes them to explode and die.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

kaydee50 — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 16:12:50 GMT

One year when we lived in Henderson, NV we had a gross invasion of ants. The little ones. They were everywhere--kitchen, bedroom, all over. DH got some stuff from the local garden center and sprayed it around the outside of the house. Did the trick. Fortunately, they never reappeared.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

HLP — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 16:22:20 GMT

@Carmie wrote:
Every spring ants invade my kitchen. Well, they are here this morning for the first time.

Thankfully, they don't get into my cupboards, but they march across my countertops near the dishwasher. I don't have any food on my counters.

My husband just went to Home Depot to buy Terro ant baits. They work, but dang, I hate ants.

If you get spring ants...it's time to put out the Terro baits.

Justdid yesterday, in my basement bathroom, Yes Terro in a snippet of a piece of plastic straw. it draws hundreds to eat and carry back to the rest of them. works wonders!

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

catmama — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 17:28:34 GMT

I live in the PNW and the cost to have an exterminator visit is anywhere from $350 to $600. So I use Terro but instead of leaving the containers in the area where we see the ants, we put little drops of the product down. That seems to work faster, the ants go right to it. Our cats don't go near it, so that hasn't been an issue for us.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

SharkE — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 17:34:29 GMT

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

eadu4 — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 17:43:11 GMT

@Carmie @Every year for us. Always have stuff on hand. Lady year the were behind one of my GFi outlets and kept popping it. Took the cover off and thought I got them but they are back this year. Also by my slider to the deck. Hate them but all the exterminators around here insist on a contract and it's $$

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Nightowlz — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 19:18:47 GMT

DH sprays around our foundation plus the perimeter of our property.

When I saw a company spraying next door last year I told DH since he has an issue you better spray around here. I don't want what he has coming over here.

He won't be able to get rid of his problem until he gets rid of all the stuff stacked up in his house. He's a hoarder.

He asked DH if we have spiders in the house? DH told him no. We do see an occasional spider but haven't seen anything since they are spraying next door.

The neighbor told DH he was afraid the black widows or brown house spiders would kill him while he was sleeping?

We have never had a bug problem. There's no way I would let someone spray chemicals in my house.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Carmie — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 19:47:13 GMT

@fthunt wrote:
It's time for flashlight & sharp poker and investigate your basement foundation.

My ant nest was on top of the cement foundation where it met the sheetrock. Up they came thru sink pipe & cracks elsewhere.

Gotta get the nest or ants.... forever.

I didn't look this year, but I have seen ants next to my walkway tunneling underground by my back door. We just put Tarro next to the ant hills and the whole nest is gone.

They are those little tiny ants. I hate when they get into my kitchen. Their color blends with my countertops and they are hard to see.

After a few days, they will be no more. This happens every spring.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

just bee — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 19:53:48 GMT

Typical New Mexico ant.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Ainhisg — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 20:00:18 GMT

For anyone who is interested, there is no need to call an exterminator. Several years ago, I called an online professional pest control company for their advice concerning ants, and he told me to order Taurus SC. I will attach a screenshot of the product, which also shows the phone number and website name. You use it in a one gallon sprayer that you can pick up at Walmart or anywhere. It is an outdoor product that is safe for pets and children once it's dried. No spray or mess in your home!

Ants cross over the spray and carry the poison to the nest, which kills all the ants, so they never have a chance to make it into your home. We spray about the middle of March every year. (SW Missouri)

*For the foundation, you spray a foot up and out.
*Spray an 18-inch band around windows, doors, plumbing, and utility penetrations.
*Spray visible ant trails.

Since we only had ants getting in on certain sides of our house, those are the areas we treated. We are still on the first bottle, which I ordered in 2017. Don't be deterred by the price, because one bottle will last a long time!

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Mom2Dogs — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 20:03:33 GMT

@Carmie They arrived at my house about 3 weeks ago....my counters were also clean but woke up on a Saturday morning to an army of ants. Before coffee, I had to clean them up.

I use TERRO, the liquid, the traps did not work. It is pretty disgusting but I put a drop of the liquid terro on a piece of cardboard in several locations on the countertop...the ants flock to the liquid.

I clean up a couple a couple of times during the course of about 2 days....day three the ants are gone...I have not seen one for weeks.

One year they marched across the counter top up the wall to the molding at the top of the wall at the ceiling..that was a first.

Hope you get them taken care of.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

SharkE — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 21:10:17 GMT

I never see in house praise the Almighty. If I did I would sign a contract.

I killed few snakes last Fall by hacking off their heads with a serrated shovel. Then, I ran over them in the van.

that fellow is for sure dead.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Meowingkitty — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 21:39:13 GMT

@catmama wrote:
I live in the PNW and the cost to have an exterminator visit is anywhere from $350 to $600. So I use Terro but instead of leaving the containers in the area where we see the ants, we put little drops of the product down. That seems to work faster, the ants go right to it. Our cats don't go near it, so that hasn't been an issue for us.

WOW that's expensive. We have an exterminator every other month and it's only $50 a month so $100. He sprays the yard, under bushes, around doors and windows, eaves. Also if we have any issues he will put out bait for ants etc.

Re: It's Spring the ants have arrived.

Redshoes07 — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 23:35:12 GMT

We would get the. every year as well, they would predominantly be by the double oven. I told my husband to seal the area below the ovens and it worked. I also saw online to spray pinesol mixed with water, spray it around the perimeter of the house, so far so good.