I'm locked in a ongoing battle with the little black ants. The initial invasion was definitely a surprise attack in the middle of the night. I woke in the morning to find my kitchen was now an occupied territory, and my cats had been compromised. Obviously the ants had made a treaty with the cats, as the cats were just watching them take their food. Attempts at negotiations with the cats stalled immediately, as their terms involved complete access to the TemperPedic bed at all times. Failure to negotiate with the cats forced me to turn to conventional warfare.
I gathered my ant baits and Ortho outdoor home defense and began a campaign of chemical warfare on the ants homelands. I systematically attacked all their strongholds, training centers, and weapon caches. Additionally I established complete air superiority. After several days of ground and air bombardment I deployed outdoor land mines (baits) and napalmed the rest of the yard (hose with poison spray). Unfortunately there where civilian casualties (a plant or two), but nothing that wasn't calculated. At this point I began to contemplate declaring victory.
The ants, however, regrouped and switched to a guerrilla warfare strategy. This involved suprise attacks on the cat food, a night time rush on the pantry, and daring raids into the living room. My large (20 pound cat) was also compromised and needed a bath after I found several live ants on her.
I called in mercenaries. They, too, laid waste to the land, sea and air. For several days afterwards the house was completely free of the ants. I thought it was time to declare total victory. I was dead wrong.
The ants struck in force on Thursday June 28th in an attempt to reoccupy the kitchen. It was a major battle, the vacuum (the ultimate ant killer) was deployed slightly before my position was overrun. The ants had shown me they were still a major threat.
I needed new tactics and new weapons... Over the next two days I perfected a concoction of Simple Green, Ortho Home Defense Max, and sugar. It didn't kill on contact but after 2 minutes it caused them to explode. It was devastating and disgusting. After extensive satellite surveillance (I'm tall), I deployed my new weapons in strategic locations.
Stay tuned for the outcome.....
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Update: Day 34
Ants have infiltrated cat food, again. They appear to be using it as a supply center. Ants swarmed from the bag as I poured food into the cat dishes. They were in the bag, outside the bag and then on my floor. They ran across my arms, my legs and dove for cover under the larger of the two cats. Mouse didn't seem to mind; she was eating.
I determined that it was too dangerous to put the cat food back in the pantry. Instead, I set it outside on the deck where, much to my delight, the ants continued to pour out of the bag into the light of day.
Back inside, I picked off the remaining ants. I moved Mouse aside, exposing the battalion that was entrenched under her expansive belly. I rubbed them out one by one with my big toe. Then I presented Mouse with my ant-encrusted big toe, and she gleefully licked it clean and wiped it against her fur.
I think we've re-established the cat's allegiance.
Been there, done that. Every year they keep re-appearing, however, this year seemed a little less that last year...and yes, the cat food is the favorite. I know it sounds weird, but someone told me to put cinimon down it the areas that they are appearing and it will drive them away, and believe it or not it worked. While the cinimon was down for a couple of days, my husband sprayed the perimeter outside the house and we really haven't had a problem since.
Hope that helps some...
I had an ant problem when I had a cat and the related cat food. Now the cat's gone, as are the ants.
One way of keeping them out of the cat food is to surround it by water. Ants don't swim. Just find a dish that's a bit larger than your cat food dish and make a little moat around it's preimeter. That kept them out.
I used a plastic cat food container that sealed tightly to keep them out of the stored food.
Ants are bad bad bad in this area.
Try Green Light,Many Purpose Dust--the ants will not cross it and it kills quickly and I suppose painlessly---Cometa
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