Ants are getting smart

[A1Str8]

Dripping laundry detergent on the floor at the walls corners etc usually work. Seriously

[pomchop]

Birds eat a lot of ants...but when the bird dies the ants eat it and get the last "laugh"...the circle of life goes round and round.

[sirocco]

Hello, 

 

it might be sad, but it's true, each laughs at the expense of the other at one point or another.

 

 

 

[brianthainess]

On 4/12/2021 at 9:19 AM, Speedo1968 said:

I use talcum powder from the 20 baht shop, and "No" perfume does not seem to be important.
The powder can be sprinkled or puffed anywhere.

I found that the *original prickly heat powder* was the best, bad enough if you get it in your eye, imagine being 2mm big and coming across that.

[brianthainess]

Bleach simple as, you can put some diluted in a plant sprayer, use it to wipe down surfaces, or directly on ants,  I also spray insecticide outside around the house.

[Moonlover]

11 hours ago, sezze said:

So you never kill anything ? Including mosquitos ? And what about ticks ? Or termites which are eating away your furniture /doors / ...whatever wood ? Like i said , i respect all life , idc plant or animal , but i eat meat , wear leather , eat vegetables and also protect my home of invaders . Since signs do not work on some and taking a few out alive doesn't seem to help also , i show them the hard way . I not intrude in their house when its outside , they cannot intrude in my house . 

Oh come on please! I did say I generally agree with you. We live in a renovated village house, so naturally we have it treated to prevent termites. No pets, so no ticks but having had dengue last year, mosquitos are definitely on the kill last.

 

But ants are not in my crosshairs. If they do venture in I seek out what it is they're after and remove it and they go away again. I've learned that you can't beat them, so outsmart them instead.

[sirocco]

Be careful, bleach attracts animals (dogs, cats)
Try diluted (or pure) white vinegar.
This chases or kills ants, multiple insects, acidifies the earth and scares away the 4-legged animals.

[Speedo1968]

20 hours ago, tandor said:

..i wonder if they put it under their little armies and leggies.

Advantage of talcum powder that it can be puffed everywhere and is cheap

[gunderhill]

On 4/13/2021 at 8:42 PM, elliss said:

 

      Correct . 

       Humans , we are all part of the animal chain . 

        To , destroy life , of any form, is unacceptable ..

           

including  all  viruses  then

[gunderhill]

15 hours ago, RocketDog said:

cypermethrin

I  think theyve  banned that?

[jak2002003]

Ants can be a good thing to have, at least in the garden..

 

In the precious 4 places I lived we had ants of all kinds.  Worst were the large black ones that stung like a wasp if you accidently got one on your. Then the small ones that drop from the trees and spray you with a stinking chemical that a few times got into my eyes and was very painful.  Also the big orange ones that pinch you with their jaws. 

 

At our new place the ants are strangely absent.  Only the occasional very small ones in the kitchen at first...but they have gone away on their own.

 

It was lovely not to have ants about.  But, now our garden is overrun with pests. Beetles eating our coconut trees, huge fat green caterpillars eating the flowers and shrubs, grubs killing the grass, aphids and mealybugs sucking sap from the fruit trees and making them loose all their leaves. 

 

I put this down to the lack of ants. The ants are good predators to keep the pests under control.  So now I would not mind if a ant colony or two was to move in. 

 

 

 

 

[RocketDog]

41 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

I  think theyve  banned that?

May be but I've bought twice at a shop near me. They had just restocked the shelf last time I bought it. It's in Global House for one. Still, you could be right. A quick search shows no bans globally but ads for it on Amazon popped up. 

 

I researched before using. The MSDS material safety data sheet and decided not to eat it but it's great for my garden and house. It degrades rapidly in a few days from heat, air, sunlight, and water. It specifically kills ants very quickly.

I wiped out all the big red stinging ants rapidly colonizing the hedges around my house. It was so bad I couldn't walk in my own yard. 

I've avoided pesticides and herbicides my whole life but I'm drawing the line now. 

 

As always, people can make their own choices. I'm not making any money on it. 

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, Speedo1968 said:

Advantage of talcum powder that it can be puffed everywhere and is cheap

Some talcum powders are toxic to humans.

 

Definitely do do inhale the stuff. Wear gloves and wear a mask (covid one is fine) when sprinkling it everywhere. Do not get it in eyes.

 

Neem is better and safer.

[ColeBOzbourne]

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

It was lovely not to have ants about.  But, now our garden is overrun with pests. Beetles eating our coconut trees, huge fat green caterpillars eating the flowers and shrubs, grubs killing the grass, aphids and mealybugs sucking sap from the fruit trees and making them loose all their leaves. 

 

I put this down to the lack of ants. The ants are good predators to keep the pests under control.  So now I would not mind if a ant colony or two was to move in. 

Long ago I read a story about spraying insecticide on an island to kill malaria carrying mosquitos. The spray also killed off the cockroaches. Cockroaches had been eating bedbug larvae, so then the bedbug population exploded. Cats went around feasting on the dead cockroaches and died, resulting in an explosion of the rat population to the point they were chewing the toes off of children in their beds at night. Authorities transplanted new populations of cats and cockroaches onto the island to restore the balance. I don't know if rats really chewed off kid's toes, but it makes for a better story.

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, Speedo1968 said:

Advantage of talcum powder that it can be puffed everywhere and is cheap

but how does it kill them? or are you saying the talcum powder keeps them nice and dry

[elliss]

23 hours ago, Moonlover said:

But we do kills germs naturally don't we. Our immune systems are almost constantly on seek and destroy missions to route out and destroy pathogens that are threatening us.

 

It's all part of the big cycle of life.

 

     Looks like .

     Humans , top of the Animal Kingdom .? 

      Have failed on Covid 19 , previously known as Pneumonia..

      Ants and Germs , [ bacteria ]  will survive . Sure.

     They have ,   built in immune systems . Long time .

     Way way before Humans,,  made their Carbon footprint ..

[sezze]

1 hour ago, elliss said:

 

     Looks like .

     Humans , top of the Animal Kingdom .? 

      Have failed on Covid 19 , previously known as Pneumonia..

      Ants and Germs , [ bacteria ]  will survive . Sure.

     They have ,   built in immune systems . Long time .

     Way way before Humans,,  made their Carbon footprint ..

How come ants and germs survive , 1 simple reason ... shear numbers ... . The most deadly disease known to mankind is rabies with 100% fatality rate , yet there is a single case of a young woman surviving it . If all 7 billion in this world get it , im pretty sure there will be at least a couple of 1000 who will survive it . Bacteria are very simple living things , in fact the most simple things around which we call life ( a virus does not live and needs a living cell in order to copy itself ) . The adaption/reproduction rate is extreme , making it suitable for almost all kinds of changes . Both ants and bacteria will certainly outlive mankind ( we cannot survive without them anyway ) .

It does not mean we are weaker , we got immune systems also , we outlived many diseases and we will do again . We also got different strengths , as we are smarter . Which does not make other animals stupid ,only not as smart as us . Give us the time and we can find answers to the hardest problems , possibly even the extinction of earth itself . We will not all survive , prob only a few , but we will go on . Are we by that top of animal kingdom ... probably , it's just how you see it . There is always something stronger , better adapted , faster , then us mankind , but our combination might just give us that 1st place .

[elgenon]

On 4/11/2021 at 1:46 AM, RichardColeman said:

My wife tends to just draw with lots of chalk on the floor and walls and draw roads to the neighbours house

What stores carry ant chalk?

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, elgenon said:

What stores carry ant chalk?

any chalk will do. Ants hate chalk

Edited April 16, 2021 by RichardColeman

[WaveHunter]

I tried a bunch of different remedies (some fairly expensive like Bayer, and some super basic like boric acid powder) to get rid of ants here in Thailand and none really worked too well until I found this one:

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/shanjia-ants-killer-ant-bait-eradicate-ant-set-of-2-packs-in-1-pack-contains-2-sachets-i245578661-s378129908.html?mp=1

 

I swear this stuff is amazing!  It has hundreds of positive reviews on Lazada, and it was recommended to me by another TVF member. 

 

I assume the active ingredient is boric acid but there must be something mixed with it because the ants go crazy over it!  The all seem super attracted to it.  You just sprinkle the granules along baseboards or where ever you see the ants trailing along.  They eat the stuff and and also take it back on their feet to their nests where it ends up killing the colony in just a day or two apparently. 

 

One thing I really like is it is in granular form (not a sticky liquid or fine powder like most baits) so it's not messy to use.  It only takes a tiny amount, and the ants not only consumes the granules but you can see them carrying them off to their nests so there's really nothing to clean up afterwards.

 

Whenever I see ants starting to appear for the season I just sprinkle a little bit, and a couple days later they are history.  

 

BTW, it ships from Thailand so you can have it in just a few days from Lazada.

 

Edited April 16, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Genericnic]

On 4/11/2021 at 5:47 PM, timendres said:

Bayer Quantum works miracles on those ants that will eat it. Every ant in my place, with the exception of one group, loves this stuff, then disappears.

 

Been using this stuff for years. I look for the line the ants are following and lay down a thin line of it across the path. They hit it like Weightwatchers at a buffet. Never had to wait more than 24 hours for them to be good - usually only 3 or 4.

 

David

[upu2]

On 4/11/2021 at 12:07 PM, AhFarangJa said:

We had an invasion about three weeks ago. The Wife said it was the warm weather. I said "Oh, are they coming on holiday"

The slightest drop of anything left in the kitchen was pounced on in minutes, the worst being the tiny ones at about half a millimetre.

The place was covered in white ant chalk but perseverance paid off in the end.

How much did you pay Perse Verance?

[simon43]

I stopped eating food with added sugar some years ago.  Since then, with no sweet food left lying around in my house, there are no ants!  I can leave food out on the table tops and ants never appear.

 

Outside in the garden, I guess there are a million ants.  But as others have said, if they don't hurt me, why should I hurt them?

[elgenon]

20 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

any chalk will do. Ants hate chalk

Thanks.

[adexbe]

only borax works

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, simon43 said:

I stopped eating food with added sugar some years ago.  Since then, with no sweet food left lying around in my house, there are no ants!  I can leave food out on the table tops and ants never appear.

 

Outside in the garden, I guess there are a million ants.  But as others have said, if they don't hurt me, why should I hurt them?

No fresh fruit then? apples, mangos, bananas etc attracts them

[Solinvictus]

Yeah they are!

[simon43]

18 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

No fresh fruit then? apples, mangos, bananas etc attracts them

I leave all those fruits outside the fridge - the ants are not attracted to them...

[tinca tinca]

On 4/13/2021 at 12:26 PM, scubascuba3 said:

they laugh at that stuff and walk round it. The Bayer liquid is 220 baht falang price, I've opted for spraying where they appear to come from and walk

SO what is the THAI PRICE ????

[scubascuba3]

5 hours ago, simon43 said:

I leave all those fruits outside the fridge - the ants are not attracted to them...

Strange, mine were attracted to the banana, mango, apple peel. I put them in a separate bin now