Friday, April 24, 2009

Ant Farm!!



For the past month, Ellison has had to sleep in the game room because of an infestation of ants in her room!! These aren't your common every day ants. Until last winter I had no idea there were so many different types of ants.
This is what I googled:
Habitat, Food Source(s), Damage: Mouthparts are for chewing. Pharaoh ants are omnivorous, feeding on sweets (jelly, particularly mint apple jelly, sugar, honey, etc.), cakes and breads, and greasy or fatty foods (pies, butter, liver and bacon). Nests can be found outdoors and almost anywhere indoors (light sockets, potted plants, wall voids, attics, in any cracks and crevices) particularly close to sources of warmth and water.
Pest Status: The most commonly occurring indoor ant in Texas; in hospitals, it can be a carrier of more than a dozen pathogenic bacteria including Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Pseudomonas and Clostridium; these ants do not sting or and usually do not bite.


It all started with a visit from my grandmother. She was staying in Ellison's room, this was in November, and one day she woke up with little bites all over her body. We thought they were mosquitos but she said she felt things crawling over her at night but she didn't want to "complain" about it. That's my grandma, so sweet. Anywho, I called a pest control guy to make sure we didn't have bed bugs. He came in and did a thorough inspection and didn't find any blood (yikes!!) around the bed, or any sign of bed bugs. My grandma did show him the little pests she had managed to catch in a jar. The pest control guy said they were ants. Pharaoh ants and Acrobat ants!! Pharoahs and acrobats! I had never heard of such things! The guy said they would die down on their own with the cold weather coming, but as soon as it would warm up, watch out 'cause they'd be back. The only way to get rid of them is with baits. And since we have a crape myrtle and other associated woody bushes right in front of my porch they would likely climb through there into my dining room and daughter's window! So for months my dear sweet Ellie slept in her room! Until one day when her legs were covered with welts!!


YIKES! The pharoah and his acrobat are back

So off we went to Home Depot to find out how much we would have to shell out to get rid of these pests! Surprisingly it didn't cost too much for the baits. We just have to be real careful the kids and pets don't get into it. So far I think we have emerged victorious and pretty soon, my sweet Ellie can move back into her nice clean room....(she hasn't been in it for a month, hence the word "clean", that and I cleaned it last weekend to get rid of all the hundreds of dead ants)
Hmm...we'll see what new adventures lie ahead in this nice warm weather

Would you like to comment?

  1. You did it.. now if you need any help, just let me know. I know I can get rid of birds. I am not sure about ants, but I am up for anything!

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