Invasion of the red ants

I would not use any harsh chemicals on bites when there might be a chance of infection or delayed healing...I use ice on bee stings, for the pain. Fire ant bites, although rather intensely painful at first, don't bother me a lot...get a white bump like a pimple and then it goes away soon. Had a bite once that took months to heal...probably some kind of spider. It wasn't broken skin, but purplish discoloration under the skin. If your skin is dry, use lotion like Eucerin or some such...a little less vulnerable to injury when you protect your skin. Go fishing and let someone else crawl under the cabin :o)

Put down enough grits and you might get a crop of rats :o)

Reply to
norminn
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Me don't care

Reply to
Chief Two Eagles

wrote

Caught a pack rat in my shed yesterday. Am currently in the annual war with the local rock squirrels. 17" - 21" in length.

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Steve

Reply to
Steve B

A common treatment is a paste made from baking soda. I neutralizes the formic acid in the venom.

Reply to
gfretwell

"Steve B" wrote

Grin, and whilst us southern folk are having fun with one another in the thread, the actual solution as posted is a real one. Really and truely, it works.

Reply to
cshenk

I will report back, as I am darn sure going to try it. I got sidetracked today, or I would have done it today. It was so hot here that when I walked outside, there were NO ants on the surface of the ground.

Steve

visit my blog at

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watch for the book

A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.

Reply to
Steve B

And cereal. Even when the inner bag is rolled and clipped. In the summer, cereal goes into tupperware containers. That's because one day, in my haste to have breakfast, I didn't notice a few in the cereal bowl and ate some. Very unique and bitter taste. Had a bad infestation this year, but Raid Ant spikes spread around the house seem to have done the trick. Green with what look like white radardomes on the top. (The spikes, not the ants, otherwise I'd be moving right quick!)

Took a week for them to work, but the kitchen's been sugar ant free. Now how do I stop tiger crickets from getting into the basement? I think they are entering through the sump pit under the stairs but the few that I've captured and subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques have not revealed their point of entry. (-:

-- Bobby G.

"The United States Does Not Torture!" - GW Bush. (We have people that do it for us!)

Reply to
Robert Green

"Clyde, dem's not sprinkles!"

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

I've eaten choc covered ants. Pretty crunchy.

Reply to
Chief Two Eagles

When I lived in an old walk up in NYC, I sprinkled boric acid all around the kitchen floor because the roaches were so thick. They sailed right through piles of the stuff like they were skiing and it had no visible affect on them at all. I suspect NYC roaches have some sort of super immunity from being exposed to every insecticide known to man.

The roach infestations in old buildings like that is unbelievable. They grow so large you can actually hear them scuttling around. I remember the shock of turning on the bathroom light one night and seeing the wall seem to move as dozens scurried for the dark when the light came on.

It's nice to be reminded that at least I don't have to put up with those nasty little critters anymore. The last time I saw one here was years ago, and that was a hitchhiker that came in the bottom of a paper bag from the supermarket. This year, it's stink bugs, tiger crickets, sugar ants and squirrels. The removal of the red maple out front has seriously altered the eco-system around the house. Had to Hav-a-hart some squirrels over to the next town as they were trying to move into the attic after the loss of their home.

Learned a great trick from the 'net to keep them from damaging themselves on the way to their new home. Peanut butter and Ambien. Puts 'em right out. Never had one *not* wake up afterward, although they always look a little groggy when they arrive at their new homes. Necessary treatment after having one get loose in the car. That was NOT fun. Tried to climb onto my head - ran around the inside of the car at warp speed. I grabbed for it and it bit my thumb but good - it was like getting your finger stuck in a sewing machine. They don't just bite once, they chew. I felt at least 5 separate bites within a single second.

That's when we stopped and opened the door and let him exit. The next day, at my doctor's office I learned that squirrels very rarely have rabies - phew! - (which is what I was sure I had contracted from the bite). Of course, he said if I wanted to be sure, I could bring the squirrel to the health department for testing. I should have realized that I might need the squirrel for just such a purpose, but when you're being bitten by a panicked squirrel flying around loose in the car, your only thought is how to get it out of there. Now.

Since then, I also use strong magnets in addition to the built in trap locks (gravity based and NOT very reliable!) AND the Ambien treatment for transport. And they ride in the trunk now, too, in the Hav-a-hart trap which is placed in a plastic trash bag to contain the poop, pee and squirrel stink that comes out of them even when they're knocked out cold. Don't know if you've ever seen an older male close-up. They have immense gonads, thoroughly out of proportion to their size and they leak icky stinky goo and poop, even when unconcious. Shocking, but not as much as when a male possum got caught in the trap and I discovered that they have dual penises. Looks like the forked tongue of a snake. We first thought we were looking at it giving birth. It was getting a hard-on, instead, it turned out.

I trap squirrels because one year a squirrel got in before we left for vacation (had the door propped open to load the car) and did over $3000 worth of damage to the windows and other items trying to get out for two weeks. We though we had a break-in when we first got home because the rim of the toilet was covered in dirt, where he would go to drink. Squirrels apparenlty don't lick themselves clean like cats. Who would break in to stand on the toilet, I thought, and why didn't they steal anything?

When I got to the kitchen and found a bag of cookies and a box of cereal on the floor, clearly chewed through, I knew what had happened. The tale of finding him and evicting him has become a traditional Thanksgiving story at our house, almost as revered as the time when we lit a fire for the holidays and flaming birds began flying around the living room.

Anyway, Rocky did not go easily or quietly. Finally had to build a loop stick to haul him out of the stove where he was hiding. Somewhere I have picture of Rocky staring out from under the hole beneath the burner. We're still finding dessicated squirrel pellets on the tops of cabinets and other odd places.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

clipped

LOL...worst trapped animal I have handled was a gopher tortoise that moved from my yard to a county park :o)

When we used our pop-top camper the last time, we forgot there was food stored. The remarkable colony of roaches that moved in were able to chew through the wrappers on Ritz crackers. Also chewed up the soles of my rubber flip flops....can't imagine them being mistaken or used as food :o)

We had a colony of roaches move into our place when upstairs neighbor moved out...they had small children, so probably easier food sources for the bugs.

I've read about mixing baits for carpenter ants, using sugar and boric acid. Those articles said that the b.a. must be liquid, they will not ingest granules.

When topical flea treatment for cats came out, we got it right away. The vet advised sprinkling b.a. all over the carpet, leave for few days and then vacuum up to get rid of eggs. Had tried everything prior to that...powder, shampoo, dips, foggers...the topical stuff got rid of the flea problem within days, so didn't use the b.a.

I rescued some antiques from a condemned house years ago...old ladies, plumbing didn't work, pet cats, trash stuffed into kitchen cabinets. I could hear the roaches running around on the piles of trash. I came prepared...boots, gloves, rake, shovel :o) As soon as I got the furniture outside, I poured full strength bleach all over it. Nice pie safe and walnut table :o) Cheap way to furnish a home :o)

Reply to
norminn

clipped

Might have been my neighbor's kid...I caught him and his friend in my garden once, showing praying mantis how to mate. :o)

Reply to
norminn

I am surprised (s)he didn't back. It must have been pretty far away. I have several living around here and the FPL easement behind me is a tortoise sanctuary with 35-40 there at any given time. We have a few with distinctive shell marking that we named. There is one big female (Roberta was Bob before I knew how to tell) that has lived here for the 28 years I have been here. One of my neighbors did try to move her once, about half mile away up to the state park. She was back in less than a week. We have had babies several times and watched them grow up.

BTW, trick to catch a tortoise. Bury a white bucket right outside the burrow at a 45 degree angle opposite the hole angle. They fall in the bucket and you move them. Just check the bucket frequently so it doesn't starve and die. It is illegal to kill one. If one starts a hole in a place you don't want them, throw a couple big rocks, pieces of concrete or bricks in the hole,. They think they hit bedrock and abandon the dig.

Reply to
gfretwell

Don't use your real name if you say you moved a g. tortoise :o) It's illegal. Our tortoise moved about 5 miles, so I didn't expect to see it again. There is a "trick" to catching a tortoise, other than walking up to the thing and picking it up? :o) I picked it up, put it into a big cooking pot and carried him in that ... he was royally p.o.'d! I would not have considered moving him but that he was digging right next to the front door and I wanted to sell the house. O/wise, I loved having all the critters around. I miss them.

Reply to
norminn

As I mentioned above, BA burns the exoskeleton. It takes some time. I dusted my garage before. A day or few later the critters are belly-up.

For roaches? See the Las Vegas Coffee Grounds Roach Trap - version 2

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I still use the original type, mason jar with used coffee grounds and an inch or so of water. They climb in and cannot climb out (glass).

Reply to
Oren

That was a prime candidate for the rock trick. If you catch them early in the burrowing process, throw a few big rocks in the hole and they will stop digging there.

Reply to
gfretwell

You have problems with animals that I've never even heard of! (Reminds me of the old saying: She had curves in places where other women didn't even HAVE places.)

If those FF's were from China, who knows what was in them. Melamine and pet food? Blood thinner? Poisoned milk? Recycled executed political prisoners?

Once roaches get established in multi-family dwellings, they really get a foothold. Often treatment just causes them to flee to the least fumigated part of the building where they "hole up" until the poison fades away.

I guess not. This was in the '70s when the boric acid technique first gained wide dispersion and there wasn't an internet nor a whole lot of information about exactly how to apply it. Worst experience ever? Trying to syphon out a clogged sink by sucking on a rubber tube that had a roach crawling inside it. Ptui!!! Lesson learned: blow before you suck!

It's a *very* creepy noise. I took an apartment over Gepetto's restaurant in DC once and I head something under the bed. Ever see the scene in Aliens where Bill Paxton pokes his head into the ceiling tiles? I saw this huge, old dirt brown cockroach waddling its way along under the bed not even bothering to run for it. I moved out the next day and my landlord let me break the lease when I told him why. Turned out to be an illegal apartment so I am sure he didn't want any trouble with the health department. Never ate at Gepetto's after that because I assumed that's where King Roach held court.

I left a lot of stuff behind when I moved from the NYC apartment because they lay eggs everywhere. Inside stereos, in collections of papers, inside record albums (remember those?), inside TV's, shoes, clothes and boxes of any kind. I'd bring a flamethrower to the scene you described. God, how I hated those little f*ckers. Especially if one crawled into the bed at night.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Thank God roaches are just a bad memory for me. It's good to be reminded that there are lots of small things to be thankful in this world, and living roach-free is one of them.

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Yikes - kids today!

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

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