Ant problem in paviours

[Broadback]

How to get rid of them which is the best method? When I google the problem is is id 99% American information, even when i specify UK!

[Andy Bennet]

A kettle full of freshly boiled water normally does the trick.

[Chris Hogg]

Borax and sugar is often suggested.

Nippon used to be the recommended stuff, which was little more than the above, I believe. Came in a tube, a clear gel. But there are other commercial products. Ebay has lots

Anything you use, cover it over with a tile, old flowerpot or bit of slate, otherwise any rain will quickly wash it away.

[Andy Burns]

MSDS lists

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Broadback pretended :

Nippon is what I use, usually on sale for a £1 in the pound shops. One tub has lasted a decade so far. We get them in the house, so I go around the outside of the house on a dry day and sprinkle it around the perimeter. No need for a lot, just a very light dusting.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

If they are not marching toward your house I'd tend to leave them alones. They do no real harm most of the time. Of course you can do as you say or use that powder, but really, what is the point. Of course ant hills in the lawn do annoy the heck out of gardeners! Brian

[Clive Arthur]

1+

Borax, or boric/boracic acid 1:3 with sugar, make a paste with a little water. Works very well IME. The ants have enough time to take some to the queen before they die. Harmless to pets. Unless you have pet ants.

[Chris Hogg]

Once saw a Wryneck in our garden doing the same, Jynx torquilla. My wife spotted it first, and she was good at identifying bird species. Never seen one before nor since. It could twist its head seemingly nearly all the way round, hence the name. A bit like an owl.

[Paul]

Borax at 1:3 tends to kill ants at the bate station. And works well for smaller ants. The smaller the ant, the more greedy. The high percentage will knock out some, in as little as two days.

You can mix borax and sugar in water, and make a liquid bate. Or mix icing sugar and borax dry, depending on where you're trying to apply it.

Those are good for the smaller ants.

Borax at 1:16 is more likely to be hauled back to a queen. (The ants live long enough to make it back to the nest.) For best results, if you see a nest with several "trails", each trail should have bate arranged so they will haul it back. If they had three trails, and you only put the

1:16 on one trail, the queen might not get any. Whereas if ants are hauling it back on all three foraging trails, you're more likely to get the queen.

And sugar/borax is not good for mammals. I had one mouse, next to a bate location, lying on its side and exhibiting rapid breathing, and it seemed unaware of my presence. That's a reason to place a tile over the bate site. It's to keep the mammals from eating it all on you. Mice, chipmunks, and raccoons are candidates. The mammals, once learning what you're doing, will eat the bate before the ants get any.

It usually takes the mammals a few days to figure it out, and then make a general nuisance of themselves.

And raccoons will take apart the commercial plastic bate stations. If you're finding your plastic bate stations scattered, that could be a raccoon having a play with one.

The poison control center gets reports of pet poisonings with borax. But a relatively small number. I don't really know how many bottles of bait it takes to "tip over Rover". If you have a dog that will scarf down chocolate bars or boxed chocolates, anything is possible.

I have a maple tree in the back garden, and when the sweet sap is running in spring, you'd be surprised how many members of the animal kingdom figure it out. And the squirrels are just like little kids - they get a "sugar high" and become quite animated. Same goes for fermenting fruit, a number of species know where the pub is.

Paul

[Vir Campestris]

Funny you know what he said about "When I google the problem is is id

99% American information"

Over here coons are zoo animals. And it's bait BTW. Even in the US.

Andy

[Andy Burns]

You'll be telling us next that you don't get 'dillos as roadkill out in your neck of the woods!

[Andrew]

Raccoons are pests in Germany after they all escaped from a zoo that the RAF bombed during WW2 !

If your bait is raided in this country it is probably a badger. They are also very partial to broad beans, having recently done some serious civil engineering to dig under the chain link fence surrounding the local allotments :-)

[Paul]

The mammals are merry old pranksters.

And we're not allowed to kill raccoons here. I'm not really sure why, as there's no shortage of them. They will tear through an attic space wall for example, to make a den. That's what happened to a buddy at work. Hole in the wall.

It's almost impossible in some parts of the country, to keep lids on garbage pails. It's one reason you can't place receptacles near the curb for pickup the night before, because the animal kingdom will have a go at them over night. In the country, they build stout wooden enclosures with a very heavy lid on top, to keep them away from that stuff.

The last time I saw the raccoon here, he was so fat he could no longer climb the chain link fencing. Reduced to more of a "ground rodent" now. Can't get up to as much mischief.

Paul

[Jimk]

What's a raccoon? & why is it relevant?