We have a problem.
Ants.
Great big, ugly carpenter ants.
In my house.
Did I mention that they are REALLY FRIGGING BIG??
When I got to the point where I was killing 10 of those horrible things in mere minutes in different areas of my house, I knew there was a problem.
I have an exterminator coming on Thursday to give us an estimate for a treatment.
I asked for a ball park figure, so I will be somewhat prepared.
$500.
Crap.
I decided in the meantime, I would try to nip this problem in the bud myself.
So off I went to our local Superstore to find some RAID.
If there had been a camera pointed at me in the store, I would surely have given the security guys a laugh.
I would reach out to grab a can of RAID to read the label and only touch it with two fingers, right up by the lid. I couldn't even stand the thought of touching a PICTURE of a belly up ant. Ugh!
My facial expressions were probably pretty comical too.
But I finally found one that doesn't require spraying the ugly thing dead on to kill it.
I watched one of our not-so-little visitors crawl into a hole under our stairs. So I wanted something more like a crack and crevice spray.
And I found it.
I also bought spikes for outside our doors and ant traps that stick to the floor.
Next on the queu is to buy shares in the pest control companies.
Holy Mother of God. There's another one.
And I feel them crawling on me.
**shudder**
I got home and was on a mission.
I sprayed this crap everywhere.
I set up the traps and spikes.
And then I sprayed some more.
And when Leon got home I informed him that he had some bodies to pick up.
Because that, folks, is where I draw the line.
10 comments:
Terro is great stuff for killing ants. You can find it in hardware stores - and we have bought it at Walgreens before. It's sticky, they love to eat it, and in two days, all the ants are gone.
$500?? Holy crap, I'm in the wrong line of work.
Good luck getting rid of them.
They had to of misquoted you!! $500 bucks is outrageous!
Do you have water around the house? I wonder what the big draw is? Anyway, I hate mice the way you hate ants...ewwww it just creeps me out!
Good luck hopefully you got rid of the suckers and you don't have to pay the astronomical amount!
i have never heard of carpenter ants, i have heard of carpenter bees though.
i would have loved to been behind that camera watching your facial expressions! i am sure it was priceless.
goog luck with your nasty a$$ ants.
Are these the ants that feed on wood? So they're not only creepy, ugly and huge, but they are in fact dining on the building in which you live and pay a mortgage. Huh? Good idea to get RID of those guys. Bad luck is that with carpenter ants, it can take more than one visit from the exterminators! Gross! Don't bring any of them with you this weekend, okay?
Glad I found this. Great story... not for you though. Hope you get your ant problem under control. =)
That seems so high...
But I have to tell you I would pay it...I can't stand bugs, snakes, spiders (are they part of the bug family?) and any kind of rodent...dear God I hate rodents!
Okay. Need to tell you something.
You probably have a colony in your neighborhood. And they've ventured into your house. You need to get a handle on it now, before they establish a colony there. These are very damaging creatures.
There is definitely water in your house somewhere. Those ants have to have water, and for them to be IN your house, they're getting water IN your house. Ours was behind the tile, directly under our shower head. We had a small leak, enough to nurture and draw the ants.
They love attics.
If you will go to sleep and wake up around midnight, and search your house, you will find them going in a line "from" somewhere and "to" somewhere. The from is close to the nest. The to is close to the water.
Ours had built a nest IN one of our doors. They love the "hollow" type bedroom doors that have a honeycomb of plywood in them. I hate to tell you this, but there were probably 200 ants in that door. HOW DID THEY GET THERE? We were remodeling our house and stored the doors outside for about a week...and that's all it took.
FREAKED me out. Our exterminator put bait in our attic and all over our house, but it really helped him (and cut down on the costs) that I figured out the path.
We had to get a new door. No way was that sucker coming back in our house.
I hated those creatures. Still do. When I see one anywhere, I put on my Sherlock hat and start looking. (But I've not seen one in about 3 years now, thank God.)
$500? That's a lot or would be around here. Did you call around and get a few prices? If you have that many showing up, you probably need professional treatment.
OMG they are huge. And it costs that much? Are they gone now?
Post a Comment