Wednesday, March 3, 2010

the invasion of the ANTS!


it's that time of year again, ant season...at least it is at the hellhole! oh, we have ants pretty much all the time, more or less, but when the weather starts getting warmer, the ants just seem to come out of the woodwork. actually, i think they DO come out of the woodwork! there may be just one or several but they are everywhere, in every room. little, annoying sugar ants- they are the bane of my existence.

now, sugar ants are one thing, but we have had problems with big, ugly carpenter ants, too. there was this time, a few years ago- i came out of my bedroom one morning, wiping the sleep crusties out of my eyes. as i opened them and looked up, i was faced by the sight of the ENTIRE front wall of the house covered with carpenter ants!!!!!!!!!!

to say i was horrified is an understatement! i screamed for bilbo and the girls to get up and help me rid the house of these awful visitors. they came running and were totally unprepared for what was waiting for them. after we all took it in, we started frantically crushing and killing and cleaning up the invasion.

imagine, if you will, two of us wielding fly swatters, crazily smacking the ants on the wall, another one wiping the dead ones down with a rag and the fourth one running around like a mad woman vacuuming up the ones that escaped!!

the carpenter ant carnage was everywhere! there we were for about 30 minutes frenziedly smacking and wiping and vacuuming the living room til we were all pooped out and glistening with sweat!! man, was that a memorable family moment or what?!

so, yeah, the tiny sugar ants are annoying but at least they are not dark, sinister, giants swarming on us! but every spring, with those first warm days, i keep a vigilant eye out for anything big and black and scary. oh, and i watch for the ants, too!

grateful for:
1. adrenaline
2. hand lotion
3. the fact that no matter how naughty t.willie has been, with one little grin, all is forgotten!

2 comments:

  1. i don't really remember the carpenter ant escapade.....

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  2. Ugh, I know.........But our ants are meat eaters. They are extremely tiny, but seem to be carnivores. Like if you have a dead fly or wasp on the windowsill, they are all over it. And I learned NOT to put the wishbone on the windowsill to dry! Anyway, I did find one product that helped me last year. I got it at Ace Hardware. It comes in a tube, like miniature caulk...but get the one for roaches, it is stronger than the one for ants. Thanks to my boy for that last bit of advice.....he is the helpful hardware guy.

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