How Do I Get Rid of These Ants?!

We use Terro. It works really good, you just have to put it out of the children or animals reach. Under cabinets, in the corners on countertops. They provide little cardboard disks to put it on.

Hi K.,

I was thrilled to discover Diatamaceous Earth. It is a very abrasive, white powder prepared from naturally occurring deposits formed by the silicified skeletons of diatoms. I have researched it and it is decidedly not toxic. In fact, it is recommended to be added to stored dry foods to prevent insect infestation. It can be eaten. (I have to admit that I never have tried it and am reluctant to do so! Yukko!) The only caution is that it can irritate your lungs if you make it dusty and breathe it. That is because it is abrasive and very dry.

Diatamaceous Earth is cheap. You get it in the gardening area at Lowe's or Home Depot or a garden store. It comes in a big bag and lasts a long time. I fill a shaker like you see at a pizza place with parmasan cheese with diatamaceous earth and keep it on the kitchen counter since that is where the ants bother me.

I first vacuum up all the ants so that I can figure out where they are coming in from. Then I shake the diatamaceous earth across their path and cut off their access. They will not cross it. Any that get in it will die. I read that it is so abrasive that it cuts up their body and they leak out fluid and die. It works within minutes and actually seems to stop the ants by preventing their entry into the house. They go elsewhere.

I've used this every wet spring since my kids were little and they leave it alone. It is uninteresting to them. The cats didn't seem to notice it, either. You don't have to use it all over, just in a line across any ant trails or high ant traffic areas you notice.

Good Luck! Please e-mail me if you have any questions!

L. C.

Definitely use Taro!

Have you tried putting garlic powder or garlic salt around the bottom of your front door and back door. My mom had that problem and she tried and it got rid of them.

My husband and I just bought Ortho Home defense Max. It is for indoors and outdoors. It specifically states on there that people and pets may enter back into the home after the spray has dried. We used some last night in our sons room and it killed them on contact. IT says it kills all types of ants including Carpenter Ants, all types of beetles including Asian lady beetles, Centipedes, cockroaches, crickets, fleas, flies, fire ants, mosquitoes, pantry pests scorpions, spiders (such as black widow, brown recluse and hobo), silverfish and Ticks. It is in a one gallon container and I believe my hubby said it was 8 dollars and change after tax. It states that it is fast acting, non staining, an odor free. Which so far is true. Another thing that I like about it, it also says it should work up to 12 months. SO I am sold. I hope this helps you!!

Good luck~
S. B.

PS I have three kids (6,4,2), one dog and a cat so far everything is fine.

I seam to remember reading that they can't digest corn meal, and it will cause them to die.

Terro works great - make take a couple of days - but it does the job - and you can put it aways from where a child can get at it.

If you see where they are entering, I've been told that cream of tartar will keep them out; a nice thick border of it. I've never tried it on our ants. I have some Ortho stuff that I sprayed in the track of our sliding glass door, and they haven't set feeler across it since. We get ants every year, and I just hate hate hate them!!! Good luck!

I hate to say this, but aspartame, nutrasweet, actually works. Kinda makes you wonder what it does to your body huh?
I've also used the Tarro, which is very natural, but difficult to keep away from kids and dogs.

Lori K

put a trail of lime around your house next to the foundation, just thick enough to force ants to climb over it, this will keep them from getting in at all, this time of year is the time to do it, and repeat as necessary through the summer. I came from a wet clime where this is gospel. It's the same premise as whitewashing the trees, paint the trees with lime in spring and you won't have bagworms or ticks in them.

if u find anything that works please let me know. they have invaded my house without the rain and i have my 2 year old who is into everything and then my 3 month old. the raid gives me migraines and the thought of it hurting my girls just is not sitting well with me.

This solution is just for fun - it made me laugh. We have a puppy who is almost a year old and has always been fascinated with bugs. The first day we had her, she found a worm in the yard and was totally engrossed in it. I noticed when she was little, she could track tiny ants on the driveway and tried to play with them. So, when the ants came marching in this spring, I pointed to one on the kitchen floor and said to my dog - get it! She licked it right up! I pointed to another - get it! She did. Good girl! I'm thinking - this is great! I have a free exterminator. However, this dog is not stupid. She finds one ant at a time a fun game, but a swarm of them - no. She licked up several at once and really did not like the way that felt on her tongue. I don't blame her! We had a line of marching ants from the kitchen patio door, across the floor, all the way to the dog food dish and back. Not wanting to use harmful chemicals that the dog might lick up, I got a wet washcloth and wiped all the ants up and rinsed them down the drain. Yes, it was kind of gross and creepy, but they didn't come back! I guess between the attack of the killer ant dog and the washcloth of doom, they decided this was not a good house to be in!

I know this isn't helpful to you with having a baby and preggo doggy BUT as others have said...Terro (orange box we get ours at kmart, lowes or home depot) does really, really work provided you could keep your pets and kiddos out of it. We have dogs and kids and have used it when we had a problem with them at our old house. It worked like magic!!! Hope this works for you. You could also do a search for natural bug remedies or non toxic insect spray on the net to see if there are any suggestions there. Yuck. I remember how frustrating that was battling all those little boogers! :0 Hope you find something works!!!