How To Repel An Ant Invasion

"Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest."
- Proverbs 6:6-8 -

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It begins silently.

They are relentless. Implacable. They will stop for nothing.

They are an invading horde, these ants, and they cannot be reasoned with. Only your decisive action will be of any value in repelling the attack.

Note: This story has antecedents.

If you enjoy what you read here, check out my previous ant stories, linked at the end.

Ants. - Image courtesy of Mikhail Vasilyev and http://unsplash.com

It's ant battle time again.

If you aren't under attack already, you may be soon. Review this article, and be sure you're ready.

Here's your illustrated defense plan: things to acquire now to be prepared, and steps you can take immediately, when they come, to repel that ant invasion.

Diatomaceous Earth. - Original image by @creatr

Have these materials on hand:

Most of these items are commonly available and reasonably priced. Some, you can even compound at home if you need to save a few dollars.

Essentials

• Courage and patience
• A roll of paper towels
• A disposable bag (e.g. a plastic grocery bag)
• Water
• Diatomaceous earth
• Borax-based ant bait (Tero brand, or homemade)
  
  
  

  Terro Brand Ant Baits. - Original image by @creatr

Optional

• Spray bottle
• 50%/50% Rubbing Alcohol/Water mix
• Other non-toxic ant poison - mint or soy based - for indoors
• More toxic ant poisons for outdoors

It Begins: The Discovery

You will usually discover the invasion after it is too late, when an army of ants has already gathered. They've invaded silently, and are already doing their worst to plunder and destroy things of value in your home.

You may find them in the dog's dish, digging into the food stores in your pantry, or in the kitchen or bathroom, gathering water.

Start by summoning your courage and patience. It isn't the end of the world, but it is time to swing into action.

Step One: Triage

You must be determined to repel the invasion. In our household, the simple presence of an ant calls for the death penalty. A single ant, left alone, will summon the entire colony. Having your food and water invaded by these creatures is not a pretty sight.

If you are going to use ant poison, be sure to only use non-toxic varieties in the house. Try to apply it judiciously, using it to block off trails and entryways.

I rarely use poisons in the house, preferring rather to simply "mop up" the invaders. Take a damp paper towel and fold it in quarters. Use it to vigorously crush as many ants at once as possible. When they start falling off, refold it the other way and keep going. When the towel is saturated with dead ants, drop it into a disposable bag (not your trash) because there are likely to be a few survivors.

Repeat this operation with as many paper towels as necessary. Go for the highest ant concentration, and (for now) don't worry too much about strays.

Point of Ingress. - Original image by @creatr

Step Two: Locate the Source

Ants create and follow trails. It is critical for you to find and follow their trail back to its source. You can crush and/or spray all day, but unless you track back to and locate the source, they will just keep on coming.

I can't emphasize this enough. The ants can probably reproduce as fast as you kill them off. You must locate the entry point into your house.

In the most recent invasion, we first spotted them clustered around the dog's food and water. This was right next to the back kitchen door, a place they had often entered before. However, when I started mopping them up and following the trail, it lead thirty feet across the kitchen and living room floors, all the way to the front of the house. They were entering under the temporarily mounted window air conditioner in the photo.

Ant Bait. - Original image by @creatr

Step Three: Set the Bait

Stepping outside, I saw that the trail continued across the porch and off the edge. I prepared and set an ant bait right at the edge of the walkway furthest from the house, and then mopped up the trail of ants going back and forth between there and window where they were entering the house. Once again, I went for the masses of ants, ignoring any strays.

Ant Corral. - Original image by @creatr

Step Four: Block the Path

Now it was time to corral the beasts.

This time, being careful not to block or disturb what remained of the ant trail, I laid out a bead of diatomaceous earth, in a semicircle, creating a barrier between the source of the ants (i.e. their underground nest somewhere out in the yard) and the house.

What I counted on here was that, as the ants began to discover it, they would switch their attention to the bait alone, consuming it and carrying it back to the nest. The half-ring of diatomaceous earth was laid down to discourage them from returning to the house.

Head 'Em Off At The Pass. - Original image by @creatr

This is an extremely effective strategy.

In the illustration above, the yellow arrow indicates the original ant trail. Once the diatomaceous earth was placed, I mopped up what remained of the ants on the side close to the house, while leaving the main trail undisturbed so that the ants would carry the borax poison back to the nest.

If you are unable to locate the exterior source of the invasion—for example, in cases where the ants may be coming up through the floor, or down through a wall—you can use the same approach inside the house. Get as close as you possibly can to the source of the ant trail or trails. Place your bait, and then use diatomaceous earth to circle the area all except fro the trail source. They will switch their attention to the bait, and the D.E. will act like a corral to keep them from venturing elsewhere.

Congratulations! You are now an Ant Wrangler.

Step Five: Mop Up Stragglers

Once the main stream of ants is corralled and contained, go back with your damp paper towels and recheck everything along the original trail and to either side. Blot those little beasts up.

Optional Extras... Oops! Those paper towels are essential!
Original image by @creatr

Step Six: Monitor for Resurgents

Ants are sneaky. They are skilled in guerrilla warfare. They will slip past barriers and find new avenues of attack. You must be vigilant. Go back from time to time and see if there are any new avenues of attack. Look for ant scouts. Kill them on sight.

Show no mercy.

Any ant you leave could find a new source of food or water, and could then create a new trail back to the nest.

If you found this article interesting or helpful, don't miss the ant collection linked below.

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~FIN~

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If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy these other stories about ants:

White Men Can't Jump, and TIL - Most Ants Can't Swim
TIL: How The Ants Got Into Our Bathroom🐜🐜🐜
Ants In Everything

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