Tiny red/orange ants in kitchen?

[Becky Taylor]

My family has had a problem for a while now during the summer with tiny
little (about 1/16", if that) red/orangish ants that have been plaguing out
kitchen. They used to be coming from the drain or the "seam" where the sink
met the counter, but I just had an incident where they had come from
underneath the moulding to, for the first time, go after our dogs' food.
(Other times, they've been attracted to remains of other protein foods in
our sink - hamburger grease and residue, scraps of eggs, etc.)

Dismantling the counter to take care of this would be difficult, and
fumigation would be a near-impossibility - we have two dogs and two cats
and no other place to stay. They haven't proved a big problem - just a
quick mop-up of they and their trails when they every few days or so
ppear - but, of course, I'm unnerved by a resident insect population in
the house, and the dog food thing is not good. These ants don't seem to be
attracted to the typical supermarket "big ant" bait traps. Are there any
steps I can take to get rid of them - and what kind of ant _are_ they?
Many thanks for any help.

[MF]

Sounds like my kitchen. Try baits designed for pharoah or carpenter ants.
There are other names for these little buggers, and fumigation does no good.
Think of Mongo in Blazing Saddles: "Don't shoot him, you'll only make him
mad.."

You will just have to find the right bait so the food gets back to the
queen.
"Becky Taylor" <Ctakemeou...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Vc3Pa.47108$0v4.3...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

[KenKM]

We get them here, too. They go for the cat food. They do find their way in from
outdoors. The hard part is to find the little rascals--they're hard to see. But
they can be found, usually marching in a line. Actually, a two-way line, like
an ant highway! If you find that, spray as much of the line as you can with
ant and roach killer. I haven't seen any now in the last two weeks since my
sharp-eyed daughter found the line.
Good luck,
Ken

[donald girod]

God, it sounds like "grease ants", the scourge of my childhood. I remember
my mother ended up putting all fat-containing stuff in tight containers for
about a two year period, meaning that she never found a solution; I think
the ants finally got bored. I dread that they will find me someday but so
far...

"KenKM" <ke...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030709220116...@mb-m07.aol.com...

[RamblinOn]

Becky Taylor wrote:

>My family has had a problem for a while now during the summer with tiny
>little (about 1/16", if that) red/orangish ants that have been plaguing out
>kitchen. They used to be coming from the drain or the "seam" where the sink
>met the counter, but I just had an incident where they had come from
>underneath the moulding to, for the first time, go after our dogs' food.
>(Other times, they've been attracted to remains of other protein foods in
>our sink - hamburger grease and residue, scraps of eggs, etc.)
>

Mop the floor and clean the cupboards :o) Keep dog food cleaned up -
primary culprit. These sound like grease loving ants (dog food, eggs,
hamburger grease). We have used boric acid liquid bait with great
success, in different climates. The container I have now is called
"Ant-Kil", from Home Depot. Just about any hardware store would have
some version of the same stuff. Our container says, for grease ants, to
mix a few drops with a few drops of salad oil and place it next to the
trail. Under the sink or baseboard where they enter would be good.
Always gives good results for me. Try to caulk seams and cracks where
they enter, but the bait should take care of them, at least temporarily.
Getting rid of dog food helps a lot, as there are always crumbs on the
floor.

[ConcertinaMusic.com]

My experience has been that if you get rid of the food source, the ants will
leave.

In our house the cat food was the target. We placed the cats' food bowl in
a slightly larger container that was partially filled with water. This
artificial "moat" prevented the ants from getting to the food (ants don't
swim). They soon tired of searching for another food source and left.

Good luck,

Ken

"Becky Taylor" <Ctakemeou...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Vc3Pa.47108$0v4.3...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

[Becky Taylor]

Thanks very much - you folks have all been exceptionally helpful and
friendly. I (and my dogs) much appreciate it!

"Becky Taylor" <Ctakemeou...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:Vc3Pa.47108$0v4.3...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

[RamblinOn]

ConcertinaMusic.com wrote:

>My experience has been that if you get rid of the food source, the ants will
>leave.
>
>

At least half the battle, and the info that insecticide producers don't
want you to know :o)

>In our house the cat food was the target. We placed the cats' food bowl in
>

Very clever. Our dog food attracted mice as well as ants. Late one
fall, we had the fire department out when the dryer started smoking for
no apparent reason. A mouse had begun storing dog food around the flame
thingy in the dryer and his stash caught fire :o) When the fire fighter
told me what he found, I first suspected my son, but there was no way a
mischievious kid could have gotten dog food into the confined space it
was in.

[Tom Bach]

"Becky Taylor" (Ctakemeou...@worldnet.att.net) writes:
> My family has had a problem for a while now during the summer with tiny
> little (about 1/16", if that) red/orangish ants that have been plaguing out
> kitchen. They used to be coming from the drain or the "seam" where the sink
> met the counter, but I just had an incident where they had come from
> underneath the moulding to, for the first time, go after our dogs' food.
> (Other times, they've been attracted to remains of other protein foods in
> our sink - hamburger grease and residue, scraps of eggs, etc.)
>
> Dismantling the counter to take care of this would be difficult, and
> fumigation would be a near-impossibility - we have two dogs and two cats
> and no other place to stay. They haven't proved a big problem - just a
> quick mop-up of they and their trails when they every few days or so
> ppear - but, of course, I'm unnerved by a resident insect population in
> the house, and the dog food thing is not good. These ants don't seem to be
> attracted to the typical supermarket "big ant" bait traps.

I've had success with these little cans of bait after putting a tiny bit
of liquid honey on the entrances. This seems to get their attention and
they end up going inside after the honey is gone. If you can see the path
they are taking, put the trap directly over it. Once there are no more
ants, wash the path area clean.