Little black ants are eating my cats' dry food. I don't know what it is that attracts the ants to the food, but goshdarnit. I've had to sweep every morning to keep the colony at bay.
There must be something in the food that attracts them. Likewise, there must be some way of stopping them from infesting my dining room without poisoning my furry little friends.
Beth, can you help me?
Addendum: since posting, i have taken several distinct precautions against the small black ants. for example, i took beth's advice and moved the food away from the ants' path. i didn't just move it around the room though, i put it in the hall way where there is carpeting as opposed to wood flooring. i believe the carpet has put the ants off on account of all the extra effort it would take for them to climb the carpet (carpet, in case you didn't know, has more surface area than wood flooring. and though insignificant to use big footed humans, ants are very small and have to climb over each thread of carpet).
also, it has been raining lately. ants don't seem to like the rain.
Katy,
ReplyDeleteA few things. I've had this problem before in springtime. I washed out the bowl, swept the area (seemed to be the pieces they knocked out of the bowl that did it), and moved the bowl - either that solved the problem, or springtime passed and it went away on its own..
Second - one thing I've learned (la-ti-da, pushes glasses up on nose) is that ants remember their repeated paths through scent. Apparently you can trap an ant with a line of chalk or vinegar. I've read that they won't cross the chalk line, and that the vinegar smell goes away pretty quickly. I guess it messes up the scent for them to find their way back to the food.
There are some interesting suggestions in wikihow:
http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Ants-From-Cat-Food
I think the ant moat idea is really funny....
I have not tried any of these things (except the sweeping/moving the bowl) but let me know how it goes!
Oh I would like to add that I was not suggesting that you trap the ants, only that they say you can draw a line around the cat bowl and the ants won't cross it. But anyway you've already worked out the problem...
ReplyDeleteAnt traps are your friends.
ReplyDelete