I have been invaded. The suckers are everywhere. I know they love sugar and food left out but, they is nothing out.It's like they sit on my kitchen counters waiting for me to walk in and smack them. They are big.BIG ! Black ones. Aside from calling in someone(I have animals in the house) Any one know of a home remedy to get rid of the pesky things?

By Kate on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 05:17 pm:

Big black ants are carpenter ants, and they're not after your food....they are eating the wood of your house. If it's really bad you can even HEAR them chewing if they're in a doorframe or something. They are harmful to your home, similar to termits, so I would call an exterminator ASAP.

By Kate on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 05:20 pm:

*

By Kate on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 05:24 pm:

Sigh. I hit 'cancel post' when I realized my typo in 'termites' and the post went away and didn't show up. So I happily retyped, and added more info, and when I posted that, my original post that I tried to cancel posted, too. How do you remove the content of your posts?? I know people have done that, but I don't see a way to do so.

By Kaye on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 06:30 pm:

I too would call a professional. However, another option is to use boric acid. Go to home depot/lowes and look at the pest control section. Boric acid is bad for pests, but not harmful to pets or humans. My guy uses it inside all the wall jacks (outlets, phones, etc) and then along the outside baseboard area of the house.

By Colette on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 06:36 pm:

Try this link to identify what you have. I had medium sized black ants and I used this product. I only had to put a couple of drops on a small (very small) piece of cardboard and then I slid it under my dryer and under my fridge, for one day they will flock to it and then you won't see them anymore.

http://www.terro.com/

By Luvn29 on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 09:54 pm:

We have used terro, and it works great for all types of ants!

Kate, to remove the content, go to edit profile under profile, and go to the list of your posts after you put in your name and password. Then click on edit post at the post you want to edit and you can delete the content there. You may have to leave a period in it, or type in duplicate post or something, i don't know. But that's where you do it! Hope that is clear enough! I don't explain things very well sometimes!

By Kay on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:06 pm:

We had carpenter ants, and I mixed up white corn syrup with boric acid, and 'painted' the areas they were seen (with us, it was near window ledges). In no time at all, we saw many *dead* carpenter ants, and hopefully they carried some back to their young.

By Kate on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:07 pm:

Thank you, Adena!! Unfortunately I deleted the wrong one, but oh well! I'm glad to know how to do it!

By Luvn29 on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:10 pm:

Glad I could help!

By Colette on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 10:37 pm:

another thing you can do with ants is to mix a 5lb bag of sugar w/a box of borax, sprinkle around the perimeter of your house and it's supposed to take care of them. I've never tried this, but I listen to a garden expert guy on the radio every Sunday morning and this has been recommended several times.

By Shalom2t on Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 09:46 pm:

another thing is to take alum powder and sugar and put in a picnic type ketchup bottle and lay a thin line in the dirt around the foundation. It kills the ants and bugs by drying out their insides. It is toxic but works right away. One dose usaully does it. A friend had ants in their resturant and put it around the baseboard overnight. The next morning they found tons of all kinds of dead bugs, some they didn't know they had. They closed and scrubbed and never had anymore. In the yard treat and then the next day hose down well. After it is diluted it goes away. You find alum in the pickling section of the store - it's used in preserving.

By Kate on Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 11:30 pm:

Is the alum powder toxic to humans?

By Marcia on Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 11:38 pm:

No, you can put alum right in your mouth to dry up cankers. It's disgusting to taste!
It's also used as a preservative in some playdoh recipes.

By Kate on Thursday, June 22, 2006 - 11:41 pm:

Okay...then does it harm the grass? If it's not toxic, why must you hose it down the very next day and get rid of it? Can you put it around the perimeters of your inside rooms of the house, too?

And is it short for aluminum, or is this some other thing?