Ant Wars

Let the arthropods hit the floor!

Becca is waging war on the ants living in our garden. Those little buggers really get her fired up. Initially it was a campaign of chemical warfare, utilizing whatever caustic substances that were at hand (Raid and Clorox bleach-based tile cleaner), following by some ant traps from the drug store. Then she enlisted me to dig up a big nest. Actually, digging up the nest was part of a larger cleanup project - we spent two solid days back there after we got back from NC, attacking the overgrown jungle. The ant nest was in a pile of dirt and decomposing wood at one end of the patio area. Becca was hoping I'd be able to dig it out and hit some slat concrete so we could just extend the patio. It was actually an uneven pit that was filled in, so we ended up covering it up with brick (recycled from the dilapidated wall that was previously surrounding the decomp pit).

Becca used several large stones to construct a little semicircular walkway. Ants quickly started hiding out under those stones - thumbing their antennae at her. But every time she goes back there and inspects every nook and cranny she gets a fiery look in her eyes, hops on the computer and researches her next plan of attack. Her latest weapon are Terro Liquid Ant Baits. One Amazon review referred to them as "crack for ants." I think it's essentially a cocktail of sugary syrup and Borax. She placed three of the baits out there and it was a feeding frenzy! So we put out three more. I had to take some video:

Then we tracked down a spot on the opposite end of the garden where the ants are coming through a brick wall and using a cable as a superhighway:

The ants are just gobbling this stuff up, not realizing that it's going to dry out their digestive tract until the ground is littered with a sea of exoskeletons, their insides dehydrated to oblivion. I love the smell of Borax in the morning. I can hear Wagner now...