Spring brings lovely blooms and rampaging ants—at least in our kitchen it has. We don’t have tons of ants, but we do have them, and they are big ones. Two days ago I opened a cupboard door, spotted about five, quickly smashed them, and then realized that I was breathing hard and feeling angry. This doesn’t seem healthy, I thought.
So I’d like to be rid of the ants, but I don’t think bare-hands killing is the answer. Nor, obviously, do I think I will buy some kind of poisonous substance and put it in the room where I prepare my food, as seemingly convenient as that might be.
Instead, I turn to this book:
I’ve had it for a while and it’s been a good resource in these cleanliness-related situations, giving alternatives to harsh products and energy-sucking behaviors. Plus it has all these goofy photos of ’50s-era suburbanites.
On ants, author Warren Schultz’s tips start out sounding labor-intensive. "Figure out where the ants are coming from…Your mission is to seek out and block their entryways." Is it wrong that I simply don’t want to bother? Further along, the advice gets a little easier to swallow: spray soapy water (it kills them and erases their chemical trails that other ants would follow). Make food more inaccessible. Sprinkle boric acid or diatomaceous earth (but not the kind they sell for swimming pools).
Maybe this weekend if I’m really bored, I’ll go ant-tracking and then seal up whatever tiny crack they’re coming through with caulk. But it’s highly unlikely. I won’t spray poison, but I’m still after a relatively quick fix.
Any other green ant control tips?
