An Epic Battle

Tyler versus Sugar Ants from hell!!!

I have never been what one would call a "neat freak".  But I usually try to keep at least my living room and kitchen presentable at all times.  However sometimes when I'm really busy or distracted mess takes over.

During 9 to 5 rehearsals I may have let me kitchen get a little bit out of control.  There may have been like 2ish weeks where I didn't really go into my kitchen cause I was afraid.  Afraid of what had taken over the sink and afraid of the leftovers that had turned into science experiments in my fridge.  But then my mom and sister were coming into town and I knew I needed to enter the forbidden zone.  So I cleaned it all, top to bottom with bleach and lysol.  I love lysol I'd spray the world down with it if I could.  I go through like a bottle of it every two months- because when I'm sick I feel like the world needs a little more of it.  So I cleaned and swiffered and threw crap away and ran the dishwasher- TWICE!

The next morning I awoke- to ANTS.  Tiny black sugar ants EVERYWHERE.  WTF? I just cleaned you why are you attracting ants kitchen? They appeared to be coming in my front door crawling over my DVDs and slinking up the wall to get behind my microwave.  Well I know what'll work- Lysol! I sprayed those little devils with so much lysol I had to lock the cats in the bedroom and leave the apartment.  I came back to no more ants...well no more alive ants.  And all was good.

Until 2 days later they were back! And they were eating my sponges! Uhg! How dare they! I lysoled them.  And again they disappeared for two more days. Then they came back in both places!!!  Well lysol wasn't working maybe Off would do the trick.  Off in my kitchen where once I cooked.  I locked the kitties in my bedroom and fled the apartment again.  This time they stayed away pretty well.  Pretty much for my mom and sister's full visit.  Then they were back again after the first weekend of 9 to 5.

Dammit ants! So I went to our trusty friend Google and learned you can get rid of ants with Tea Tree Oil! I have a ton of that cause I use it for EVERYTHING.  (like coconut oil but foul smelling) So I put tea tree oil on cotton balls and strategically placed them near the front door and all the spots in the kitchen I'd seen Ants.  Vamoose!  Ants were gone!  Never to return!

For 5 days.  Well that worked better than lysol and I didn't have to flea my house.  So maybe I need to use more.  I put some tea tree oil in a spray bottle and sprayed the world! They didn't like it at all.  So what did those devilish little monsters do?  They found a new entrance.

That's it! I'm done being humane lets go get some REAL ant killer.  So I bought some Ant trap bait things.  I bought two packs! Spread them throughout the kitchen and nothing.  The ants laughed at my traps and brought their friends along to see me suffer.

I almost gave up and called the apartment people to get an exterminator out here, but then I was at HEB  yesterday and I saw Raid Ant Bait Gel.  Ooooh.  I'd read online that gel is a good way to kill ants.  It was on sale AND I had a coupon.  I bought the gel.  The instructions said to put pea size dots on the ant trails and that they'd carry it back to their nests.  The box also said it starts working within an hour!

So I put maybe dime size drops out for those ants and left the apartment to go to the liquor store cause what else can you do.  I came back and to my horror there were more ants than ever! They had swarmed the gel like they were at a picnic! WHAT???? Google help me wtf is going on?  Apparently the bait attacks all the ants and over 4 hours they'll disperse taking their sweet death back to their colonies.  Okay. Okay Google.  I'll give them another 3 hours to see what's up.  So I waited.  And watched.  And waited and got a little trigger finger itch on my lysol can.

I was having people over later in the day, I really didn't want my kitchen to be full of ants, especially since everyone was bringing stuff that would be sweet and sticky and only attract more.  Well almost 24 hours later there is nary an ant in my kitchen.  Fruit juice was spilt yesterday, a jar of salsa broke, all sorts of things spilt in that kitchen and the ants have disappeared.  It's still way to early to know if this is a true success.  But 24 hours later I'm super excited that they may have disappeared.  Go Raid Ant Gel!