Ants vs Borax

Steve_xx

perc wrote:

Lol we have lived in our house for 8 years and for 8 years we have have several ant nests in our garden - they never go they just get bigger and more of them!

You seem as though you've learned to live with them? I note that you've not been killed by them!

I'm not too keen on all this killing of creatures. I think it upsets the ecosystem and I don't think man is actually bright enough to be interfering with the forces of nature to the extent that he does. These systems have evloved over millions of years and creatures and animals are predatory and that ensures that things don't get out of hand. But when humans interfere too much I think it upsets the balance and so you might get more of one type of creature than is good. Anyway, UK ants don't murder people, like the american ones, so they ought to be left alone.

perc

Steve_xx wrote:

You seem as though you've learned to live with them? I note that you've not been killed by them!

I'm not too keen on all this killing of creatures. I think it upsets the ecosystem and I don't think man is actually bright enough to be interfering with the forces of nature to the extent that he does. These systems have evloved over millions of years and creatures and animals are predatory and that ensures that things don't get out of hand. But when humans interfere too much I think it upsets the balance and so you might get more of one type of creature than is good. Anyway, UK ants don't murder people, like the american ones, so they ought to be left alone.

No I would love to personally execute everyone of them but they are hardy little things that seem to have survived everything I have thrown at them. I care about if they upset my little girl by bitting her and nothing else. I guess we should agree to disagree and you are very welcome to all the ants in the world but me personally I will attempt to kill them whenever they take over my garden.

I work hard to pay for my house and I will be damned if I will let ants spoil it without a fight!

Steve_xx

Yes, they're hardy. They have to be with people throwing borax and the like at them. They've learned to adapt to things like that. This demonstrates how smart they are and so maybe we should learn from them rather than try to exterminate them. I don't agree that they should be killed for the sake of it. They are an important component of the system we live in, as are all other creatures. I know these things can be annoying, but how annoying? Do they really affect you so badly?

perc

Yes they affect my enjoyment of my garden. We cannot sit on the lawn there are so many of them.

I also do not agree that things should be killed for the sake of it but when they affect my familys personal enjoyment of our home then something has to be tried.

black-saturn

In the garden I would leave them alone but in my dining room I would rather get rid. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I should do about a nest in the brick wall?

jenniferpa

If you have tried the borax sugar solution (and I'm not at all precise when I make mine up - spoon of sugar, spoon of borax plus enough water to make a syrup) and they haven't gone within a couple of days then what you've got is protein feeders. I've tried peanut butter in the past but they really seem to prefer tuna fish mixed with borax. It does take longer to kill protein feeders. Apart from anything else, the sugar feeders seem to be smaller, but that's a personal observation. I generally leave them be outside, but in the house - yuck. There's nothing worse than being woken up feeling as if you've got ants running around on top of you only to find you HAVE got ants running around on top of you! I suspect from experience that ants that take up residence in a structure as opposed to the ground are more likely to be protein feeders.

black-saturn

Thanks for that. I've been doing all sorts of things to them all weekend and the stream of ants going in and out of the wall is getting less and less now. I have to be careful about putting stuff down as I also have a puppy in the house.

digp

Steve_xx wrote: »

Leave them alone. What harm are they doing to you? Why is it that people are obsessed with killing creatures that go about their business without causing any real or lasting harm to humans? Why not put a pot of jam outside and then they'll go in there instead of the house, maybe.

These tiny creatures are part of an ecosystem that is not meant to be interfered with en-masse in the ways that have been described here.

so can i send my ants to your house then? i've got about 5 box fulls of the pesky things.

SerenityMan

Steve_xx wrote: »

You seem as though you've learned to live with them? I note that you've not been killed by them!

I'm not too keen on all this killing of creatures. I think it upsets the ecosystem and I don't think man is actually bright enough to be interfering with the forces of nature to the extent that he does. These systems have evloved over millions of years and creatures and animals are predatory and that ensures that things don't get out of hand. But when humans interfere too much I think it upsets the balance and so you might get more of one type of creature than is good. Anyway, UK ants don't murder people, like the american ones, so they ought to be left alone.

Steve,

You are a loon. There are an estimated 100,000,000,000,000,000 ants in the world. They outnumber us, outweigh us and out-eat us. I say terminate them with extreme prejudice. We are part of the ecosystem, too. Are you sure you're not French? My UK buddies wouldn't stand for that sort of talk!

Steve_xx

SerenityMan wrote: »

Steve,

You are a loon. There are an estimated 100,000,000,000,000,000 ants in the world. They outnumber us, outweigh us and out-eat us. I say terminate them with extreme prejudice. We are part of the ecosystem, too. Are you sure you're not French? My UK buddies wouldn't stand for that sort of talk!

Thanks, I'll bear that in mind.

Is it going to be your practise to respond to postings that are nigh on 2 years old?