it's that time of year

6/23/2010 11:24:53 AM

I think ants are here year-round

6/23/2010 11:25:58 AM

i'm sure they're here year round, but they're not relevant until summer

6/23/2010 11:27:39 AM

They are getting awful.

Time to bust out the terro.

6/23/2010 11:28:41 AM

I blame NyM410

6/23/2010 11:31:03 AM

i blame Peyton. we didn't notice them until after his visit the other day

6/23/2010 11:31:58 AM

Looks like you need some

6/23/2010 11:32:24 AM

^never heard of that. Is it just a flour that kills pests?

6/23/2010 11:45:48 AM

get your hands on some Ophiocordyceps unilateralis

and turn those fuckers into zombie ants

[Edited on June 23, 2010 at 11:48 AM. Reason : .]

6/23/2010 11:47:44 AM

^^ Basically yeah. It gets inside them and dries them up!

6/23/2010 6:11:27 PM

I thought diatomaceous earth was like barbed wire -- working mechanically.

^^

Parasitology is really fucking neat.

[Edited on June 23, 2010 at 6:57 PM. Reason : ]

6/23/2010 6:54:42 PM

ahhhh shit i hate ants, bees. kill them with fire

6/23/2010 8:22:20 PM

6/23/2010 8:24:44 PM

pretty much.. i fucking hate ants

6/23/2010 8:26:07 PM

the source was the dishwasher, which is attached on the same line as the disposal

moral of the story, if you eat dinner at my house over the next week or so, make sure to inspect your plate and fork

6/23/2010 9:17:51 PM

eww nigga, you nasty.

6/23/2010 9:18:36 PM

bubblebabble

6/23/2010 9:19:40 PM

6/23/2010 9:19:52 PM

are they in your pants and/or do they make you breakdance

6/23/2010 9:20:00 PM

Quote :

"Ophiocordyceps unilateralis"

Damn that shit is scary. Its almost like the fungus has some kind of intelligence.

6/23/2010 9:22:01 PM

Quote :

""

I support this approach.

6/23/2010 9:22:56 PM

Quote :

"i blame Peyton. we didn't notice them until after his visit the other day "

shenanigans... we all know the true culprit is Deen- the route of everything that goes wrong at that house- speaking of which, has his whereabouts been accounted for during the car/garage incident? hmmmmmmmmmm

6/23/2010 9:24:54 PM

DEEN!

6/23/2010 9:32:45 PM

6/23/2010 11:50:11 PM

ugh that shit isn't working ^

we have had ants for a few weeks now and my roommate left for a week and it was just me and they were GONE but then she came home and now they are worse

it's so gross

6/24/2010 12:08:32 AM

I'm telling you, diatomaceous earth is where it's at.

6/24/2010 3:25:41 AM

diazinon is the cat's pajamas for ants.

incredibly difficult to find now though. Old hardware stores owned by old men are the best place to look

6/24/2010 3:39:11 AM

I used to always buy it at Lowe's. Do they not sell it there anymore?

6/24/2010 3:42:39 AM

I think it got banned. and I really really hate ants.

remember that episode of macgyver where the colony of army ants ate a village in like ten minutes

me too

6/24/2010 3:46:56 AM

dishwasher was full of 'em again this morning

we're a clean household. no food left out, floors and countertops are clean....this is really frustrating

6/24/2010 7:14:50 AM

^^I just saw on the internets Lowe's still carries it. Maybe you were looking in the wrong section?

6/24/2010 7:58:46 AM

i haven't had trouble with ants inside the house...YET

fire ants out in the yard, though...those bastards are vicious...i'll poison one mound and another springs up

they're better than they were last year...i suppose a couple of years of consistent poisoning will keep them under control

6/24/2010 8:01:31 AM

^^
Fermat is talking about diazinon, not diatomaceous earth. (just in case you missed that)



Note:
Do not use poisons. Terro, diazinon, etc. should NEVER be used. EVER. You're a grade A moron if you purchase these harmful, unnecessary, and often ineffective poisons.[/soapbox]

Quote :

"fire ants out in the yard, though...those bastards are vicious...i'll poison one mound and another springs up"

Well no shit. That's what you get for pouring poison on our Earth.
Have you never considered natural products?

OH WAIT, EVERYONE KNOWS THAT HIPPIE CRAP DOESN'T WORK!?!??
(yes, it does.)

6/24/2010 9:33:21 AM

They keep nesting in the bricks in/around my house. Mostly on the front porch where the mortar has chipped away and small cracks have formed. I've sprayed them out once a week for the last month, but they keep finding new spots. I'm using some Bayer ant & termite killer that is supposed to work for up to four months as well as Ortho Home Defense.

They only got into the house one time and a few well placed drops of Terro took care of that. I did find a line with thousands of them going to the recycling bins in my garage. I got my spray on and have been keeping an eye out in case they come back.

6/24/2010 10:13:32 AM

Quote :

"I got my spray on"

I got my cancer on

6/24/2010 10:19:29 AM

Quote :

"Acute Health Effects: From MSDS Inhalation: If inhaled, this substance is considered practically non-toxic to internal organs. Breathing the vapor may be irritating to the respiratory tract. Eye Contact: The substance is slightly irritating to the eyes. Eye contact may include discomfort, tearing, swelling, redness, and blurred vision. Skin Contact: This substance is not expected to cause prolonged or significant skin irritation. If absorbed through the skin, this substance is considered practically non-toxic to internal organs. Ingestion: If swallowed, this substance is considered practically non-toxic to internal organs. Because of the low viscosity of this substance, it can directly enter the lungs if it is swallowed (this is called aspiration). This can occur during the act of swallowing or when vomiting the substance. Once in the lungs, the substance is very difficult to remove and can cause severe injury to the lungs and death. Medical Conditions Generally Aggravated by Exposure: None listed. Chronic Health Effects: The manufacturer's Material Safety Data Sheet provides no information about health effects resulting from prolonged or frequent use of this product. (For discussion of potential long-term health effects, consult the individual chemical ingredients in thi Carcinogenicity: The manufacturer's Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) does not state whether the ingredients are considered carcinogens or potential carcinogens. Health Rating: 1 Flammability Rating: 4 Reactivity Rating: 0 HMIS Rating Scale: 0 = Minimal; 1 = Slight; 2 = Moderate; 3 = Serious; 4 = Severe; N = No information provided by manufacturer; * = Chronic Health Hazard MSDS Date: 1995-01-06 "

The MSDS does not state whether the ingredients are considered carcinogens so that must mean that light exposure will give you cancer!!!1

[Edited on June 24, 2010 at 10:24 AM. Reason : l]

6/24/2010 10:23:38 AM

obviously we don't want any strong poisons. I have a dog...would not be good.

6/24/2010 1:17:32 PM

having had gobs of sugar ants before, I sit here in peace b/c of Terro liquid ant bait traps. This stuff rocks

They would come up the water line and were everywere
tried everying and these worked. found a pic of them and they are on the right, never use that stupid metal stuff on the left, since it doesn't work.

6/24/2010 1:52:29 PM

i woke up this morning and the house im petsitting for was ant infested. I opened one of those terro things wrong and got the juice all on the floor. what a shitty morning

6/24/2010 1:55:41 PM

gone for 3-4 days

back, in full effect, this morning

6/29/2010 10:14:51 AM

I have a friend that is allergic to ant bites. He was mowing his lawn and ran over an ant hill sending them airborne. They got all over him and he even breathed some in. He had to be rushed to the emergency room and almost died.

6/29/2010 10:16:21 AM

^^ What have you been doing for control?

6/29/2010 10:19:32 AM

We got on a pretty good deal with Terminix. $80 every 3 months. They come out and spray the perimeter, and come in and spray if you need them to. Best part about it is, if you have any pest problems between treatments they come out and take care of them for free. We had some pesky ants that we couldn't get rid of, and they took care of it in 1 visit.

6/29/2010 10:22:44 AM

traps, mainly.....and just making sure everything is clean as hell in our kitchen

as soon as we can locate their point of entry, we'll use a nice, potent chemical and then seal it off.

6/29/2010 10:23:01 AM

http://www.pestcontrolmart.com

6/29/2010 12:18:49 PM

so, let's say there were some ants in and around my coffee pot this morning

any harm in swallowing a few? i can't image they can be too bad in small doses, right?

6/29/2010 1:19:08 PM

You can eat ants all goddamn day. However, if the ants have been eating poison and haven't died yet, you are now consuming the poison.

No idea how much it takes to kill a human, but I guess we're gonna find out soon.

6/29/2010 1:24:14 PM

in related news, the Black Crowes poster on my wall just started talking to me

it told me to go to Kroger and buy some granola

6/29/2010 1:26:49 PM

or

6/29/2010 3:02:55 PM

Thread got me to know the term diatomaceous earth, and this article is a feature article on ncsu.edu

Quote :

"Before They Bite 06.09.2010 | Filed Under: Faculty and Staff, Research, Students Dr. Marian McCord became interested in fighting mosquitoes and the spread of malaria after studying ways to make protective bed nets last longer. At least a million deaths occur every year due to malaria — 90 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa — because the very efficient Anopheles gambiae mosquito ensures high transmission. “It’s really, really hard to do anything to a mosquito to keep it from biting you,” says Dr. Marian McCord, an associate professor of textile engineering at NC State. “We need a way to injure mosquitoes without using toxic chemicals.” How does someone in the College of Textiles get involved with mosquitoes? It started out as a proposal to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to find ways to increase the lifespan of the mesh nets hung over beds in many tropical countries to keep the bugs at bay overnight. The thin mesh is prone to tearing, often rendering it useless. McCord’s proposal didn’t win funding, but it was enough to pique her interest in finding ways to stop mosquitoes. She notes that the bloodthirsty insects are becoming resistant to the insecticides often applied to nets to boost their effectiveness. After obtaining seed funding from the University and consulting with Drs. Michael Roe and Charles Apperson in the Department of Entomology for the best way to attack mosquitoes, McCord and some biomedical engineering students went after the bugs with a vengeance. The students anesthetized the insects and then disabled their legs or antennae, but they found that even hobbled mosquitoes were able to bite. They then tested ultra-smooth and particulate-laced surfaces for the netting to try to make it difficult for mosquitoes to land. One of the particulates, diatomaceous earth, was found to be particularly effective. Instead of hindering landing mosquitoes, the chalky, ground-up remains of fossilized algae proved to be insecticidal, McCord says. The abrasive particles, which are safe for humans, disrupt the waxy layer that makes up a mosquito’s exoskeleton, causing the insect to dehydrate and die. Damaging the exoskeletons could also make mosquitoes more susceptible to other infections, she says. “If we can shorten a mosquito’s usual two-week lifespan by even a day or two,” she says, “we might be able to keep it from transmitting malaria to someone.” McCord also is looking at stopping mosquitoes by more traditional means — for textiles researchers, at least. She’s working with German researchers on bite-proof fabrics, such as an extremely tight weave that a mosquito’s proboscis can’t fit through or nonwoven fabrics that don’t provide a straight shot at the skin. “Hundreds of millions of people are infected by disease-carrying mosquitoes every year,” McCord says. “We’ve got to use every safe tool possible to fight these insects and the spread of disease.” "

7/7/2010 6:35:27 AM