Saturday, July 5, 2008

Black Ants On Cat Food

In Alabama we always had a challenge with ants coming in and having their picnics around the cats' food dishes. We use natural alternatives to get rid of them so we wouldn't be poisoning ourselves or the pets with the toxic sprays. Get some non-toxic ideas to get rid of ants at The Frugal Life site. We used cayenne pepper but you have to be careful what surface you use it on due to possible staining.

Here's some information on fire ants also.

After 7 years here in Virginia, we have black ants around the cat's food dish. It was only one or two initially so, as I do with all the bugs I find in my house (except for the spiders which I leave to catch the other bugs), I got them on paper and tossed them out. I moved the food dish to a nearby location and some more ant scouts found it so I tossed them outside also.

Over a period of a week, and moving the food dish further from where it had been, I'd taken out quite a few ants. Catching it early makes it a lot easier. It was obvious I was still dealing with scouts since there were only 4-5 at a time.

After the week, I put the bowl in the same place and forgot to pick it up when she was finished eating. Hours later there were no ants. My first silly thought was, "Well, since I've been so kind to the scouts by not killing them and telling them nicely to go elsewhere, they've decided to obey."

Who knows!? I do believe we can work in balance with nature instead of against it. Regardless, ant troubles are common, so I wanted to pass on the above links for the safety of pets, children and people.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Put the bowl of cat food in a slightly larger (shallow) bowl or other container (like a cookie sheet). Fill the larger bowl or container with water. The water doesn't have to be real deep. Ants won't go across the water. Problem solved.

Anonymous said...

Ants do go accross water. We are having a problem with wood ants getting into the cats food. I keep moving the food around and clean up their mess right away but i am at a loss for what to do.

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