Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Ant Update

A few weeks ago I included some conversations having to do with food poisoning, ants and - I can't remember what else - but the next day my mom sent an email asking, "When was the last time you had a Hepatitis shot?" plus some advice about getting rid of ants.

"Sprinkle cornmeal around the ant area. They will eat it and die," she told me.

She is such a good mom.

Cornmeal is not easy to come by, but I did find some last week. On Friday, I sprinkled some around the sink area. I did this just hours after picking up a package from my parents which included homemade fudge and peanut brittle and a bunch of packaged chocolates for my neighbors. I put the box on top of the refrigerator, thinking that it would stay safe from the ants. About an hour later I went to get K some brittle when I noticed a string of ants heading up the face of the fridge. I screamed. I rescued the fudge in time (the ants were just beginning to break into the ziplock), but K decided she had had enough.

"When the ants start messing with the homemade goods, it means all out war," she declared, or at least she declared something like that (and the declaration may have included some profanity - I can't remember).

So she dumps about an inch of cornmeal all over the counter, the shear force of which should have killed the ants right then and there. But they just crawled right over and around it. Actually, they seemed pretty excited about it, like it provided a neat new playground or something. Absolutely no deaths occurred.

The next day, I spoke with my mother and she told me not to worry, that it would take three days for the ants to fill themselves up with it and die.

So the cornmeal has been there all week long. As of this update, I swear that cornmeal is an ant reproductive aid. They have multiplied while playing on their grainy sand dunes.

My dad has sent me some ant traps for Christmas.

He is such a good dad.

I really can't think of anything I want more.

Any other suggestions?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do have a suggestion. (I thought motherhood immediately brings on such wisdom, but it is only experience) There is actual ant season here in Lovely Medford, and I celebrate it with 20 Mule Team Borax. For readers under 65, it is an old clothing detergent, comes in a green box and it stops 'em in their tracks. Now, finding such in HCMC will be an exciting quest for Nam ... oooh, ask the connected man who danced the Thriller.

kumma said...

The ants would add a lot of protein to one of your Thuy dinner dishes...

Mungo

Brian Bowker said...

So... did you get a hepatitis shot?

The Norris Clan said...

I heard baby powder works, and it's non-toxic to you. Don't know what kind of ant traps you are getting... those work great too. I agree with K - don't mess with the homemade goods!