Mice? Ants?

[BigFish]

Fishchick and I have been chasing the odd large black ant through the house for about a week now....not alot of them but they have been 1 or 2 in various parts of the house....they are crawling all over the place outside and on the house but I am guessing they are just getting in a small crack or coming in on folks shoes or what ever! My biggest concern is a spot on top of my foundation inside the basement above the bulkhead door on the sill.......last week I found a mound of scattered blown in insulation....I was sure it was not there before.....found no ants present in the location so figured maybe it just dropped there through the crack in the floor above so I cleaned it up! Went down there a few minutes ago and found another pile in the same spot? Too large a pile I think for ants to make...I am thinking maybe a mouse? We have 2 cats and if they see the mouse they will kill it but what do some of you folks think??? A mouse or not? I have seen no droppings or signs of a mouse other than the disturbed blown in insulation which has been found in the same spot 2 times. Maybe a mouse up in the wall making some room for a home? Or perhaps it has a littler? Any input would be great.....should I put out some traps/poison?

[pops02]

termites perhaps ?

[BigFish]

No....I don't see any evidence of them Pops. My best guess might be mice. Right above the cellar doorway, below the kitchen......good place if your a mouse?

[vineyardblues]

How was cutty fishing Larry ?
ps. my guess is not what you want to hear...Termites ,,,but i am always wrong.......... maybe huge spiders...lol
Or a garden snake ?

VB

[Fishpart]

I am a fan of Decon....My wife ranks mice right up there where Clammer ranks bluefish..

As for carpenter ants, they won't start after the wood unless it is wet say a leaky pipe or a spot where the rain can get in. They can't get in the house if you spray the foundation with an impenetrable barrier of hazardous pesticides...

[The Dad Fisherman]

Sounds like Mice......They like to pull the Scraps of insulation to make nests. I get them all the time in my house. Little Bastards ruined 3 lawn-mowers on me (which is how I found out about they like to build nests out of insulation) and a Deck umbrella (chewed the Chit out of it).

[Karl F]

D-con, and mousetraps for the mice. Wherever ya see their chit pellets.

Ants.. Diazonon, or Bonide granules... do the whole lawn area liberally, go extra heavy around the foundation, re-apply in two weeks, ... ant traps in the kitchen, and bathroom, near the pipes...
go in basement, (where your resperator), spray the hell out of the sill area with Raid Ant Spray, or some kinda similar stuff... keep an eye on the little bastages.. if they are carpenters or t-mites....
Call Terminex, or similar company.. but, they like to get ya to sign up for a long term commitment....

[ThrowingTimber]

grab 2 dozen plovers and put them in a blender. make a ring of plover juice around your foundation, all your worries will go away.

[Slingah]

watch the donut crumbs....problem solved

[partsjay]

D-con, and mousetraps for the mice. Wherever ya see their chit pellets.

I agree.

[labrax]

Sounds like a mouse to me, but you would think if the cats had access to basement - then they should probably be able to take care of it (them). If you can find them anywhere - get a brand of mouse trap called 'snap-e-trap' - have two of them from Home Depot and they have killed about 30 mice between them in two years. They are great - the best part is they are easy to set and easy to get the mouse out to use again. There is a reservoir cup to put the bait in (peanut butter and some oats) and when set there is a trap door that rises up - they step on the raised false floor to get at the cup of bait and BAM - dead mouse.

[Raven]

the guy who sprayed around my house left me those little traps where the ants eat the bait and then take the food back to the nest which wipes them all out.

for the mice set traps.... leave a dish of bird seed in a corner with white flour sprinkled on the floor so you can see the evidence of tracks. there are also those electric shrill sounding (to a mouse) noise makers that drives them out without the worry of a cat ingesting a poisoned wobbly mouse and getting ill.

the rule of thumb with critters...is: if they can get their head thru a whole than they can get their body thru it also.
(size of a nickel.) Find the hole's and plug them....
sometimes copper mesh is used as it stuffs in a hole real easily and they can't chew it.

become the godfather and make them an offer they can't refuse.

[gone fishin]

Larry - Don't think I am crazy when I tell you the following! For the ant problem, the following is a formular that works. Especially if the ants are carpenter ants. The active ingrediant in exterminaters kit is boric acid. I was told about the following formular by a professional exterminater and it works!!
Buy 5 pounds of boraxo soap powder. -Boraxo is boric acid and pumice!- Buy 5 pounds of sugar. mix them together thoroughly and spread it around the areas that the ants frequent. The ants are drawn by the sugar and the boraxo ( which is the boric acid and pumice) It will will kill them. I have my shop in a shed as you do. The damn ants just about destroyed my shed and I did exactly what I suggest and I havn't seen an ant since.
The only problem you have that I didn't have is two cats. I have no idea if the cats will go after the sugar and boraxo mixture.
As for the mice -- Glue traps are pisser, just place them where the cats cannot get to them.

[UserRemoved1]

Larry it's every plug makers WORST NIGHTMARE







































CARPENTER ANTS

[EricW]

I have a mouse trap that I forget the name of, but most supermarkets have it. Decon may make it. It is a box shape about the size of 1 lb butter box, black in color. It has a neat little lever on top that you move to set it. Put in your favorite bait and wait....When you get a mouse, you just depress the lever again and shake the dead mouse into the trash. It is reusable basically forever and you never have to get your hands dirty.

[drumaps]

termites won't hit insulation, no food value.
carpenter ants will if damp. seeing more and more in attic insualation... but it must have high moisture.
catch the insect. ants will have a constriction between the head and thorax/abdomen, termites will not. the body will continue straight from head all the way back. ants also have two different sized wings on either side if you can catch them swarming. termites will have same sized wings.
as for mice... good luck. no seriously victor snap traps with and expanded trigger. place perpendicular to the wall, WITH NO BAIT. this will act as a run trap.
rule of thumb: mice can get through an opening the size of your pinky, rats can get through an opening the size of your thumb. find the hole, stuff it with steel wool. they don't like to chew thru this.
oh the wonderful things you learn working in pest control. used to work with dad fisherman, not anymore though.

[stormfish]

Sounds like a black ant problem! It's been raining a lot lately so ants and mice will refuge in your house. If you're gonna use ant poison then be sure to buy/use a lot at a time as the ants can become immune to the poison if too little is used.

Good luck!

[Raven]

i dont like poisons...
especially their smell

and if you can smell it..
it's getting into your body

so, i avoid them at all costs
as they pollute the environment
\after they ->over -did their job

boric acid is the safest.

reason for the post....

i've had some black carpenter ants
coming in (getting by a screen)

just enough of them to be a nuisance...
not an infestation

so i sprayed one with
fantastic ORANGE ACTION
with pure orange oil....

they die in 60 seconds. 1 quart = $ 3.49

this stuff rules....and smells good afterwards
i now have a zap gun ...heh heh heh