The rain has driven ants into my kitchen. I put out poison as a matter of habit and realized that sucks, but I don't know what to do instead.
https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/what-about-insects-and-other-pests/
PETA is great for questions like this.
Essential oils like citrus oil, spearmint oil, peppermint oil, cinnamon oil can help as a deterrent. The strong smell messes with their ability to follow their scent trails. Requires frequent reapplications.
It won't chase them away just redirect them. And if they touch the oil while its wet, the ants will probably die.
Might be able to run a bar of soap with those essential oils ( check in to Dr. Bronners for an example, I use peppermint/spearmint to chase mice away from places sometimes) over window sills, counter tops, etc. Should keep the ant offending smells around for a bit longer than just a direct application of essential oils. I don't think walking over the film of soap bar that you've just smeared around will kill them like the essential oils seems to do.
Terro is what I put out, I just felt bad for consigning a colony of living beings to death for trespassing, particularly when tiny little sugar ants don't represent much of a health risk. For things that do constitute a risk I'm more onboard with poison, we used poison and diatomaceous earth when we had fleas. The diatomaceous earth gets everywhere though, it's a huge mess. Still haven't gotten all of it out of the carpets.
just burn the fucking house down with them inside it
Kissinger is at it again.
Just let nature's little vaccum cleaners stay. Crumbs in the couch? The ants will get them in due time! Drop some chips on the ground? Just kick them into the corner, the ants will carry them away piece by piece!
Im only partially joking, maybe im just a bit of a slob.
I sort of felt similarly at one point but then they just started hanging out in our sink since they could get water from the tap/drain. Bad cycle when you can't clean dishes without killing ants.
