The popular children's song, The Ants Go Marching, begins a progression of a single ant marching through ten rather tedious verses, finally ending with the ants marching 10 by 10, and the little one proclaiming this is, "The End!"Sadly, ants in the RV never go marching singly, and rarely by the 10s. We woke up one fine morning with an upset cat, doing her best imitation of a bird dog 'at point.' Her hissing target? A large, black, moving column of ants, working its way across the RV from a crack near the entry door, across the flooring, up the wall cabinet, and into the kitchen sink. Hundreds of the little boogers, all intent on carrying away whatever it is that struck their fancy.
Ants in the RV, like the proverbial ants in the pants, are nothing to laugh about. How do you get rid of them, and keep them gone? In our case, the first response to the attack (after cat and distaff set cleared the area) was a trip to the local hardware store. A high powered spray specifically designed for invading ants made fairly quick work of the invading forces. But how to keep them gone? Friends who were serving as Katrina relief volunteers in New Orleans quickly filled us in on the 'magic circle of Comet' trick used down there.
Ants are clever creatures--they send out scouts who scurry about the territory, looking for suitable food and water sources. If one crawls up your RV tire, water hose, power cable, et al, and eventually finds something inside your rig, he or she leaves a little smell trail of 
pheromones. Your proboscis won't pick up on it, but to the ants, it's an irresistible essence that must be followed--by hundreds of the scout's fellows. Why are these ants marching in a circle? Clever researchers took a dilute form of their pheromone and painted on the paper, then turned the ants loose. It's strong stuff--it's said that as little as .33 of a milligram of straight pheromone could leave a discernable trail around the entire circle of the earth!
pheromones. Your proboscis won't pick up on it, but to the ants, it's an irresistible essence that must be followed--by hundreds of the scout's fellows. Why are these ants marching in a circle? Clever researchers took a dilute form of their pheromone and painted on the paper, then turned the ants loose. It's strong stuff--it's said that as little as .33 of a milligram of straight pheromone could leave a discernable trail around the entire circle of the earth!For whatever reason, ants won't cross a line of bleach-containing scouring powder. Maybe it kills the pheromone trail, maybe it burns their little feet, we don't know. In any event, get out the Comet and shake a good border around everything of your rig that touches the ground: Tires, landing gear, stabilizers, cords, and hoses. This is better than spraying insecticide on these utilities, because the powdered cleanser will simply shake off, not stick to your hands, nor cause grief for pets and kids. Of course, if the rains fall you may need to renew your magic circle, but while the powder's out, the ants are gone.
Photos courtesy US Department of Agriculture
16 comments:
Sprinkling a slightly caustic chemical all around Mother Nature doesn't sound like a very smart idea. Aren't there other substances that are much more "green" and do the same trick?
I found that a small amount of Boric Acid mixed with a little water and put in soda pop lids in out of the way places will keep these peskey things out of your camper.
I had read about using a flea collar so I cut into 4 strips and put on my tires and kept the ants out. Didn't have any more problems.
I had read about using a flea collar so when I had ants I got one and cut it into 4 lengths and put them on my tires, no more ants.
Talcum powder works wonders,can circle your picnic area with it & ants won't cross the line.
Anita
Don't use chemicals where kids and pets may be. Use diatomaceous earth (commonly known as DE to gardeners and organic minded folk). Not the type used in swimming pools. It can be found in most garden centers and is fairly cheap. It won't harm animals or people. Just keep it dry and the ants won't cross it.
The boric acid idea works and it doesn't hurt the environment if it gets washed away (which you should do when you leave the site). Try Roach-Pruf or Boraxo, they are 100% boric acid.
I have been told, but never tried it, that flour will work as will talcum powder. It seems that the ants won't cross the powdery substance.
I tried all the non toxic methods but the California ants crossed them all, (I watched them). I found Raid worked but of course don't like to use it.
I've never tried the powdered cleansers and can see why they should work well. I know millions of people clean there sink with them so I think they must be better than for us than pesticides.
Baby powder around all ground contact points works every time!!!!!!!!!
dawn dish soap is a miracle worker!!! squirt a fine line around the perimeter of your house,they hate it, wont cross it,and the best part is they die.......in sunny california weather,they are awful.thanks to dawn i now have more control with the buggy lil pests!
dawn dish soap im telling you is by far the best thing i have found.it is earth friendly bio-degradable and cant hurt our children,pets,mother nature.ants hate it wont cross it or come near it.just try it you wont be disapointed!!
Gota support the diatomaceous earth route. The stuff works great. And you can eat it!
I have used pure white vinegar, simply soaked a paper towel with the vinegar and placed it in my cabinets where I had found ants. After a few days I checked and paper towel was dry but did not see any ants. Not taking any chances, I resoaked the paper towel once more with the vinegar and put it back in the cabinet for a few more days. No ants in sight.
I always like the comments of putting (Comet..insert your favorite here) around any part of your rv.
Just how are you supposed to crawl UNDER your rig to circle the tires and the jacks.
Does anybody do this?
Not many I think.
Bluebird Bob
Cinnamon - non toxic for pets and the environment - smells good, too!
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