And the Ants go Marching On

We saw an ant outside out house. Then it was a couple. Soon it was an army marching single file across the driveway.

My husband said to keep an eye on them—they looked liked carpenter ants coming from the butternut tree.

Did you ever watch ants?  They are fascinating!  I wish I could be as organized and disciplined as they are. 

When the big, black ants started crawling up the foundation of our house …with little, white eggs…to the attic…it was time to call an exterminator.

“Yup, you have carpenter ants,” he told us.  “And they are probably starting a new home…in your home.”

Great! Just what we needed—to be overtaken by one of God’s tiniest creatures.

“And you may have a few colonies up there, especially with all those ants crawling up the wall!” he continued.

Oh…We didn’t know that…That’s not so good.

So, the exterminator sprayed the house down on the outside, used a spray inside and sprinkled bait around both our butternut tree and the corner of the house where the ants were crawling up the wall. That way they take it back to the colony and share the yummy stuff with each other.

A week later the exterminator and his crew came back and re-insulated the attic with a type of insulation treated to kill the ants on contact. But they didn’t see evidence of ants in the attic.

That’s good…but…where could they have gone so quickly? we wondered.

“Well, they could have moved in between the walls,” we were told. “If you hear what sounds like munching, then call us immediately,” he said.

Uh…let me understand this…if we hear something like…somebody eating a bag of chips while we are trying to sleep…this doesn’t sound good.

“That’s exactly what it will sound like, though,” he told us.

And if we hear them eating a bag of chips, then what?

“We tent your house,” he said.

We move out for a few days or weeks…sounds great!  Mini vacation?

That was in the beginning of June 2011.

Most of the problem, he figured, stemmed from our butternut tree. Ants like nut trees. And just one dead branch will draw them.

Not to worry, the Upper Milford landmark will not be cut down in the near future. We may have to remove some dead branches, though. Too bad they’re not dead enough to fall out of the tree themselves—even Hurricane Irene and the October snowstorm didn’t knock them down.

The exterminator came back several times to check on everything.  He baited…and sprayed…and baited some more. So far, so good—no ants.

Now we think the ants are gone. Hopefully, for good; so we won’t need to rent a room and tent the house. 

I’ll let you know if they return. But just in case—anybody willing to take us in?