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DaisyM Offline OP
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Does anyone have a tried and true home remedy that won't hurt pets or children and kill the ants without killing the grass. I had success with boric acid and icing sugar before, but that was indoors. I put a small amount out on the outdoor hill in a dish but they are multiplying and do not seem to be affected by it? It was from last year, maybe I need to make up a new batch. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

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I have heard the most successful thing was to pour a lot of boiling water onto/into the hills and around them. The hills will sink and the grass in that spot will die and need to be reseeded.
My solution to everything buggy is diatomacious earth, now. Food grade will not hurt pets or children unless they breathe in bunches of it in the air. It will not harm the grass.
Boric acid should not be ingested by humans or pets.
I have successfully used corn meal sprinkled around their hills too. That depends on the type of ant involved.


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I found something fascinating on Facebook one night; this guy in Canada creates art pieces by pouring molten aluminum down ant hills then digs them up...



Though more directly towards your question, I agree with Tina, you should sprinkle diatomaceous earth anywhere that you have seen ants; it will dehydrate and kill the ants and is safe for animals.


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DaisyM Offline OP
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Thanks Tina & Gremelin. I have been using the cornmeal, but now it doesn't seem to be working like it was in the beginning, because the ant hills are getting bigger and bigger. Today, about a foot from the other, a new one is forming. Do you guys think it can be an extension of the bigger hill and eventually will join. Now it's 4 hills.

I've also been using a powder product called AntOut, it contains diatomaceous, but it seems to be doing nothing. Yesterday, I put old coffee grinds on the piles but don't know if that will work. I put in so much work into my lawn and everything was beautifully green, now this. I had an ant hill last year that no matter what I used, I couldn't get rid of them. In the end I had to pour several kettles of boiling water on it. It got rid of them, but for some reason it really killed the soil as well because my grass seed didn't want to sprout there for the longest of time, even with reseeding?

Think I'm going to make up a new batch of boric acid and use a container that can be covered yet the ants can get in. There must be something to use before the whole lawn becomes an Ant town.

Last edited by DaisyM; Jun 22nd, 2014 at 03:38 AM.
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California Queen
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Good luck, DaisyM.


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DaisyM Offline OP
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Thank you Tina, I'm going to need it.

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Daisy, do let us know how things worked out...


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DaisyM Offline OP
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Thanks, I decided to try the liquid form of the boric Acid/Icing sugar treatment again. Because I have grandkids and dogs to worry about getting into the stuff and I didn't want to kill the grass, I wrapped old TP rolls in Saran and then put a soaked piece of cotton ball with the solution in each of the rolls, then I covered the hill and the roll with a small board, In another, I tried a recipe with honey, strawberry jelly and boric acid. It's supposed to be mint jelly but I didn't have any on hand. Don't know if it will work, but if it doesn't then my last resort choices will be to use hard core insecticides or boiling water.

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I called Terminix. They have a product that isn't harmful to small animals but kills ants. Worked.



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DaisyM Offline OP
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Thanks, I will have to look for it.
They already did considerable damage to my grass, so soon it will be the boiling water treatment. I used Boric Acid and have put some fresh stuff out today, but so far, there is no sign of them letting up. I made the solution weak enough so they wouldn't die on the spot but take it back to their queen in the nest.

Last edited by DaisyM; Jun 27th, 2014 at 05:57 AM.
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DaisyM Offline OP
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Well enough for the poisons. I kept applying and applying and the hills kept multiplying and getting bigger and spreading further on the lawn. Guys,I advise in order to save your sanity; dispense with the poisons if they start getting out of hand, use boiling water instead (for outdoor ants of course). It's quick, but it does kill the grass but hey, the ant hills were also killing the grass, so what's the difference?

Another tip, it's easier to do when the ant hill is small, (less distruction on the lawn) I should have done this a long time ago!

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That is good to know, DaisyM.
I don't have a lawn so I have never much worried about destroying it. I try to surround my house with pure, food-grade diatomaceous earth and that has saved my sanity with the small home invaders that have plagued me in the past. Outward areas, the cornmeal has worked on many of our other types.


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DaisyM Offline OP
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Tina, thanks, the AntOut I used, the main ingredient was diatomaceous. Is Silicon Dioxide 90% the same as the food grade diamtomceous? I also used cornmeal several times, and then coffee grains and several times I baited their hills with Boric Acid solution. The hills were getting bigger and they were laying lots of eggs. Not to mention the hills were multiplying so it seemed like none of the home remedies I used worked! Maybe they eventually would have, but could I be patient enough to wait it out,while they did their damage? It rained shortly after my boiling water treatment, it probably cooled the pile? Have to check to see if there is any activity left?


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