Killing Ants By Natural Means Ants seem quite innocuous to a lot of people. In the majority of temperate climates, ants do very little harm, although red ants bite people all all around the planet. However, there are more dangerous ants in warmer climes and some of these ants may even become responsible for hospitalzations and even a few deaths. Red ant bites itch or even hurt, but imagine a baby wandering into a red ant nest. What if that baby fell onto a fire ant nest or a red carpenter ant nest? Carpenter ants can be an inch (25 mm) long and a bite can extract blood. There are poisonous ants in South America and exploding ants in Southeast Asia, although they will not kill people. Soldier ants are pretty frightening as well. In fact, the amount of dangerous ants in the warmer countries can get very disturbing. Indeed, just two weeks ago, my dog was covered in big red marks all over his stomach and under carriage. He was clearly in a great deal of pain whilst he walked and was not eating. It has been very hot here in Thailand this summer because the monsoon was behind schedule, so he probably dug a shallow hole in the soil to stay cool. He was almost certainly attacked by ants whilst he was napping, but could not shake them off before they bit him. He was in a very dire state for three days. Some ants are vegetarians but others will gladly eat meat, if it is on offer. Most ants will eat dead insects and small, dead mammals. Most will also assault healthy animals, including humans, if they feel threatened. One problem is that insects may become resistant to chemical treatments and occasionally this resistance is limited to a small area, so it is better not to use chemicals if you can do anything about it. Chemicals may also present a danger to children, which makes storing them and using them dangerous too. Borax is a derivative of boron which is a natural product. Boric acid or borax is extremely effective at killing insects that take food back to their nests, so this means ants and termites. It can be mixed with sugar and water to make it more attractive to ants or can be scattered around the garden with no risk. It is risk-free to children, pets and mammals alike. Cayenne pepper is another repellent-cum-killer. Grow your own cayenne peppers, liquidize them, add to boiling water, then spray onto ants and ant runs once it has cooled. It will not eradicate a colony, but it will deter foraging ants.
Corn meal is a way of ant and cockroach control. Spread it around, when the bugs eat it, it will expand with their digestive juices and cause them to blow up. Not very nice, but gratifying and effective all the same. There are further biological treatments for killing or deterring bugs too, some are favourites of one country or local people. Why don't you ask among the older people where you live and find out what their parents used to use to control ants and other insects the natural way? Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on a number of topics, but is at present involved with the Home Ant Infestation. If you would like to know more, visit our website at Bugs Infestation.