Monday, June 1, 2009

The Ant Wars - Mutiny?

The vast ant armies launched their version of the Tet Offensive. For about a week we were overrun, fighting back the invading armies with the best weapons in our arsenal. Orange oil mixture as a front line weapon, boric acid and D.E. to create an impenetrable barrier, Spinosad bait to take them out from within, and my thumb as a last resort.

Ants were everywhere, in the kitchen, in the sun room, in the boys' bedrooms, and in the master bathroom. The only defenses that proved worthy was the the defenses established at the very beginning of our war, the dining room.

Ants had gotten into our home to such an extent, we had to put cereal in the fridge, all dry goods went in zipper bags, and the dogs had twenty minutes to eat, then the food was picked up.

But one day last week, the offensive stopped. Oh sure, I'll see a lone ant scout every now and again, but for the most part, the ants are not entering the house.

I don't know why the ants aren't coming in anymore, but I have two theories:
  1. The Spinosad baits and the boric acid applications are working. The colonies are sick, and the queen is dying.
  2. I've noticed a couple of fire ant mounds in the yard. I noticed them at about the same time the little sugar ants stopped coming into the house. Is it possible that the more aggressive fire ants are attacking the sugar ant colonies and providing a mutinous distraction for the Ant Armies leadership?
If the latter is true, I may need to adjust my strategy to encourage an extended battle between the two ant clans. Is it so unthinkable in my effort to eliminate the sugar ants, that for now I actually encourage and support them so that their civil war becomes more protracted?
For now I'll wait and watch. I'll strengthen the defensive perimeter, I will attack my enemy's enemy, and I will table the tactic of sickening the queen with bait. This is a gamble, to be certain. But all too often it is in misplaced pride that the consequences end in disaster.

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