ANTS!!!!! We have little red ants around the house. I have everything extremely tidy so I don't know?

Question

what they are here for. I have an 11 month old CRAWLER. What can I do to treat the ants and not hurt my son.... please any answers????/ Thanks you

Answer 1

The best ant bait I have found is Hot Shot Maxattrax. They come in an enclosed form and you can place them behind objects and on counters. I love how fast they work!

Answer 2

We had that problem at our house for the longest time. We'd have little red ants and sugar ants. We put the little raid ant houses throughout the house. They aren't harmful because all the stuff to actually kill the ants is inside the little fake ant hills. Also, you can get the drops which i think is also made by Raid. You place a few drops of the ant killer on the little piece of cardboard. To keep it safe from your child just put them up on a counter or somewhere where the child can't reach it. Hope this helps!! Good luck!!

Answer 3

If you live in the southern US it is a good chance that these are fire ants. These are very dangerous to small children. You should have a professional come out and see what kind of ants these are. If they are fire ants you will have to treat for them so your child isn't harmed.

Answer 4

Get some peppermint oil and find out where they are coming in from. Put a drop or two at where they are coming in from and then wipe down the area they are crawling with hot water and clorox solution (like 1 gallon of water to 1/2 cup clorox).  Something about the peppermint oil makes them stay away. I had this problem in Texas when I lived there because there were ants all over my neighborhood and it's what the landscape supply was telling people to do. It really does work.

You can also plant a mint bush in your yard and that keeps away certain bugs and varmints as well that are undesireable- plus it will smell nice and you can always pick off the mint leaves to use as a breath freshener or in cooking ;)

I'd also walk around my yard looking for anthills and put some ant killer on them to do them in. :)  If they are red or reddish brown looking they may be fire ants which will leave a nasty, stinging bite that burns like, well, fire.  In that case you'll need fire ant specific killer.  The southeast coast line and Texas are notorious for them.  You definitely want to keep your child and yourself away from them and treat the hills so they die in their little ant colony.  I would not use any sprays or drops of pestisides though in your home. It isn't healthy to have in a kitchen counter area where food normally is and it is never safe to assume that your little one won't find it and get into it. Little ones can get into some pretty amazing places that you would never think they could.