Ants Are Driving Me Nuts

[Tilly]

I have my mums two cats currently staying in my new avairy for a couple of weeks ... and I am having major issue with ants.

I had their bowl sitting in a saucer of water but within minutes ants appear from no where and swarm over the food.

I switched the water to vinager ... same thing.

I have sprinkled talc powder ... no difference.

I am reluctant to use any chemicals ...but I need some ideas as the cats can't get near their food.

[bertie]

I had an awesome eucalyptus spray for ants, bought it at Woolies or the IGA, cannot remember the name of it sorry, been googling & still can't find it. But they seem to hate eucalyptus, there was a recipe here, 20 drops eucalyptus oil per 2 cups of water, spray where they have been hanging out.

[Kirislin]

Borax is supposed to be good, but I would assume it's not good for animals.

[persephone]

What I do is surface spray around the outside of the aviary ..a strip of around 15 cm. I do around out aviary/cat run regularly.keep sprayer around 30 cm off ground..and you can also use cardboard cartons up against the mesh as a barrier to spray drift.Do spraying when it's calm/cool .

also.. don't leave food out ..just long enough for cats to eat ..and feed up on a shelf/table .

[Boronia]

Is the aviary on concrete or wood? (not on dirt), if so, you could buy a can or two of chain lube (the sticky goes-on-runny-and-sets-to-a-sticky-grease stuff) and spray it right around the outside of the aviary as a sort-of grease-trail moat. I sprayed it all around the steel house stumps of our high set house, it worked a treat until the vines grew...the ants then used them.

[trifecta]

I cannot comment if they work, but I have seen these advertised in the Dogs NSW magazine:

http://antproofplate.com.au/

They have a 30 day money back guarantee.

[Christina]

Food up on an old table or chair, in the moat bowls & put some Coopex around the outside of the aviary. It kills anything that crosses it for 3 months. Dilute in a watering can & sprinkle around, easy. Get it from fodder stores. Around $12.

[WreckitWhippet]

I've used ant sand for years. It's so fine that it disappears into cracks and only needs doing every 6 months or so. I've not had to use it for a good 12 months now, the ants have all but gone

[Tilly]

I think I may have found the solution ... I raised the height of the food bowl inside to saucer by sitting it on top of a round plastic container (sprayed with cooking oil) ... this increased the distance of water the ants needed to cross before they get into the food.

I also added a drop of dishwashing detergent to the water ... seems to break the surface tension so cat hair doesn't sit on the surface of the water.

So far so good ...

I am hesitant to use chemicals because the dogs also have access to the area (under supervision at the moment until they learn the cats ... and later my birds ...are not for playing with)