Monday, July 11, 2005

Attack of the Killer Ants

Anybody remember an old SF movie where the L. A. cops battle giant ants? That's where I learned the word "mandible."

I'm not battling giant ants. But tons of little "piss-ants" want to get into my house. I was just outside spraying the corner of the house by the patio, where they look like they're nesting under the siding (oh goody). They keep coming into the sun room, too. No matter how airtight you think your house is, little bugs can get in. (Is this making me sound like Howard Hughes?) The sun room is a prime target because of all the plants. Please, Lord, don't let them get into the ficus tree. That would be a damn mess to clean out.

I have a special affection for that tree. About 25 years ago, my sister brought home two three-feet-tall ficus trees from the Safeway. She kept one and sold me the other. And they're both still going strong, although hers just underwent major surgery since it had to be moved from her husband's office to their home, and it was too big to fit in the car.

Mine has moved happily from the living room to the sun room. Sometimes I take it out in the summer. It's happy outside, but when I bring it in, I have to trim it back since it grows so well out in the sunshine.

Mine's about eight feet high now.

Okay, now I'm going back to my psychotic killer.
Ruth/Rebecca

8 comments:

Michele said...

OMGOSH! Yup I know that one!!
THEM!!!!
It is one of my FAVORITES!! We even have the tykes liking it. That and the old Godzilla movies, the Crawling Eye with Forest Tucker and the original Mummy with Boris Karloff.
When we have carpenter ants attack in the spring...we usually get attacked 3 times a year...my kids will shout THEM!! THEM!! just like the little girl in the movie. Then we shake them up in a cup of Roach Rid which has a HIGH content of Boric Acid. We let the ant go. Did you know that the first thing they do is clean their feelers? By doing that, they ingest the poison, go back to the nest, die, get eaten by their buds and the process repeats. Sooner or later, the lack of food other than poison infected ants reaches the queen and Voila!! No more ants...until the next time. Sometimes country ants are really procreative and we have to get really aggressive. Then, we mix the Roach Rid with fresh honey. Honey is a natural draw for them. They eat it and the same process described prior occurs again. It works everytime And the best thing, its human friendly. I don't worry too much...Boric acid has uses even in medicines...weird, huh?
See, you mention ants and I mututate into a chatter box of things you didn't really care to know.
*chuckle*
toodles

Rebecca York said...

Right--THEM. I think I remember James Whitmore in it, right?

We used to have carpenter ants all the time. I guess that when we expanded the back of the house, their nests ended up under a cement slab. So I haven't had them in a few years, knock on wood.

I had a carpenter bee in the railing to the stairs that lead to the sun room. It took three applications of spray to get rid ot them. I'd spray, then come back to find more sawdust. I finally soaked a paper towel in spray and used a screwdriver to poke it into the pole.

Ruth/Rebecca

Michele said...

Whoa....that bee picked the wrong lady to tangle with!
Yes indeed, James Whitmore was in it...didn't fair too well in the end..*grin*
I have a bizzarre question. Remember Spellbound? I hope I'm remembering correctly..*sheepish grin*
The premise being that the oil on the land was coveted by a town official. Now that the Supreme Court has made that rotten ruling., how would you right the story with that in mind? I don't think the main character could have defended and kept the family land under this new ruling.
Comment???

Rebecca York said...

If the oil didn't work, I would have figured out another reason why the bad guy wanted the land. Since it was swamp land and I assume he couldn't drain it and use it a housing development, maybe the plants the hero was growing to keep himself alive had some important medical value? And his land was one of the few places they could be grown.
Ruth

Michele said...

Hmmmm, that could work. I only ask because I know of a small motel/hotel that under the new ruling, lost it's fight and its going to be razed to the ground in september. A new corporate sponsored hotel chain will be built there instead...the evil spreads quick....

Rebecca York said...

I guess I don't know what the new rule is. Can you tell me?

Michele said...

Actually, on my blog I dedicated a post to it. I think the link to the newspaper report is good until 7/27 so you can get the full scoop and not just my interpretation of it. I think I labeled it" Warning Political Rant... I do not , as a rule, touch on serious issues, but this one has got my goat. Please feel free to check it out when you can. I'd like to know your take on it.........

Michele said...

If you don't want to go to my blog here is a short cut to story
http://premium.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/23/scotus.property.ap/
It is accessible until 7/23...not 7/27 as I originally thought.