Ants....how To Get Rid Of Them? Options

[Melissa D. SC]

Hello all,
We were recently given a 1995 27' Award Travel trailer. It has been used up until a year ago and has sat for the last year under some oak trees.

When we went down to pick it up in FL, the owners found that ants had gotten inside...small tiny ones.... not a major mess but everywhere to say the least and 90% were dead...probably from heat stroke

However, we brought it back up to SC and we are still finding ants each day or every other day, just one or two. Last night my husband power washed the whole outside, in the crevices of the awning etc.

Today it seemed there were a few more live ones inside the trailer.....and no more than 10 all total....

Any suggestions on just getting rid of them permanently?

[John Blue]

Not a problem. Take a small piece of clear tape and pick up two or three ants. Now go to website below and see what type of ants you have. This will tell you what they will eat. You may also have a supply house in your town that with sell the same products. Very easy is kill them off with the correct products. Most all cities will have the House of Bugs or some name like that.

http://www.epestsupply.com/

[acenorm]

You may have more than 10, if they are inside the wood. You may be seeing just what is coming out.

Best Regards,
Norm

[Melissa D. SC]

Thank you for the tips. We are heading to the hardware store today to find something to kill the ones we have.

I think there are more than 10 for sure. We just need to get them to take food back to the rest of the colony to get rid of them all!!

[meatwagon45]

A few random bait traps in a trailer is not a bad idea. A premptive strike before you get a real mess can save you headache and hundreds. I set a few out each spring and have not seen any yet. All you need is 1 ant to create a colony and they can be carried into your camper after a picnic or even a walk.

[wfmdfm]

We are up against the same issue here but we have black carpenter ants. I started finding small piles of white flakes in a few spots. I just cleaned them up. Than I noticed the flakes inside the light fixtures Then I found a few ants. I took all the padding ect I could out of the trailer covered the rest with plastic and used a bug bomb. The next day there were dead ants all over. It has taken several bombs to complete the job but I can tell it is working. At this point if I had DTD I would dump it all over!! Good Luck.

[jamarynn1]

Luckily we haven't had any in the camper yet, but I do have a few kitchen infestations each year. As I don't like to use insecticides in the house, I found that spraying them with ammonia works really well. It kills them pretty fast and, most importantly, it messes up their "scent track", so the ants outside don't follow the track into the house. Since I use an ammonia and water solution for a lot of kitchen cleaning anyway, this works out fine. I just wipe up the dead ants with a paper towel. Usually, I never see another one in the kitchen until the next "visitation".

[FosterImposters]

Ooooh! I had not thought about ammonia based products for inside the rig. Thanks for that tip.

AMDRO Ant Block.

This stuff has been incredible: both when we lived in the desert southwest, encountering ants of MEGA proportions, color, and desired foods; but also with our years on the road.

Don't be put off by the price. Think I paid $25 bucks at a Home Depo for a 24 oz plastic container. You don't need much. Sprinkled OUTSIDE your rig.

Based on the cost, I usually scout out the point (s) of origin and sprinkle a couple tablespoon-fulls where I see the ants (usually a trail from some unknown site).

In our 4 years, I've gotten GOOOOOOD at figuring out ant invations.

DON'T forget overhead trees or any vegitation that TOUCHES your rig. Sprinkle at the base of said tree.

Ant doom!

[Trailer Park Casanova]

Grants Ants sold at Home Depot and Lowes.
Takes awhile to work, but once it kicks in it's great IMHO.

[dog bone]

I don't have an ant problem at my seasonal site, but on vacation I got the little red ones in. I used a spray and ant traps. We got lucky it wasn't to bad.
Now when we go away I buy ant granules at lowes or home depot and circle the trailer with it. I also spray the hose and electric cord. So far so good.
I never thought of ammonia either. Gotta put that on the back burner.

[Ree]

I was in Sarasota, Fl last winter and had some ants in my coach. I was told ants do not like the smell of orange so I had clorox wipes with orange scent. I wiped down my counters and bathroom floors with it, and left some wipes in different areas of the coach.....no more ants. I couldn't believe it! Don't know if it will work for you but it sure helped me.

[RanMan]

A fellow camper shared this tip with me about how to keep ants out. Spread a small amount of Vaseline on any surface they may climb up such as the water hose, electric cable etc. Not the entire length, just a few inches near the camper. He says the ants refuse to crawl across it at all. I suppose applying it to the jacks and tires could be somewhat of a chore depending on the type of RV you have, but after reading some of the horror stories some have had with ants, it might be less trouble than getting them to leave once they have invaded your RV.

[RLM]

If there is a preference to use common, non-toxic household products inside of the RV, then consider scented talcum baby powder, cinnamon powder or sticks, or black pepper in places where ants might enter. A 50/50 mix of water and white vinegar can be sprayed in cabinets or on counter surfaces.

On the outside, a mixture of Windex and liquid ivory soap sprayed on hoses and electrical cords is effective. The soap will work to help clean the hoses with water when you are finished with them.

I sprinkle Borax powder around the perimeter of the RV when at any campsite. Ants and spiders won’t cross that line. A product called Diatomaceous Earth is very effective, but not quite as cheap as borax.

[rmorrison100]

Thanks for your tips.

[FosterImposters]

Spring Break...
Ok: any tips on ridding a park of teenage, mutant, ninja ants?


Especially the ones infesting expensive rental RV's?