Looking for a safe way to kill ants without harming wildlife like birds or more importantly my dog?

I'm trying to kill ants in my yard without harming people, pets or wildlife.


I've tried rice


I've also tried vinegar


I want to stay away from poisons at all costs, if possible.


Looking for a natural way to kill a lot of ants before we landscape our yard.Looking for a safe way to kill ants without harming wildlife like birds or more importantly my dog?
Here are the specifics of the recipe. Follow them closely, because if it's too strong then the scout ants will croak before they have a chance to deliver your goods to the mothership.





2 tablespoons Sugar


2 tablespoons Peanut Butter


1 tablespoon Boric Acid





(The Boric Acid is a white powder which you can find in any local Hardware store... it's nothing too powerful, but don't put it where pets and kids can easily reach it.)





Mix the ingredients thoroughly with a disposable spoon or knife. Then cut up a couple of straws into about 3 pieces each. Pack them halfway with the mixture- this allows you to handle them easily and allows you to place them in areas where your child or pet is less likely to find them.





Place the straws near where you see the ant trail- try to follow it until you get as close to their point of entry, because there's no reason to invite them further into your home. You will probably need to replace the straws after a day or two. By then you will probably not see many, if any, live ants showing up. If you notice that none of the ants are making it more than a foot away from your mixture, then you probably overdid it with the Boric Acid... just reduce the amount and try again.





It can be frustrating to think of having to tolerate them for the 48-72 hours it takes for the queen to eat her poison, but the only way to effectively rid yourself of ants is to destroy the entire colony.Looking for a safe way to kill ants without harming wildlife like birds or more importantly my dog?
Diatomaceous Earth. You can get it at your local garden center. It is the ground up fossils of microscopic sea creatures called diatoms. To us it feels like powder. To insects it is like needles. The needles pierce the exoskeletons of hard bodied insects and they die of dehydration. It is completely safe for the environment and humans and pets. It can be used indoors or out. The only caveat is not to breathe the dust when handling it.


I put it in a squeeze bottle and lay a line around the perimeter of my house. I also use it inside cabinets, etc... I had a large anthill in my front lawn. I laid a ring around the hill and the ants were gone in about a month. It takes a little longer than chemicals, but it works.


An interesting fact: DE is used to keep flour bugs out of flour. We eat it all the time.
Here's the site for instructions on using Boric Acid, granulated sugar etc, which has been referred to :





http://www.gardengrapevine.com/AntKiller鈥?/a>





Otherwise, boiling water, with some dish washing detergent, will knock them out, temporarily - it's only temporary, as it doesn't kill the queen, it just kills those that it touches. Soap suds like this kill many insects, including aphids - use cold water around plants, to prevent damaging them.





Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob
GRITS !! Sprinkle grits (dry cereal meal) around the ant trails. I use it in Las Vegas and it works better than anything !!! The ants carry the small grains back to the queen. She can't digest them and dies. The colony is usually gone within a week. It's just hominy, so it's non-toxic and can't hurt your pets or kids. We even tried it inside when the infestations first started.


Although the boric acid and peanut butter does work, it burned the grass around it and didn't seem quite as effective as the grits were.


Good Luck.
Yeah, this is a tough one. Even I, the tree hugger, sometimes has to call out the bad chemicals and ants need the bad chemicals.





We actually bought the ant trap/poison units at a big box store (but hey, try to shop local) and placed them under our house (in the crawl space). This seems to be working well and they are not outside where any animal (or human) may pick up and place in their mouth. But yes... it is poison..





Good luck!
Most ants do no harm, and can do a lot of good. If they're not fireant or carpenter ant colonies or being a major nuisance, I'd strongly consider letting them be.





Of the 12,000 (roughly) species of ants in the world, very few are pests.





http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES鈥?/a>
We had ants in door and I didn't really want to use poison so I found this website that gave you these method on preventing ants or getting rid of them.. I tried cinnamon and it WORKS!!! I have not seen one yet!!! here is the link, there are many other method,, check it out!


http://www.thefrugallife.com/ants.html
i planted peppermint


plant s around doorways basement windows etc...they dont like it for some reason and they go away also u can use it in salads and tea :) and its people and pet friendly
I've heard that chalk works. Get some sidewalk chalk, grind it up and disperse it in the yard...Couldn't hurt and it's inexpensive.
AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!


Don't you know that all ants were your mother in a previous lifetime??!!!


SSSSTTTOOOOPPPP!!!!
try salt