Ants are a curious race
Yesterday I had an ant infestation, mostly those large ones that can move very fast, although there were a couple of teeny tiny ones as well. They came out of nowhere—I couldn’t see where they were entering—and seemed evenly distributed in my kitchen and dining/living room.
I killed every one of them that I could. My philosophy is that ants belong outside; when they’re in my home they are not honored guests.
Today they seem to have departed. Maybe the word got back to the group that I wasn’t the best of hostesses—no hors d’oeuvres and not a single drink, much less the good Scotch.
But as a consequence of the event, yesterday I had the Robert Frost poem “Departmental” drumming through my head, at least the parts of it I know by heart.
“Departmental” is an atypical poem of Frost’s. It’s almost Ogden-Nashlike, pretty light fare in its description of ants and the way they function. But of course Frost being Frost there’s a deeper message that has to do with bureaucrats and how they function in terms of compartmentalizing their duties, and their ability to block out whatever they don’t want to deal with. Here’s the entire poem; it’s well worth reading in its entirety, but I’ve excerpted a section:
Ants are a curious race;
One crossing with hurried tread
The body of one of their dead
Isn’t given a moment’s arrest-
Seems not even impressed.
But he no doubt reports to any
With whom he crosses antennae,
And they no doubt report
To the higher-up at court.
Then word goes forth in Formic:
‘Death’s come to Jerry McCormic,
Our selfless forager Jerry.
Will the special Janizary
Whose office it is to bury
The dead of the commissary
Go bring him home to his people.
Lay him in state on a sepal.
Wrap him for shroud in a petal.
Embalm him with ichor of nettle.
This is the word of your Queen.’
Leftists are ants. Hive creatures, mindless marauders loyal to the royalty incapable of independent thought/action.
Maybe they found some food or water and was carrying it back to the nest, laying a trail. You can plug up holes in wood and other entrances outside that they often use. Even sometimes holes in rock are used to transfer underneath the foundation.
True, nobody likes a tee-teetotaler. Well, moslems.
Take note Neo, this is only the beginning. I would strongly suspect you have a carpenter ant infestation. If any of them had wings, then it is definite. They have a colony somewhere in your house or in the outside siding with access to the house. Most likely near some type of leak or dampness. This time of year, they swarm with the spring warmth, and disappear as the sun goes down and the temps start to drop.
Do your best to find their source and then practice proper ant killing techniques. Don’t just spray because unless you have found the main nest and the queen, you’re just delaying the eventual.
Just google something like “kill carpenter ants the right way” and you’ll find plenty of info. The way I was successful in killing no less than 3 colonies in and around my house was the powder method. Following the bulk of the ants back to their nest and then puffing a commercial grade powder into all the voids. I also used bait sprinkled around the perimeter. No sprays.
Get a handle now or I kid you not, they’ll take over your house.