365 Project - Day 158 - The Ants Go Marching

I have never been a bug hater. In fact, I was one of those kids that actually kinda liked bugs. Well, maybe I didn't like them, but I was fascinated by them, and I used to catch them and put them in the Bug House that someone bought me one Christmas. The Bug House was made of a few pieces of wood and mosquito netting, which allowed me to see what the little bugs were up to once I got them inside. I caught beetles, caterpillars, ladybugs, lightning bugs, and even the occasional cicada. I would never keep them more than a day or two though. It just never seemed right to hold them captive for longer, so I would release them back into the wild. Hell, my nickname growing up was even "Lori Bugs", though I'm not sure it really had anything to do with any of the creepy crawly little creatures.

In spite of my longstanding fascination with the little guys, I draw the line at bugs in my house. There's just something about seeing bugs indoors that suddenly transforms them from fascinating little creatures into despicable little invaders that need to be immediately eradicated. While I might go out of my way to be respectful of the the little critters when I am outdoors--making sure I step over anthills or brushing a curious bug carefully aside instead of squashing it--I take a bug's uninvited intrusion into my home as an open declaration of war.

In Arizona, we had issues with crickets that apparently decided to move into the house when the previous owners moved out, and they made themselves far too comfortable before we moved in. We first tried to take care of the problem ourselves with gallons of bug repellent bought at the local hardware store, but after months of spraying, we hadn't even made a dent in the population. The incessant chirping kept us up all hours of the night and haunted our dreams, and we were constantly being startled by crickets jumping out at us from every nook and cranny in the house.

At one point we thought we bested them, when we realized that they were coming in through a hollow space between the siding of the house and the back patio door. Shoving the nozzle of the sprayer into the hole, Steven unleashed a deluge of bug spray, then suddenly jumped up with a yell when hundreds of crickets came pouring out of the hole and hopping drunkenly through the yard. He chased after them, stomping on them and spraying them with the bug spray until they were all dead or dying beneath the Arizona sun. Even then, we'd barely made a dent, so we called in the professionals and after a couple of monthly treatments, we were victorious and our house was quiet.

So far, we haven't seen much of anything out of the ordinary here in our rental house. Sure, we have had the occasional spider or housefly, both of which are greeted with a quick and painless death as soon as they are discovered. Our luck though, appears to have run out. This past week, we noticed a small army of tiny black ants that have decided to invade our kitchen. We're not 100% certain where they are coming from, but all signs point to the window above our kitchen sink, since the windowsill and counter is where we keep finding them. We bought a couple of ant traps, but so far, they don't seem to be working all that great. So, if anyone out there has any good remedies to get rid of annoying little black ants, we are open for suggestions. These little guys are going down!

Today's 365 Project entry is dedicated to all the bugs that need to learn to just stay outside where they belong. Trust me guys, you'll be much better off out there in wild.