Outsiders think of Pomona as a place "taken over" by street gangs. My personal experience of Pomona is that it is a place taken over by insects. I have never lived anywhere that had so many gosh darn critters. Whether they are buzzard-like-things flying at my head as I open the back door, or moths so big they wake me up at night as they hit the walls. My woolens have never been so unsafe, and my skin never so full of bug bites, as here in Pomona.
Enter the newest addition to our household: a clothesline. I finally got around to hanging one up in an effort to reduce the family footprint (and gas bill). My excitement about being more green lasted a short two weeks. Come week 3, the clothesline had became the main highway for ants traveling from North Pomona to South Pomona. And it has pretty much seen non-stop traffic ever since.
I have seen other clothes lines here in Pomona, so I know it's possible to keep the ants away. I tried the chalk thing. Vinegar is usually my cure for everything, but I don't want my clothes to smell. Boric acid is out because I don't want it on the clothes.
Should I admit defeat at the hands of this army, or is there still some way I can win this war?
THE END
11 comments:
I'm no expert on this, but what would happen if you put something on either END of clothesline? Would that be far enough away from the clothes?
And this isn't unique to Pomona. Ontario is buggy also.
i got your solution right here. Fighting the Enemy: Ants
Click on the link in the last comment i sent. It's hard to tell it's a link
Would vaseline on both ends of the line do the trick? I've never tried it, so it's an unproven suggestion.
And you should try Kentucky or Louisiana for bugs!
anonymous. it's no wonder cajuns love spicy food since bugs hate it!
I don't own a dryer, so I line dry everything. I switched to drying shirts on plastic hangers, which means I need the clothesline only for pants, sheets, and towels.
Sorry about the ants. They are annoying, but harmless. Find a new place to tie the line, or treat the ends of the rope to keep them away.
I am very thankful that Pomona's insects pests are mostly mild mannered creatures. Be glad we don't (yet) have fire ants and other nasties that are out there.
Baby powder...it covers up the scent that ants leave on their trails. What about a goopy mix of vaseline and baby powder just around the parts where they would crawl onto the line, forming some sort of barrier?
Wow everyone. Thanks for the tips. I think the last anon is right and I just go for a wicked combination of everything.
G of P
Vinegar smell will go away quite quickly so your clothes won't smell. It is used to remove smells in costumes worn in theater productions. Have no idea of the effect on ants.
i realize that its only hard to tell it's a link when it's not on the comment only page. I may have sounded 1. dumb or 2. mean
I used a combo of vinegar, chalk and cayenne pepper on the ends of the rope, and we have been A.O.K. for about a week. So thank you everyone.
G of P
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