They're Back

It happens around this time every year -- the ants try to take over our house. They're tiny industrious creatures, and it's interesting to watch them -- up to a point.

We put down little plastic containers of liquid food laced with poison. The ants take it back to their nest and share it, and they eventually all die -- theoretically. They keep coming back. Today, Cynthia noticed that they were coming out of one of the electrical outlets in the kitchen.

I took off the cover plate and found a nest among the wires. The ants were frantically trying to carry off the eggs as I got the hand-held vacuum cleaner and cleaned out the box. They went through the hose and the rotating parts of the vacuum into the clear plastic dust trap apparently unharmed. C was watching them sorting and arranging the eggs.

I spread some peppermint oil in the outlet box and replaced the cover. The battle is over, but the war will probably go on!