The jury is still out

The great scientific experiment to rid the garden and surrounding area of big black ants began last Saturday. 

(Click here if you need to catch up.)

You don't want to know how many times I've made the tour de ant hills since then, 

watching and waiting to see which pile would disappear first...if any.

I learned that my ants love their grits. They ate, relocated or otherwise made two cups of Quaker Instant Grits 

completely disappear within 24 hours. They were supposed to eat the grits, then explode and expire.

I'm pretty sure that didn't happen.

I took the above pictures about 36 hours into the experiment. A few ants had begun to return to the areas 

treated with baby powder and cinnamon. An entire battalion had returned to the area treated with grits.

But not a single ant was visible in the garden, which I had treated with diatomaceous earth. So far, so good.

The next day, I saw a few ants in the garden but nothing serious. 

I added a little more diatomaceous earth to the pile and remained optimistic.

All was under control until last evening, when the ants came marching in like they owned the place. Bummer.

I dumped another few cups of diatomaceous earth on them and watched them crawl around, getting slower and slower.

It was kind of fun until they started crawling up my legs. But after an hour or so, the garden was an ant-free zone once again.

The jury is still out, but I believe that the diatomaceous earth will eventually prove to be the answer to my ant woes. 
I may have to apply it on a regular basis, but that's okay. 

The stuff is cheap, and it won't harm the other inhabitants of the garden.

Evidence-based ant eradication

I sent out a plea for help last week, looking for advice on how to relocate and/or remove the big black ants that 

were calling my garden home. You all came through with a long and extremely helpful list of stuff that had worked for your ants, 

and I couldn't wait to go to town and buy all the ingredients. (I should note that I before I resorted to any of this, 

I did try the let-the-chickens-in-the-garden-to-eat-the-ants method. They're afraid to go through the gate! What a bunch of chickens.)

Anyway, in addition to the garden ants, three other colonies are causing me grief. 

What a perfect opportunity to do a little science project. I could treat each colony with a different non-poisonous substance, 

then observe, measure and report my findings until all the ants are gone. It's the eighth grade science fair all over again.

Many of you suggested that food-grade diatomaceous earth would kill my ants. I googled the stuff 

so many times last week that I can finally spell it. While I still can't wrap my head around the concept

that a product that is beneficial to the health of my equines, canine, feline, porcine, poultry and self would also kill ants, 

the science made sense... sort of. I found a bag of the food-grade stuff in the animal supplements aisle at Tractor Supply.

I didn't expect it to be this color or this powdery. I transferred some to an empty parmesan cheese container so that it would be easy to dispense on the ants. (I'll also be adding it to Hank's breakfast, Johnny's dinner, and the hens' nesting boxes and feed,
but that's a science project blog post for another time.)

The garden ants are the unlucky subject group for the diatomaceous earth treatment. 

I sprinkled a generous amount in and around two adjacent ant holes.

Initial findings are that the ants are taking a wide berth around the substance. 

Apparently they've read all the articles that say they will die if they get the stuff on their exoskeletons.

But it's only a matter of time before they go down the ant holes and get covered with the stuff.

The suspense is killing me, if not them.

Another helpful suggestion was to sprinkle corn meal or grits on the ant hills, the theory being they eat the stuff and explode.

(Note to judge: I had my little flags all prepared to mark my exhibits but I couldn't shove them into the hard ground. Damned drought.)

For reference, this is an ant before eating grits. It remains to be seen if I will post pictures of him post-digestion/explosion.

The grit treatment is being used on the ant hill that I step on every time I open this tape gate to the pasture. 

That would be at least once a day. Let's hope it works.

Perhaps the most bothersome ant hill on the ranch is this one, right next to the main gate. 

Lucy and I have to avoid it every time we leave on a ride and every time we return home. 

Me: Hurry, Lucy, hurry! Ants! Ants! Ants!

Lucy: Could you just get rid of the damn ants already?

I treated this ant hill with baby powder. Visitors are going to think I've been changing diapers on the driveway. 

So be it. If it makes the ants go away, I'm all for it.

The fourth and final ant hill is in an area where I walk Lucy from the corral to the hitching post. 

I've treated this colony with cinnamon. The smell makes me want to eat a piece of buttered toast 

every time I walk past it, so I'm hoping it doesn't work.

I'll give it a week then report back with my results. 

Gardening with ants

Gardening in the middle of nowhere New Mexico borders on impossible as far as I'm concerned. 

My hard water kills just about everything that the rabbits don't eat. But that doesn't mean I don't try. 

This year, I planted some lovely annuals in containers that sit atop plant stands outside the sunroom entrance.  

The rabbits have yet to hop that high to eat them. 

It's only a matter of time.

The rest of my garden is in a holding pattern. The area took a beating with the sunroom construction and path installation, 

and the lawn that once grew there is long gone. The Russian sage is thriving – it's very drought resistant, 

and the rabbits leave it alone. I've also got some clumps of mystery grass popping up around the foundation. 

I'd like to cover the bare dirt with sod or some sort of ground cover, but first I have to figure out 

how to relocate a colony of big black ants that has moved in.

I've googled hither and yon, but I'm still not even sure what kind of ants these are. Ants all look alike to me. 

I was bitten/stung by these little buggers a few times last summer. They're evil.

Poisoning them is not an option – JohnnyCashCat hunts in this area. 

I wonder if anteaters make good pets?

Does anybody know how I can relocate/remove this colony so that I can sit in my garden and put my feet back on the ground? 

p.s. Steel wool is at the top of my shopping list – thanks to all of you who told me the right way 

to plug the mouse door to the air conditioner! Living in the middle of nowhere...it takes a village.