... mailbox.One day, earlier this summer, I picked up my mail from the super mailbox down the street. When I plucked the mail from the slot, here were a couple of black ants racing across the envelopes and flyers. Odd. I shook them off then peered inside. The slot was crawling with ants! And what were those little, rice-like parcels they were carrying? Eggs. Piles and piles of eggs. What was the attraction of the metal structure? Weren't ants supposed to live in the ground? After a serious case of the heebie-jeebies, I set out to fight the invaders.
First stop, the post office where I discovered someone else had already complained about the ants. That one slot had been sprayed, but the rest of us were left without any defenses. The thought of having to retrieve any more ant and egg-covered mail was, for me, the stuff of nightmares. What if those eggs hatched during the night? So I bought a can of Raid, and sprayed the suckers. I realized I was being terribly hypocritical. Wasn't I supposed to love all creatures? But you have to understand -- I was completely grossed out. I also posted a sign advising my neighbours of the problem just in case the ants decided to move to a new 'condo'.
That was far too much excitement for one day. I just couldn't bring myself to clean the lifeless bodies and eggs from the mail slot, so I sent my husband down later that evening. I think that's why we get married, isn't it? To share the load. I do the laundry, and he cleans up the dead bodies. A match made in heaven.
10 comments:
I think our whole city was built on an anthill. We fight them constantly. The best I've found are the ant traps where they take the poison to their colonies and we don't have to see the ants.
I agree with you, Lynn. I got married to a "tough" guy so I don';t have to deal with ants, earwigs, wasps, silverfish & quite frankly cat litter & garbage!!! I would have not been as brave as you were!! Kudos to you!!
Jan, I suppose we can get used to almost anything, but having to live alongside the creepy-crawly, constantly in-your-food and face bugs would make that difficult. Do they bother the dogs?
Your husband cleans the kitty litter? You've got quite a catch there, Karla!
As with human "birth control," there always has to be the same kind of "control" factor with our wee crawly friends -- who, of course, don't know of such things.
Therefore, I agree with Jan about the kinds of methods where they take bait back to their colonies for an effective "population decrease."
So, when the mail guys open the back of those kinds of units to put mail in all the slots, they just ignored all the ants swarming all over? Must be nice to be an hourly worker...
Hopefully your ant problem is solved now, Lynn. Raggs is also a huge critter lover, but she has a seething hatred for ants. I'm sure she'll be along shortly to call them names.
Oh do I sympathize. While I will escort a spider out, any ant in my home better be wearing Kevlar and a wee little gas mask. I hate those nasty little horrors to the point where I get quiet (if shivery) satisfaction from crunching their little bones. Ok, well, I think I just talked myself out if eating breakfast. Gack.
Birth control for pests! I love it, Georgie.
I wondered the same thing, NT (although he opens the fronts of the units). I suppose the mail carrier is on remote -- just opens the door, and flips the envelopes into the correct slots (sometimes).
Lol, Raggs. I'd hate having the suckers in my house far more than in my mailbox. The only creature, other than humans, that I want in my house is my cat. Once, while staying with relatives in Jamaica, I had to take a sleeping pill because of all the critters crawling around the room. Yikes!
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