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Problems/Solutions with Ants in Nests (Part 2)In addition to Messages that have appeared in the Bluebird Mailing Lists on this topic (also see Anting), the following are on the Audubon Society of Omaha website: Predators and Problems On The Bluebird Trail. Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 07:28:10 -0600 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas 20+ days of rain in February Fire ants will often build a nest under a PVC pipe guard that is sitting on
the ground. Good points on completely closing the top Tom! Be sure that the fire
ants have a grease or other type of barrier to keep them from climbing up the
pipe! Fire ants are spreading north at a rate of about 25 miles a year. They
should be able to colonize both east and west coasts and many major cities where
they will build against heated foundations to survive We often can easily stop one predator only to actually HELP another! On two
different occasions I have found snakes coiled up in a nestbox weeks before I
found the first nests. They were sitting with their head just inches back from
the entrance hole in a "strike ready" position. They Sheet metal pipe in 8" diameter the "Ron Kingston guard" is probably the best and fairly easy to build. You can pick up 60" sections of 8" "ductwork" at air conditioning shops very reasonable and make three guards out of each one. Ask them to save you duct they tear out or trade nestboxes for the duct. KK Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 04:53:39 -0700 (PDT) From southeast West Virginia. Someone inquired about organic methods of eliminating ants. My wife just ordered boric acid ant bait and some organic grasshopper bait
from Planet Natural. She has ordered products from this company over many http://www.planetnatural.com/index.html Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 08:31:20 -0400 My husband pours a teapot full of boiling water on the ant hill. Seems to work. Brenda The Nature Club of Central New York Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 10:46:27 -0700 (PDT) Hello...Question to people who have used a non-chemical method to eliminate ants in the yard & driveway...My neighbor, Sue, asked me if I knew of any way to eliminate ants by not using chemicals since she knows I'm a bird lover & wouldn't want to harm the birds using chemicals. Isn't there an organic method to do this? What about flooding the different small areas with water, since ants don't swim & maybe that would drown them? Any ideas using non-chemical means? Could you send me your ideas that work with cc to her. Her email addr is SueCray"at"Mindspring.com Many thanks...Horace in NC. ===== Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2001 16:49:35 -0700 I have heard people say (and I have no reference book to check about this!) that a plug of chewing tobacco is supposed to be effective. And there should be no threat to the birds since they have no teeth and can't chew it! :) Judy Mellin ... Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 15:41:12 -0400 A lot of the "old timers" around here say to use old fashioned grits for fire ants. The ants take them into their nests, eat them & then "blow up" when the grits expand inside them. I haven't dared to use this method as we have a lot of mourning doves & other ground feeding birds. I would think grits would be as harmful to birds as the wedding rice episodes before the public began to notice what eating the rice was doing to the birds. Someone also told me to take a shovelful of one ant nest & quickly put in
into another ant colony on the other side of the property. Supposedly, ants April Cliche Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 16:57:16 -0400 We, too, have used Borax with great success. Had a chickadee box infested with tiny ants; pulled nest and cleaned box 3 times to no avail. Gave up and lightly sprinkled a little Borax under the nest and wow! Instant elimination -- and they've never returned. (We brushed it all out, left tiniest amount in crevices. Does anyone know how it works, or its general safety? Dot, eastern MAss Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 22:39:42 -0400 (EDT) Hello all, Since there is an interest in ant control I thought this site may be helpful. Don't recall if this mentions any natural control but it does tell about safety of products used. Someone sent this in last year and I saved it, Joe Huber Venice,Fl. http://www.bugspray.com/article/ants.html Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 16:15:19 EDT Has anyone had any experience with this contraption? http://www.antcharmer.com/infopage.html At $90, it's expensive, but if it actually works, might be worth it. Judy Dorsey Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 23:41:03 -0700 Yes. Diatomaceous Earth in the formulation sold in garden stores. It is also excellent if your nestbox is invaded with ants or mites. DE is ground up diatoms and consists of microscopic razor-sharp shards of silicon. It is too fine to hurt nestlings but gets in the joints of most any insect with an exoskeleton and dismembers them. It isn't quick like chemical sprays but your ants will be gone in 24 hours (unless it rains). Hatch Graham Horace Sher wrote: Hello...Question to people who have used a Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 09:03:19 -0400 But don't confuse with the diatomaceous earth used for swimming pools, and sold at a much cheaper price for that purpose. It's apparently not finely enough ground. Randy Jones Allentown PA randyj"at"enter.net ----- Original Message ----- ... Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 09:36:49 -0400 Ground cinnamon, mint leaves all work to control ants. Try sprinkling at the base of the post and in cracks on the floor of the birdhouse. Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 10:57:07 -0400 Hi! I have had just ONE good year with bluebird eggs developing and eventually flying off. We haven't been able to have any new bluebirds in the past 3 years or so. We think it was because of cats keeping the adult birds away from the nest and then the babies die. anyway, we FINALLY had our first brood about 1 week ago. Five eggs. I actually got to watch the last baby hatch out of its egg! All five hatched. Beautiful! I've watched them for 1 week. Yesterday, to my dismay, I opened the box and found ANTS everywhere! I started crying and my husband came to try to help. One bird was still alive trying to ward off those awful suckers. They eat them alive and leave their skeleton behind. It's disgusting. WHAT do I do? We've tried vaseline, grease, etc. to keep those pests away. But it's not the first time either. My husband has a bluebird box at his office (very woody and lots of trees) and we found a nest in there (not a bluebird's) but we left it alone and watched 3 birds hatch! We went to it yesterday as well and found the same thing had happened to that nest. Ants were everywhere and the babies were skeletons. HELP!!! I HATE this! They are my children! What do I do????!!!!! It made me sick to my stomach and I just don't know how to stop it. Please write me with ideas or similar experiences. Thanks in advance! Lisa Bolen
Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 13:53:37 -0500 Lisa - Snip Yesterday, to my dismay, I opened the box and found ANTS everywhere! Snip Sorry to hear about your ant problem. It wouldn't be too difficult to make a moat that would keep the ants from crossing over. I'm surprised that someone hasn't started marketing one already. Maybe I need to get out of my chair and go back into production. I'm sure Wendell and some of the other old timers remember putting jar lids filled with kerosene under each leg of the table to keep the ants off, it worked 100% of the time. Bruce J
Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 16:18:33 EDT Lisa, Use a product called "Tanglefoot." This is really a bird repellent, however, people use it as a barrier to stop crawling or walking insects or both. This product is usually applied to bird (pigeon, starling, house sparrow and other) roosts. It discourages a bird from returning because it is very sticky somewhat like a fly on flypaper; a weak bird or one that gets its feathers in this stuff may be in for big trouble. While it is sold in various kinds of containers, I think you would want a couple of 5.5oz tubes (one each for home and office) which sell for about $5.00 a tube. A tube is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and about 6 1/2 inches long or about the size of a giant tooth paste or Ben Gay tube. Clean the pipe or post to which the nestbox is attached. Slather some of this around the pipe or post where you think it will stay clean the longest and where it is least likely a bird will make contact. So, don't put it near the hardware that secures the nestbox to the pipe or post; this is where returning juveniles often play and cling when another brood is in the box. If you just happen to be using a Ron Kingston stovepipe predator guard, the Tanglefoot can be applied to the pipe or post where the stovepipe will give some added protection from sticking a bird. Once applied, keep an eye on the accumulation of debris and clean off and reapply accordingly. Tanglefoot is used by exterminators. That's the old name for today's something or other engineers - the bug and pest people. If you have no luck locally using the yellow pages, try calling Birds-I-View, Inc., 1 800 500 8439. These folks are Steve and Regina Garr and are located in Mt. Juliet, TN. Tom in NW Florida PS - Here's a barrier device (albeit, not without flaws) for yardboxes for an added safeguard to preclude having a bird get stuck in Tanglefoot. The device uses a 250 cc plastic pill bottle or equivalent with a screw on lid: 1. Put a pole or metal post sized hole in the middle of the lid. Note: This device does not currenty incorporate a mechanism to insure that the plastic bottle will stay at, or return to, its concentricity if it happens to be disturbed by something. To remain effective the bottle must not touch the pipe mount below the applied Tanglefoot.
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 10:21:55 -0700 Dear Friends, Ants in your pants? Here is a sure fire method for ants and it is completely organic. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer Add 1 cup of sugar until mixed and remove from heat Then add 1 table spoon of Boric Acid until mixed. Place the mixture around your garden inside jar lids or anything that will not impede the ants from getting at the solution. The ants really go for this and wipes them out, all the way to the nest. If you have other pets and are concerned don't be. However, you can place a clay pot over the solution to keep cats and dogs away. The ants will still ferret the solution out achieving the same results Enjoy. John Schuster dottie price wrote: Thanks for the info. I currently don't have an ant problem but saved ... Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 14:13:27 -0400 What's the best way of getting rid of a lot of ants around your house? I just noticed that next to my steps (which is completely dirt) that I have about 10-15 ant hills and want to get rid of these ants before they invade my house. But with all the birds, feeders and houses I have in my yard - need something that will not harm them or the animals that may pass through my yard (which will be the neighbor's cats, bunnies, deer, and any other wildlife). Thanks! At 10:21 AM 5/21/2001 -0700, John Schuster wrote: ... Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 22:34:14 EDT In a Message dated 5/21/01 1:38:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Subj: Re: ANT REMEDY I have a nesting pair of Flickers in my yard. "They LOVE ants..!!!" Bruce, SW Ontario, near Detroit/Lake Erie Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 12:26:39 -0400 Lynn Ward Hi Everyone, I'm having a real problem with little black ants this year in all my boxes. When I removed an EABL nest this past weekend after a fledging, it was just crawling with those little black ants. I've used Tanglefoot but that doesn't seem to help unless I constantly re-apply it. I'm going to try some of the other things people on the list have suggested recently. But my question is this: Am I being concerned when I don't need to be? I know fire ants will kill nestlings but will these small black ants hurt them? The four nestlings that fledged from the ant-infested nest seemed to be just fine, but I don't know for certain.
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 21:01:34 -0500 I've got three baby blues that are 10 days old today, May 31......and ants have infested the nest. This is the second brood this season for Mom and Dad and this clutch originally had six eggs. Three hatched, one egg has been pushed to the bottom of the nest and I'm not sure where the other two eggs are. (past clutches have had eggs just disappear and we do have a lot of sparrows) Do I replace the nest and if so what should I use for a new nest? I realize this needs to be done quickly before the young are too close to fledging. Or should I leave the nest alone (babies look fine today) and remove and clean after fledging? Thank you all for any help.
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 19:38:15 -0700 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Since ants are attracted to used nestboxes (fecal), this is one good reason to wash out boxes immediately after a fledge. I've responded off-List to Jenny with additional comments for solution; and others might provide her with Jim's web site on ant control. "Jenny R. Williams" wrote:
Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2001 12:51:01 -0500 Hello All and thank you for the responses concerning the ants in nest. This morning the ants were much worse, crawling on babies. Mom and Dad were still feeding. I took the much appreciated advise so many of you gave and removed the nest, placing it in a paper bag, (low and behold the other three un-hatched eggs were in bottom of nest).........thanks for the bag idea, would not have thought of that on my own, then thoroughly cleaned the box and treated ants. Then I placed some crumpled newspaper in bottom and grass on top and replaced babies. Mom and Dad were feeding them again within five min. I THINK I am in an unusual situation in that these bluebirds are nesting in a small back yard. I've got two boxes posted on a wooden fence about 36ft apart and then a woodpecker house posted on my kids play tower about 24ft away and about 10ft high. Mom and Dad are currently using the woodpecker house for the first time. They have used the other two boxes over the last three yrs. since they have been up. The house sparrows are everywhere (we are in a subdivision) but I keep removing any nest and eggs that they get started and Dad seems to be doing fine defending the three boxes. Ants have not been a problem in the past. I feel confident that this time was due to the un-hatched eggs. In the past I have removed un-hatched eggs but wasn't sure I was doing the right thing. Now I know I was. Thank you again for all the experienced advise. I am enjoying your mail list so much. Nice to meet all of you. Sincerely, Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 21:07:04 -0500 Dan, My "ant solution" -- if it turns out to be that -- was to add a moat to the post where my BB house is mounted. The ants won't be able to cross the water. That's the theory, anyway. I like the DE approach, too, though -- much simpler. The problem I had last summer was when we had several days of rain. I didn't go out and open the box during the bad weather. When I did check it, that's when I found the ants -- thousands of them. I couldn't believe they moved in so fast! There were so many that the eggs (ant eggs, that is) just poured out when I opened the front of the box. We're talking about a total infestation. I think they were indeed fire ants. I didn't get bitten, though, so I wouldn't swear to it. They were red, though. Alice Alice - What did you do to 'keep the ants at bay'? Get some DE earth at [This Message contained attachments] Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 05:11:25 -0000 I like the DE approach, too, though -- much simpler. Note that DE (diatomaceous earth) used in this way should be *freshwater DE*, NOT saltwater DE. Also, there is some concern among bluebirders and purple martin landlords that DE, which is very abrasive and can be harmful when inhaled, may be dangerous to (especially very young) nestlings. The PMCA (Purple Martin Conservation Association) no longer recommends its use in purple martin nest boxes. If you must use it, you should do so only after the nestlings are a week old, and then put it only underneath the nest. A safer alternative would be to use it only outside the nestbox, at the base of the pole. Here is some further info:
http://forum.purplemartin.org/Archive/DE.htm Jennifer, S WI From: Melrich21"at"aol.com I just read a suggestion in a magazine that said to sprinkle instant grits over a red ant hill to kill the ants. I am desperate to get rid of some ant mounds, but I don't want to put anything out that will harm the birds. I have lots of wrens and other birds that I see eating on the ground. Will the grits swell in the stomachs of the birds and hurt them? Thanks for any info, advice... Becky in north Georgia Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 10:48:12 -0600 I did a google.com search and came up with loads of information on fire ant control, from standard poisons to IPM (integrated pest management) and home remedies like boiling water and orange peels (hey, it worked for me!). Here are a few of the better sites: http://fireant.tamu.edu/
Scroll down the list for "organic" (aka low-impact) methods of control and
controlling ants around pets and butterfly and schoolchildren's gardens. There
are also articles on IPM and biologic controls. Also see: http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/IPM/natparks/fireants.html http://www.utexas.edu/cons/zoology/debbie/fireant.htm http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~gilbert/research/fireants/faq.html The site http://www.fireant.com/ seems to endorse quick 'n' easy chemical fixes which I'd consider a last resort, especially in a family yard. IMHO, I'd take much of the advice here with a grain of salt. ---- From: Snwwitelady"at"aol.com Susan Bulger, Fullerton, CA Recently I had the county vector fire ant agent come to my home for a fire ant hill. He spread a weak poison around that he said would not hurt the birds and told me to drench the area with a hose-end sprayer with dish detergent. The detergent, as I recall, interferes with the ants breathing and kills all those it drenches. It really worked and is easy to do. Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 18:41:44 -0400 Hi List, In one of the boxes that has a nest and NO eggs, there is a problem with ants crawling up the post the box is mounted on and getting into the box, and into the completed nest. Apparently mom bird left something tasty (for the ants) in the middle of the nest and the ants are feasting on it by the thousands. It's quite disgusting. Anyway, since this nest has no eggs, should I try and get the ants out before she lays eggs? Or will the bird be smart enough not to lay eggs in the infested nest? If I should take the ants out, how? and do I try to re-build the nest, or??? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Wendy West From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) Hi List, I solved an ant problem by removing the nest and putting it into a zip lock baggie and zapped it on 50% power in my microwave for two minutes. The ants were zapped dead. Let the nest cool off and shake off the dead ants. Return the nest. This tip of mine is quoted in The Bluebird Monitor's Guide pg. 37 It is a very helpful guide book. " A must for new comers " I grease my poles with Petroleum Jelly or the ants return. Some folks use Tanglefoot. I have noticed that during early springtime or heavy rainy days the ants head for higher places like our nest boxes! My male bluebird is still trying to attract another female. The one that he had has disappeared. He keeps singing every day. He picks the highest tree all over the yard. TRES are checking nest boxes. The males have been fighting over certain ones. Going up to the mid 80's today! Kathy Bennett From: "Cameron" cscott5"at"charter.net i have ants need a solution can i put clear wrap around pole to stop them from going up or do i need some kind of ant killer From: Shane Marcotte marco50"at"bellsouth.net Hello All, Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 17:07:13 -0700 Checked boxes today and have 1 box with a titmouse nest that is just covered
with ants and looks as if they are making a nest also because of Norma Zier From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com Norma, Also, a little Diazinon crystals on the ground around the pole-base might help. Maybe some real ant-experts will chime in on this one. Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Ants have to go to the ground for food and water if a large supply is not in the nestbox. IF I felt this ant colony was truly a threat to the birds I would remove the ants by using one of the caged bird sprays on the pole or post which will allow the ants to cross this and then die. Once the ants are out of the box then apply a sticky barrier to prevent reinfestation. Never allow any spray to get on the bare skin of birds or apply to the egg shells! Normally ants swarm in the nest only when you open the box breaking apart their nest they have constructed in the bird nesting material. They are running around trying to save the eggs or the future of the ant colony! They are no more frantic than some of the bluebirders trying to save native birds eggs! Across the country there are many different species of ants that will use the nests of birds for a home. We only have three species of ants in northeast Texas that do and two of them seem to live with the birds and not create a problem whereas the fire ants will not. I personally have not used a pesticide of any kind in my nestboxes for 5 or 6 years. We have answered this question MANY times in the past and I would like to see some of the newer bluebirders share what answers helped them the most when they first encountered an ant problem! How many monitors that have top opening boxes find swarms of ants after the young birds fledge that they never knew were in the box till they cleaned out the old bird nest? One of the reasons we keep answering questions is because we keep improving the answers or adding to them, like the addition of the double backed sticky tape to stop ants which was recommended a couple of weeks back! KK To: Karon"at"discoverynet.com, BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu (BLUEBIRD-L) Hi Norma, My tip on ridding a nest that was teaming with ants, is in the Bluebird Monitors Guide is on pg. 37 They were small black ants. I carefully removed the chicks and put them in a cool whip container lined with soft cotton material . I then removed the nest and put it in a Ziplock style baggie. I micro waved the nest at 50% power for 2 minutes. The ants came out of the nest and they were zapped dead. I removed the nest from the baggie and shook it until no more ants fell out. I let the nest cool off and fluffed it back to shape and returned it along with the chicks. You must grease your pole or the ants will return. I use Vaseline Jelly. Kathy Bennett Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2002 12:05:39 EDT How many monitors that have top opening boxes find swarms of ants after the young birds fledge that they never knew were in the box till they cleaned out the old bird nest? Just once. Rhonda Watts From: "Cameron" cscott5"at"charter.net i have ants will gun grease work on the pole the pole that the chicadees box is on From: "Cameron" cscott5"at"charter.net i have gun grease on two spots on the pole there is no debre on the grease but the ants are still walking right over it From: TomGaryH"at"aol.com Cameron, Your 02-05-05 13:29:36 EDT Bluebird-L post reads: i have gun grease on two spots on the pole there is no debre on the grease but the ants are still walking right over it The surface of automotive grease tends to get heavy after a period of time when exposed to the elements. Switch to Vaseline petroleum jelly. Heavily coat the mounting pole starting from about 3 to 4 inches below the box all the way down to about 6 inches above the ground. Be advised that during extremely hot weather some ants may be able to slosh through petroleum jelly as it thins. Check the coating often - during box checks, after rains, after sprinkler or watering operations, after mowing the grass, after wind storms, and any time you pass by the box. Wipe down and reapply as necessary. After you've made the switch try to experiment with your grease by mixing some of it with turpintine. Put various mixtures on a sample surface keeping a record of the mix and date exposed to the elements. When you find one for which the surface doesn't get heavy for a while then mix up a batch and use it on your poles. Don't be stingy, apply a wide band of whatever you use. Part of the protection comes from the ant getting tired. Small band, the ant eats lunch. Large band, maybe he goes elsewhere to eat. Tom Heintzelman From: "Cameron" cscott5"at"charter.net i have 3 spots about 2 inches to 3 inches wide and the ants are still coming though From: "Cameron" cscott5"at"charter.net i have two nest boxes in my back yard both are on wooden post about 4 foot high i have a blue bird with 3 egges and 7 chicadee eggs in the other box i have a bad ant problem on both post i tried gun grease but it didnt work people on the list told me to use vasiline jelly so i got patrolium jelly can said it was the same on the can i applyed it on three spot s of the pole about two to three inches wide ants still trugeing though From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas From: hubertrap"at"webtv.net (Joe Huber) Hi Rebecca, Seems you have two pests in one box. The HOSP and ants must go before a successful nesting can be expected. Ants nest in about any bird nest and could be a problem for young birds. They need to have an exit from the box so treat the pole at the base of it on the ground with some form of ant killer. Remove both the HOSP and ant nest from the box and start over. Joe Huber, Venice,Fl. Charter member NABS, Charter member OBS, Life member OBS Joe Huber hubertrap"at"webtv.net http://community.webtv.net/hubertrap/HOUSESPARROWCONTROL
http://community.webtv.net/hubertrap/RoostingBluebirds 27.1171494 N Lo -82.4124222 W The good news: 10 BB eggs (in 2 boxes)! The bad news: I suspect that I have HOSPs in a few of my boxes. However, I don't want to destroy until I'm sure. (Don't worry, I will NOT let HOSPs reproduce.) Meanwhile: 2 of the boxes with suspected HOSPs also have lots of ants living in them--colonies complete with eggs. My question: Is it common to find ants in HOSP boxes (as opposed to boxes with other birds nesting)? Assuming these are HOSPs, any chance the ants will destroy the eggs and I can just let nature take its course? Thanks, Rebecca J. From: birdwatcherfc"at"netscape.net Hi all, Remove tha ants from the box and treat the pople with "tree tanglefoot" available at garden centers. This will keep ants and other crawling critters from climbing the pole to the box. No poison is needed and should not be used. Fred (south central PA) Charter member CBC Life member FFCP Member FCRMC Member EFMLS hubertrap"at"webtv.net (Joe Huber) wrote: Hi Rebecca, Seems you have two pests in one box. The HOSP and ants ... From: Catsham"at"aol.com Well, after spotting the two babies that fledged yesterday, Ed and I decided to clean out the nestbox this morning. And we were greated by what seemed like hundreds of tiny ants. I can't believe the nestlings did so well with that kind of infestation. A;though when I was monitoring the box I never saw any ants. Oh well. Edd took the box down and washed it out with water but I have several questions I hope I can get advice on: ***My bluebird manual states that ant infestation should be cleaned out with .1% pyrithrene...what is it? Where do I get it? Does anyone feel this is a solution to this problem? ***Ed wants to wrap fly tape around the post, but I read that STP oil or Tanglefoot will do the trick(of course, we have NO idea what Tanglefoot is or where to get it, so if anyone suggests this please advise!) Thanks in advance for any help and advice on this issue. Rory & Ed Date: Sat, 31 May 2003 13:04:28 -0400 Tanglewood is in nurseries and some hardware stores. Put some all around the post under the box, close to the box. This will prevent the ants from going up and down the post. You may have to clean the box and replace the nest with a new one (you make new nest from similar material, they will accept it.) Some people will spray pyrithene, inside the box. Pyrithene is from petshops. You can also apply a ring of Vaseline under the box, it is very safe and works OK too. Have all the material ready before you start so the job can be done quickly... Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland ----- Original Message ----- ... From: Catsham"at"aol.com OH! That;s where I heard pyrithrine before. I used it on my parrots when they brought home red mites from boarding. Thanks for all the good tips Fawzi. We have the pyrithrin, vaseline and STP oil treatment here so we are going to get it done immediately as the parents are already flying to and from the nestbox again. Just a few renovations and hopefully they will be back in business. Rory Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2003 08:47:22 -0700 Dear Rory, Ed, Fawzi, and friends, Here are some other tips when using Tanglefoot. 1. Before you apply Tanglefoot (not Tanglewood) you need to make sure that there are no plants touching the nest box, so the ants or other insect pests can not cross over and into the nest box. If you have your nest boxes mounted to a fence post with planks or bard wire attached to the post, then you can not use Tanglefoot. Yes, you could apply Tanglefoot to the bard wire, but this is very dangerous to the Bluebird or other birds and that will land on the bard wire getting Tanglefoot all over their feet and as the name implies, this could be disastrous. Again, if you have your nest boxes on fence posts that are attacked to other things, then do not use Tanglefoot, but take down your nest boxes and remount them to a better system i.e. 3/4 inch EMT poles, U-BARS (6 footers can be found at Home Depot cost $2.89) and or a stand lane wooden post. 2. Before I apply Tanglefoot, I like to tightly wrap some green gardening tape around the mounting pole (or tree), then use a little adhesive tape to secure the green tape and then I apply the Tanglefoot to the green tape. If you've mounted your nest boxes on a U-BAR, then you need to plug up the gap at the back of the U-BAR, and continue to wrap the tape around the plugged area. Never apply Tanglefoot directly to a tree, fence post or EMT pole, because the stuff is so sticky that it is virtually impossible to get the stuff off once applied. However, if you use the above green tape trick, all you have to do is take a sharp knife, cut through the tape, peal it off (wear gloves) and the surface is still clean underneath where the Tanglefoot barrier once was. The other thing about Tanglefoot is that is cakes up with dirt and other air born pollutants, so as Fawzi suggests, placing the Tanglefoot up high is a good idea. Also I agree with Fawzi, that Vaseline is also a good substitute to Tanglefoot which can be easy cleaned as compared to Tanglefoot. However, on really hot days... Vaseline will melt and streak down the mounting pole, where Tanglefoot will stay put regardless of temperatures. In short, I would use the Tanglefoot because it is the best product out there for keeping crawling pests out of your fruit trees and in this case nest boxes. Cheers and as always... Happy Bluebird Trails To You, "Fawzi P. Emad" wrote: Tanglewood is in nurseries and some hardware stores. Put some all ... Date: Sat, 07 Jun 2003 10:04:40 -0700 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Ants: After the Tanglefoot barrier is in place, periodically brush off any ant stream still above the Tanglefoot. Ants in my area seem to have a memory; check to make sure no breaks form in the sticky barrier and watch that the ants don't make a sacrificial bridge of their bodies to cross over the barrier. If so, freshen the barrier. From: "emcooper" emcooper"at"bayou.com Put duct tape around the post, then apply a petroleum (automotive) grease on
top of the duct tape so it won't soak into the wood. Works like a charm, I have
mostly all wooden posts. Evelyn Hi. After the recent discussion on "how close is too close" for boxes, I
discovered I have two pairs nesting in boxes only about 150-175 feet apart,
along a fence line in front of my yard and a small field beside the yard. Both
nests now have 3 eggs in them. I thought it was the same pair checking out both
boxes, but there have been two females together at the mealworm
feeders...tolerating each other but not "friendly" by any means. Initially, two
pairs were seen all tumbling together in the front yard, but not really being
very aggressive about it. I thought one pair had moved further south to another
box, but maybe not. (Maybe I have a third pair down Should anything about this close proximity worry me? Anything to watch out for? Also, I saw small (sugar type) ants on top of one of these two boxes, no ants in the box yet (I lifted the nest gently, didn't see any under it), but what should I do?? Unfortunately the box is on a wood post and there's no way to put it on a metal post away from the fence, as it would then be in the way of a gate/tractor lane. Suggestions, please? Nancy Hebb From: "L Colangelo" lcolangelo"at"verizon.net To all you knowledgeable bluebirders: I had an awful year this year due, in part, to the high number of nests infested with ants. Here in central Md. we had a very rainy spring and that may have had s/th to do with it as I've never, in 8 years of being a BB landlord, seen anything like this. The ants would not only eat the eggs but the hatchlings as well. Someone recommended a product called Tanglefoot to put on the posts but I've been unable to find it around here. I'd welcome any and all suggestions for dealing with ants in order to be better prepared next year. My boxes are mounted on both metal poles and wooden posts. From: "XXX" Rebecca I'm in Columbia, MD. I found Tanglefoot at my local hardware store. It's particularly popular as a gypsy moth preventive-it stops the caterpillars from climbing up the trees to defoliate them. It definitely does the trick for ants in nestboxes. I, too, had lots of ant problems this year. But once I tanglefooted the posts, the ants did not return. If you can't find Tanglefoot locally, I'd be happy to buy some here and send it to you. Or you might try Internet ordering. Tanglefoot has a website at http://www.tanglefoot.com/ They say "Tanglefoot products http://www.tanglefoot.com/products/index.htm are available from lawn and garden centers, nurseries, hardware stores and gardening catalogs world-wide." They also have a link allowing you to contact them to find local dealers who sell Tanglefoot. Rebecca J. -----Original Message----- ... From: "emcooper" emcooper"at"bayou.com Oh, how terrible!!! I have never used Tanglefoot. I use automotive grease and put it on with a brush. I lost one brood to ants 4 years ago and have never had any trouble since I grease the poles faithfully. I usually put it on twice during the nesting season, as it will harden. On the wooden poles, I first put duct tape around the pole, then grease it so that it won't soak in. The picture of the 4 dead babies all covered with ants is still in my mind. Evelyn Cooper Delhi, La. Louisiana Bayou Bluebird Society Bluebirds along the bayous.....where we lend a helping hand! www.labayoubluebirdsociety.org ----- Original Message ----- ... Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 17:02:14 -0700 (PDT) I had a lot of losses this year due to ants, also. For next year, I'm tempted to use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of 5% Sevin dust under nests with ant infestations. Many bluebirders would disapprove of this practice, however. Tony Berg - Williamsburg, VA From: "Nancy C. Hebb" Fencroft"at"msn.com OK. I've prevented ants using tanglefoot, but I found a box today with a wren nest with eggs that has ants all under the nest. How can I get them out without disturbing the eggs??? A vine grew up next to the box and I figured the ants entered from the top down. Now that they've established residence, what do I do? I also discovered all of my empty boxes were hosting earwigs. Nancy Hebb in Michigan Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 01:16:53 GMT
Maynard Sumner
http://mibluebirdsociety.tripod.com --- "XXX" Rebecca wrote: I'm in Columbia, MD. I found Tanglefoot at my local hardware store. It's particularly popular as a gypsy ... From: "Dan Hanan" danhan7"at"earthlink.net I have successfully used tanglefoot for three years with the exception of one failure. That failure was caused by applying the tanglefoot in the wrong place and the ants were able to bypass it. I purchased a 5 pound tub of it from Forestry Suppliers, Inc. for around $30.00 with shipping included. At the present rate of usage on 24 nestbox steel mounting poles, it should last another three years. The ordering information is as follows: Tree Tanglefoot Pest Barrier Dan Hanan Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 05:32:38 -0700 (PDT) I get ants in my boxes because - are you ready for this? They are all on trees. A big no-no, but where I have them, the powers that be don't want anything more to mow around and want the boxes to maintain a low profile. I am using Noel guards to do the best I can against predators. Tony Berg - Williamsburg, VA Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 21:44:26 -0700 Dear Friends, I've posted about Tanglefoot before and it is tops for controlling insects that crawl (I use it allot on my fruit trees.) Grease is OK, but when the temperatures get hot the grease may run, but Tanglefoot will not. Be sure that you wrap green garden tape around the mounting poll, then apply the Tanglefoot to the tape. When the Tanglefoot looses it's effectiveness, just cut the green tape off and remove that lot. Be careful not to get it on your clothing as it is sticky, but any solvent will remove it. ....Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:06:44 -0700 Dear Nancy and friends, Ants, will crawl over barred wire to get at a nest box or something tasty that they can crawl to, so be sure to remove all foliage or anything else for that matter that makes contact with your nesting boxes. Use the Tanglefoot and maybe a little dust too. Earwigs. I hate EARWIGS!!! However, I complained about this very issue years ago to one of my friends at the California Department of Fish and Game, and I was told by a respected birder and friend, "Leave the Earwigs along because the Bluebirds will eat them." So I have and they never have seemed to bother my broods. All the same though, if you want to get rid of those ugly things here is trick that works. Get some new paper, lightly wet it down, roll it up loosely and place it at the base of your nesting box or on the edges of building or planter boxes. You can also use blue plastic tarps too, but the original method calls for new paper. When the sun comes up go outside, pick up all the new papers and place them in a steel garbage can. Now open up the news paper and out will come hundreds of Earwigs that will fall into the steel garbage can that they can not crawl out of and close the lid. End of story. If you keep this up, you will have reduced your Earwig population to a manageable level, without using chemicals in a very short time. ... Happy Bluebird Trails To You, From: Gary Springer In the southern states fireant killer is probably the pesticide most abundantly used by homeowners. The shelves in garden shops, and garden centers of Home Depot and Wal-Mart in the south are stacked high with several kinds of "Fireant Killer" in bags ranging in size from 5 pounds to 50 pounds Millions of pounds of insecticide are needlessly being pumped into the environment by homeowners TRYING to control fireants. Fireant Killer is a huge and extremely profitable industry that would take a severe hit if people realized how these ants could be more effectively controlled without pesticides. After watching the fireants on my property increase for ten years, I swallowed hard to push back my fear of poisoning the yellow shafted flickers that occasionally eat these ants on cold mornings and joined the army of homeowners who use insecticides in the fight against these pests that are silently threatening many native species of birds and animals that nest on the ground. I started out with a 10 pound bag that was supposed to "kill the queen" but after using this pesticide, after two weeks I had five times more mounds than when I started. I then bought a 15 pound bag of a second Fireant Killer which the manufacturer also claimed would "kill the queen". This Fireant Killer also seemed to cause the fireants to relocate in more mounds all over the grassy areas of the property. And, the next two 15 pound bags of different Fireant Killers did the same. Why? Because killing a queen does little or nothing to control most fireants. There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of queens in each mound of the most common fireant. That's why they're so prolific! Killing the queen does not cause the colony to die as the advertisers broadly claim. When ants begin to die these intelligent creatures simply move the other queens and eggs to a new location. Since fireant killer wasn't working I began to experiment with drowning fireants using a garden hose. Flooding the mounds with water every second day seemed much more effective than using pesticides. But then, after cleaning my kitchen floor I decided to dump the soapy water on one of the mounds. Realizing that much of the colony is under the ground and that the surface tension reducing property of soap may cause more fireants to drown I decided to treat ten more mounds with Palmolive dish soap and still others with Tide laundry detergent that same hour. After 24 hours I saw something I never had seen while using the pesticides. Thousands of fireants were lying dead on top of the ground where the mound had been and within two days most of the mounds were entirely inactive. A second light application on those mounds with a few active ants caused these mounds to become inactive within two days as well. And, there has not been a birth of new mounds all around the area of the treated mounds. Further, a second application may not even be necessary because rain water will cause the mound to be flooded by soapy water a second time with no effort. Experimentation must be done to determine how much soap is needed and which is best but if you have a two foot high mound and dump one five gallon buckets of soapy water directly into the center of the mound so that all of the water dams up and penetrates into the mound, then splash a second five gallon bucket of soapy water on the mound so that the entire mound is washed away the soapy water will kill all the eggs on contact and drown most of the queens and other ants within a day or two. If we can trust our scientists more than the pesticide manufacturers and have
confidence that the soaps we use every day are safer than the pesticides in
Fireant Killer, this is a far more effective, environmentally safer and less
expensive way to control fireants in yards of southern homeowners. PS Several kinds of native ants prey on fireants and destroying them and their mounds will make it more difficult to control fireants. Before destroying any ant mound make sure the ants are fireants by pushing a stick into the mound. If the mound is one of fireants they will quickly run up the stick in attack mode. If the ants do not attack the stick and they do not sting when handled they should not be destroyed. From: susan bulger Susan Bulger, Fullerton, CA From: John Schuster ... below is a list of other garden recipes that some folks maybe in interested in ... provided by my friend Bob Tanem, a local gardener, nursery owner for over 35+ years and radio talk show host in San Francisco (where I've been a guest talking about cavity nesting birds.) You can check out Bob's web site at: http://www.bobtanem.com/ ... Garden Recipes Grease Ant Recipe
Fry the bacon and collect all the grease. Save the bacon for something else! Add some corn meal to make a paste (not too much) Add the baking powder and yeast and blend everything together. Place the mixture in jar lids. Place the lids in ant paths (under the refrigerator is a good place if you have animals.) Classic Ant Recipe ....
Bring water and sugar just to boil and stir in boric acid. Place mixture in small jar lids and place in ant paths. Remaining mixture can be stored in a tight, well marked container in cupboard. Keep jar lids filled and out of reach of children and pets. You can place it under mesh or another can, so ants can get in but animals can't. ... John Schuster, conservationist and owner Wild Wing Company ... From: khussie"at"localnet.com Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 9:32 AM Subject: ANTS I recently opened a TRES box and found that ants had taken over. I ripped out the nest and cleaned out the ants as best I could. Was that the right move? How can I easily prevent this? Kieran Glenside, PA From: Kenny Kleinpeter
[mailto:kpkmajk"at"cox.net] I opened my nestbox the other day and noticed quite a few on the small black ants under an active nest. I suspected that these type ants don't cause any problems for the birds and may even be beneficial. Can anyone tell me if I'm right or wrong? I don't mind removing the nest and scraping the ants out, but I won't use chemical poisons. Kenny Kleinpeter Baton Rouge, LA Member, LBBS From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2004 10:11 AM RE: ANTS All I ever use is grease on the poles. They never get to the babies or eggs. I have to apply it twice during the nesting season as it does get hard in the sun. Evelyn Cooper Delhi, LA From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net] [subsequent post] You did the right thing. From: charlene anchor [mailto:charleneanchor"at"msn.com] Sent: Friday, May 21, 2004 9:18 AM Subject: Tanglefoot Last year I had a terrible ant infestation in almost all the boxes I was working on. Suspect it was the result of no monitoring having been done on the boxes for years. Also had other problems which resulted in my attaching 2 ft long predator guards. So I ended up applying the Tanglefoot below the guard which is low on the pole. Everyone is advising applying it high on the pole so birds aren't at risk. I hope my method doesn't have a bad effect but I saw no other choice. I'm keeping the vegetation cut very low around the base of the poles and the Tanglefoot thus far is doing an excellent job. One disadvantage though is that it's SO sticky. I've just recently applied grease to some of my guards where nesting is occurring. I wonder if the grease would be equally as effective in repelling the ants as flying insects are getting stuck in that? Also, how often will the grease have to be reapplied? Thanks. Charlene Anchor, Illinois
From: Maynard R Sumner [mailto:m-r-sumner"at"juno.com]
Make sure the birds do not get into the tanglefoot. This is very bad for them. You can not get the tanglefoot off of the birds. Maynard Sumner Flint, MI From: JCGARRIOTT"at"satx.rr.com [mailto:JCGARRIOTT"at"satx.rr.com]
I, too, am in the heart of fire ant country. When I see any activity around a nest box I try to dose them with Amdro near the base of the pole (under the grass so any birds will not see it). This should be done repeatedly as the ants carry it to the mound, and with large colonies it disappears rapidly. I have seen nest invasions of flycatchers after fledging as they leave a box full of feces which probably attracts them, but to my knowledge I have not lost any bluebirds to them, even when not treated. As Keith says, I am sure low nesting birds are devastated by them here in Texas. Baby deer and other animals are attacked as well. In fact, these ants regularly ascend to upper decks and roofs of houses, so I doubt higher nests are safe either. How are other Texas bluebirds faring? I haven't heard of many losses from the fireants, but I am sure there are many. Jim Garriott San Antonio, TX From:Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas While driving my trail yesterday I saw a Carolina Wren fly from a rotten corner post made from a creosoted power pole. I hit the brakes and backed up to check out the site. Sure enough way down in the hollow post there was a Carolina Wren nest with two eggs!!!!! There was a ball of movement and the just hatched young birds were almost totally consumed by thousands of fire ants. When only low natural cavities are left for these birds then most of them in the south will perish. Fire ants were in five bluebird nests yesterday on parts of my trail and another bluebirder across the county. On Friday parts of our county received over three inches of rain in 30 minutes. This drives fire ants out of the ground and up poles, trees and bushes to escape the rising water. KK [Note from webmaster: beginning of thread found under Anting] From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] I've been following these posts about anting. However, I must say we should continue to grease the poles to keep ants from getting to the nests. I say this because I checked my backyard blues one afternoon and the nest morning, they were all dead, covered with ants. So, to any "newbies" on the List, don't forget to keep a soft ring of grease on the pole. It also tells the tale if any predator has tried to climb past it. Evelyn Cooper Louisiana Bayou Bluebird Society Delhi, LA From: Dottie Roseboom [mailto:rosedot"at"mtco.com] While I agree that live ants should not be allowed into nestboxes, I'm wondering if it was actually the ants that killed these babies, or if they were just obtaining a free meal - after the babies died. Hmm, Just happened to think that Evelyn might be talking about fire-ants, while I was thinking of "normal" ants for the anting. I have seen "normal" ants in nestboxes, with no apparent harm to the young. Anyone else notice deaths due to ants? Dottie Roseboom Peoria IL (central - zone 5) From: L Colangelo [mailto:lcolangelo"at"verizon.net] This is an excellent point. I had a horrendous year last year due to ants. I know it's been said before, but worth repeating: if your ant problem is severe, address it quickly or you'll have a disaster on your hands! Several people recommended Tanglefoot grease for the poles or posts, and it worked like a charm. (available in hardware stores--also used by orchards to keep ants off fruit trees.) From: Dottie Roseboom [mailto:rosedot"at"mtco.com] Thanks, I'll keep this in mind. I have never thought that ants would be "good" in a nestbox, but didn't realize that they could actually kill nestlings. Although, this area has many ant hills, I've only seen ants in one nestbox (when I removed the nest after a fledging, there were hundreds of the tiny red ants). We have more trouble with ants climbing hummingbird feeders than nestbox poles. Grease is a somewhat effective barrier for either pole. Dottie Roseboom Peoria IL (central - zone 5) From: Christy [mailto:ke4fej1"at"email.msn.com] Hi Dottie and All, Yes we have predation due to Red Ants. But, I think they find the box because say...one chick dies and that gets the smell out and they come by the groves and then find the others. The other problem is when we flood... some posts are in one to 3 feet of water...and the ants roll on top of the water during the flooding. So if they should find a post and want to get out of the water they have just happened onto a nest of babies. Then we have so many Red Ants around here... I tell all Monitors to keep the areas clear and keep working them out. Because the ants go everywhere... Where we have had problems or where Monitors are really working on becoming a Great Monitor!... they put braided rags tied lower on the post ...which have been soaked in heavy motor oil. Some have the tanglefoot... I think that is what it is called. The oil is cheaper... some have put greese on the poles...but with the sun it dries up faster. I think overall...the ants just get lucky...but the damage is still the same...it is quick and final and in large numbers of them. Christy Sarasota, FL From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] I had no reason to believe anything but the ants killed them. They were perfectly healthy that afternoon. I am convinced the ants did the dirty deed. Also, in one of my neighbors nestboxes this year, (he does not grease the pole) I found a nest with two eggs and it was covered with ants. It was abandoned and I feel they came back and re-built in one of my nestboxes. I do know that some people do not grease their poles because they have the mistaken idea that the ants are beneficial. They can do more harm in my opinion where there are young babies than any good. How can we know which species is going to climb the poles? Evelyn Cooper Delhi, LA From: lviolett [mailto:lviolett"at"earthlink.net] I agree with Evelyn that ants *do* cause nestling deaths. Even though I don't have any scientific proof that ants do the actual killing, my observations have been that if a nestbox site is infested with ants and the nestbox is not protected from them, dead nestlings will be found covered with ants. Therefore, Tanglefoot is routinely used to keep ants out of boxes on my trail here in So. Calif. Tanglefoot will dry out as the season progresses and it should be freshened up about every other week. Most of the time, a small dab on the nestbox hanger (I use hanging boxes) will keep ants from gaining access to the box. But some areas on my trail are so heavily infested with ants, they require two 3" wide bands of Tanglefoot on the tree trunk to keep them in check. Tanglefoot will damage trees if it is applied directly to trees, but wide electrical tape can be wrapped around the tree trunk with Tanglefoot applied over it. Heavily infested areas should be monitored every three days or so to make sure that ants have not created a bridge over the Tanglefoot with their own dead bodies. From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 9:21 AM Subject: fire ants go to Disneyland Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas They can live in dead tree trunks surrounded by water if the wood is soft enough to hollow out a home. They will wipe out/devour termite colonies taking over their home. They reduce baby bluebirds to a skeleton in a matter of a day or two at the most. The best defense I have found is mounting the nestboxes out in the middle span of barbed wire fences where the foraging ants need to crawl up a fence post and then out on the top strands of barbed wire 6 or 7 feet to reach a nestbox. Then this scout ant has to lay a scent trail back to the colony and describe the amount and type of food available just like a honey bee does with a nectar source. He has to convince thousands of his co-workers to follow him back to the bird nest which might be 50 feet or more from the ant colony. I now carry a soybean oil based poison called Amdro with me whenever I am out checking nestboxes and always have some in the truck. Each time I check the nestboxes I now scatter a teaspoon or tablespoon full near the base of the pole if I believe bluebirds or other cavity nesters will soon be nesting. This small amount of low dose "bait type poison" will be carried back to the mound and will kill enough of the ants in the nearest mounds to thin them out until my next trip. I am also installing more nestboxes where I have to wade out into a pond or lake to check the nestbox on a pole surrounded with water. Greased poles help but grease, tanglefoot, oil ETC. may get hard or have dirt or leaves blow into it in a matter of days creating a bridge over which the ants can attack. These ants are still spreading north in the USA at the rate of about 15 miles a year in Tennessee. They are spreading faster up the east and west coastal areas. They will probably die back at some point due to severe winters and reach a northern limit....Global warming is possibly going to allow them to expand for 10 years or so and then get driven back south every 15 years or so during severe winters. OK new research is showing that Christopher Columbus introduced a "new and vicious" fire ant into the Caribbean islands when they began bringing sugar cane and many other crops to be planted and cared for by the new slaves they found living on these islands. The newly imported "Fire ants" with no natural predators exploded in population because they were feeding on the newly introduced aphids to the point that fifteen years after the introduction of sugar cane (511 years ago) the natives and European masters were made to sleep on cots instead of the ground. Manuscripts show that they would put the four legs of the cots into containers of water creating a water barrier that the ants could not cross over during the night. The aphids in the sugar cane and other crops exploded in population because the fire ants began tending them and milking the aphids for the honeydew they produce. The more aphids that showed up the more fire ants the less the slaves could or would work the fields. The working conditions led to revolts and loss of crops until about 20 years after the introduction of the aphid and fire ant natural predators of the aphids must have been introduced because the aphids suddenly died down to acceptable numbers, fire ants died out with a lack of food or possibly introduced predators and peace was returned to the islands. This success in over seas farming led to the introduction of sugar cane, coffee, tea, beans and other crops to Central and South America. Spin forward to the 1930 or 40's and the Red Imported Fire Ant is found multiplying in the southern USA and was supposedly imported out of Brazil. It may or may not be the same species introduced by Mr. Columbus. This Imported
Red Fire Ant is sweeping throughout Australia and just turned up in Disneyland
of Hong Kong this past week. They started checking the area and in 7 days they
have found this world hopping pest in more than 600 mounds scattered around
Hong Kong. It is now spreading in the south of mainland China in nursery plant
and vegetable plant containers. I hate to tell 1.3 billion Chinese but they
have a real problem coming up in the next few years from this ant. Many insects
and plants will come and go out of Asia in the coming decade as 80% of ALL
of the earths ocean going ships were either going to or coming from China last
year loaded down with raw materials or finished goods for import/export to
stores and homes around the world. (The National Geographic line of nestboxes
and bird feeders is now made in If you are in the path of the expanding population of fire ants or they have
already arrived and you want to check to see if an area is saturated with these
ants then do the "potato chip" fire ant test. Using fried potato
chips crush up a chip at various points in your yard or along your bluebird
trail. From: Steven L. Parrott Hi, I just subscribed to this "Bluebird bunch", and am already seeing some interesting conversations. I live in western Kentucky. Since you live in roughly the same north-south area of the US that I do, I picked you to ask this question to. I have 9 bluebird boxes on my farm. Every year, anywhere from 4 to 6 of them get infested with ants (after the eggs are laid). I've tried petroleum jelly and wheel bearing grease on the posts, but that stuff doesn't last long in the sun. I am halfway afraid to use ant poison. Do you have this same problem? Do you have any remedies or suggestions? Can you pass this along to the rest of the group? Thank you for your time,
I bought my 5 lb. tub of Tanglefoot, Item # 79099, for $25.75 from: Forestry Suppliers, Inc., 205 West Rankin Street, Jackson, MS 39201, 800-647-5368 A single tub of Tanglefoot was purchased four years ago and it should last another four years. It has been used on 26 nestbox poles. Dan Hanan From: charlene anchor [mailto:charleneanchor"at"msn.com] I've used Tanglefoot with success. But I had trouble at first because the ants had taken up residence in my old Peterson boxes. They had burrowed up into the 2x4 backs and also laid millions of eggs between the double roof. These had to be taken down and replaced. So I would make sure that all ants are out first and then apply the Tanglefoot carefully so the birds can't get into it. It's almost impossible to get off. Charlene Anchor, Illinois From: Steven L. Parrott [mailto:slparrott"at"vci.net] Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 7:41 PM Subject: Tanglefoot (Ant Problem) info Hi, All! In regards to my (and a lot of other people's) ant probem, I contacted the Tanglefoot company and received the info below: I hope it helps! Steve PS. For more information, their website is TNGLFOOT"at"aol.com Thanks for writing and wanting to use Tanglefoot products to keep ants off your bluebird boxes. Tanglefoot products are sticky adhesives. They can be used to keep ants off the boxes, however, the important thing to remember is THAT IT MUST BE APPLIED WHERE THE BIRDS WILL NOT COME IN CONTACT WITH IT. Tanglefoot products capture ants because they are very sticky. If a bird accidently brushes against the sticky substance, their feathers will become entangled. It would be best to place the Tanglefoot close to the ground, where the ants come up the pole and where the bluebirds are less apt to fly. We had one customer who had success keeping the ants off the poles by applying Tanglefoot to the inside of a film cannister and using it as a baffle. That way the ants get stuck going up and the birds cannot get to it. You can use Tree Tanglefoot Pest Barrier for this purpose. You can find the product at your local Ace or True Value Hardware store. It is a stock item for all warehouses, but not all stores have it in stock. It will help the store personnel if you have the following numbers handy: Tanglefoot # Ace # True Value # 99015-15 oz Tree Tanglefoot 70410 794453 Snow Pond Farm Supply Med Pest Control Biocontrol Network We hope this information is helpful Sincerely, Karen Shirley From: Patricia Self [mailto:cself"at"elmore.rr.com] I began my interaction with this list because of this very product, wanting to use it on the posts holding the bird houses to keep snakes away. In our area (Alabama), Ace Hardware does not stock the product. The best place to find it is at a Feed & Seed store. We're so rural!! Patricia Self From: Steven L. Parrott [mailto:slparrott"at"vci.net] Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 10:31 PM Subject: Availability of Tanglefoot (Ant control) (I FOUND IT!) (REVISION) To the various people that I have been communicating with about ant problems: I was told by the manufacturer that the pest (ant) barrier product called Tree Tanglefoot was either available at Ace / True Value hardware stores, or they could order it. I check with 3 stores in my area (Western Kentucky) and yes, they can order it, but they did not have any in stock. The amount they would order would be a 15 oz. tube for $7.00 Since I have 9 nestboxes to treat, one tube wouldn't last long. I kept searching and have found a much better deal. One the more prominent plant nurseries in my area (James Sander's nursery in Paducah) has in stock the Tree Tanglefoot in 5lb. (80 oz) containers for $26.00. They sell this product on a regular basis for protecting fruit and yard trees from ant problems, and, YES, for preventing ants from climbing the support posts for the nestboxes. Any of you that want to try using this product can hopefully find it at your area nurseries, too. You can get more info at the manufacturer's website: TNGLFOOT"at"aol.com I plan on trying out this stuff this spring. Good luck, all! Steve From: Lynneridgeway"at"aol.com [mailto:Lynneridgeway"at"aol.com] Hi! Yesterday when I went to monitor a box on our property that has been taken by TRES, I discovered that under the nest was an accumulation of tiny black ants. Of course, they were crawling all over the inside and once I opened the door, the outside of the box. I pulled the nest out (with its contents of 4 TRES chicks and 1 egg-don't know how old exactly as I hadn't monitored in 4 days) and scraped the inside of the box to remove the ants, but I suspect they were also in the nesting material. Anything else to do? I didn't observe any ants on the chicks. Are they a threat to the chicks? From: Torrey [mailto:torrey_canyon"at"yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, June 13, 2005 1:28 PM Subject: Re: Ants in Tree Swallow Occupied Nestbox Hi Lynn, I've got a box like that & had another one last year, the tiny black ants in the bottom of a TRES nest. (Not in an EABL nest, oddly.) Mine established a nursery & bring pupae or whatever up & down the pole. Last year's nest fledged successfully, & this year's nest doesn't seem to be having problems. It's really creepy for me, since i get ants on me when i check the box, but the TRES don't even seem to notice them. Whatever those little ants eat, they don't recognize nestlings as a prey item. I don't mess with them, not wanting to upset anything. Torrey Moss From: George Smith [mailto:glsnj"at"yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 6:03 AM Subject: Re: Ants in Tree Swallow Occupied Nestbox Hi folks, From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 6:37 AM Subject: RE: Ants in Tree Swallow Occupied Nestbox George, I am no expert on which ants are good and which are bad, so I grease the pole to keep all of them away. I went out in my backyard one morning (when I was a "newbie") and found a brood of five covered and dead. Also, I have found a clutch of egg in one of my neighbors boxes covered with ants and abandoned. I personally would not take any chances and put grease on the pole. It also helps you to know if a snake or anything has tried to get past it. I use grease that my husband has in his shop. (not shortening) Vaseline tends to run in the hot sun and does not last as long. Ants can be just as deadly as HOSP. Evelyn Cooper From: Jimmy Dodson [mailto:rocks_and_flies"at"hotmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 12:46 PM Subject: RE: Ants in Tree Swallow Occupied Nestbox Many ants are specific with food types they prefer, but just about all will I grease poles (on the covered portion under the predator guard) as well if Jimmy Dodson From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 6:17 PM Subject: RE: Ants in Tree Swallow Occupied Nestbox Jimmy, I put grease on the poles as soon as there are eggs in the nest. I Evelyn Cooper From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 7:16 AM To: BLUEBIRD-L Subject: new fire ant bait Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas ""According to Sansone, Fipronil is a new product that is getting a lot of attention. "The reason this product is getting so much attention is that it offers about a year's amount of control, he stated. "As a bait it is sold as Firestar and as a granule it is sold as OverN'Out."" http://www.countryworldnews.com/Editorial/CTX/2002/ct0613fireants.htm From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2005 8:17 AM Subject: Re: Wasp Traps>fire ants Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Fire ant king and queens swarm and breed after every rain storm so that they simply overwhelm any predators trying to eat them. After breeding they fly to the ground and make a new colony. When they swarm you may see hundreds or thousands of Queens trying find a home if they land on concrete or roofs. I just read an article where hardy bream (small panfish species) were dying in a lake. Water was tested for chemical spills, tested for killer algae and also for reduced oxygen levels. The fish tested negative for all sorts of natural killer diseases when they found all of the dead bream had stuffed their stomachs with king and queen fire ants. Test results showed the bream had eaten enough fire ants to create a toxic level of venom in their body. Article was written by a Texas Agriculture Extension Agent and published in Country World newspaper. I am not sure the article is in the on-line edition but it is something to think about as bluebirds sometimes do capture fire ant queens and feed them to their young. A few is probably OK, stuffing the young bluebird digestive system with fire ants could be fatal. KK From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 4:19 PM Subject: The Ant Predator When the ants attack a brood and cover them, do they eat them? I was asked these questions about ants by a park ranger today when I visited with him as I checked our trail at the park. We lost a clutch of eggs there by ants this season as I was unable to check it close enough at that time because of illness. I am so happy he asked these questions as that sounds like he is interested. I told him I would ask the Bluebird List because I really did not know if the ants eat the baby. However, I figured they must or why would they attack them? Evelyn Cooper From: bookfanaticef-bluebird"at"yahoo.com [mailto:bookfanaticef-bluebird"at"yahoo.com] I am pretty sure that if many ants decide to invade a box, and discover nestlings, they may kill and/or eat them--especially aggressive ant species. I do know from live-trapping small mammals (mice, rats, etc) as a technician on a field project that we were told to always look to make sure we didn't set traps on or near an ant nest, especially a fire ant nest--and once or twice, despite these precautions, we did find a mouse or something (presumably) killed by ants. The ants are likely attracted to something else first (for the small mammal traps, we baited them with oatmeal, and that would attract the ants) and for one reason or another would go after the captured animal instead. From: Kate Arnold [mailto:koscharn"at"cox.net] Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 7:33 PM Subject: RE: The Ant Predator Yes, I'll bet they eat the babies. I once found a frog nearly drowned in my water trough. I put him out on the grass in case he wasn't too far gone, but ants soon came and it wasn't long before a skeleton was all that was left. Kate Arnold From: danhan7"at"sbcglobal.net [mailto:danhan7"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 9:17 PM Subject: Re: The Ant Predator I believe fire ants will kill and eat baby birds if they can find them. In 2003, I lost a nest of two baby Bluebirds and three eggs to fire ants. There has been only one other ant problem on my trail of 28 boxes and that was in 2000, my first year in Bluebirding. Since that first incident, Tanglefoot has been used on all of the mounting poles. I think Tanglefoot works and I won't risk a nestbox without protecting it from fire ants. Dan Hanan From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 9:26 PM Subject: Re: The Ant Predator Dear Friends, Tanglefoot applied properly and maintained will work, bit I am sorry about the your baby Bluebirds. Nothing on Gods green earth deserves to be eaten alive by ants. Nothing! Ants do send out scouts, so if you ever see one or two ants inside your nest box or on the mounting pole, you better act fast with a Tanglefoot barrier. ... John Schuster From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2005 11:20 PM Subject: Ants!! Dear Judyth and friends, I've been getting complaints about ants, so thought I share some helpful tips. First you may want to knock down your ant population with a garden recipe that works very well on ants. Log onto my friend Bob Tanem's web site, which has a Garden Recipe section that covers home made remedies for repealing (like deer) or killing off garden pests (like ants.) Go to the Garden Recipes section, find the ant recipe follow the instruction and watch you ant disappears in just couple of weeks. Bob Tanem's web site http://www.bobtanem.com/ In the mean time you'll need some Tanglefoot, so for your connivance here is the Tanglefoot web site. The Tanglefoot web site http://www.tanglefoot.com/ ... John Schuster From: Keith & Sandy Kridler [mailto:txbluebirder"at"sbcglobal.net] Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2005 8:46 AM Subject: Re: The Ant Predator Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Others have given good advice and good observations about the many species of ants that might be in your nestboxes. There are several species of native fire ants and a couple of imported species and some of these are still spreading out following people and their water use into new areas of colonization. Fire ants prefer to nest where the grass is short and there is sunlight striking the moist ground & where winters are fairly mild. They utilize the heat from the sun to help speed up the growth of their eggs and young and they build a mound above ground level during cool or wet periods of the year and carry their young back and forth between the mounds or their deep tunnels or chambers depending on the temperature. They are EXTREMELY prolific and by sheer numbers they need an enormous amount of food and prefer oily or fatty foods to grains or sugars. To test for fire ant numbers in your yard or along your trail you should set up a grid where you place a fried corn chip every 75 feet and mark this with one of those plastic flag on a wire marking tags. Set these out either at dawn or two hours till dusk. If 70% of these chips have fireants feeding on them in your test area within 30 minutes then you have a normal amount of fire ants. Remember that fire ants feed on all types of slow moving insects especially those like cicada's, moths,beetles and butterflies that are helpless as they go from a pupa stage to the adult stage.Young Deer (fawns) are especially at danger as they will lie motionless and allow fire ants to cover them and often get blinded by the ants as they sting and bite off pieces near their eyes, nose, navel and mouth. Turtle, snake and lizard eggs are eaten by fire ants as they lack the hard calcium layer. Fire ants climb trees in search of food and even cross over power poles coated with or oozing creosote, penta or treated with other "green" wood preservatives. Grease in most areas of the south will quickly "gas off" and harden or get dust or leaves blown into the sticky surface and become hard enough for the ants to cross over in just a few days. Fire ants will actually carry material and build a bridge over an obstruction or cover up poison or they will cover up a large food source to feed in safety below the ground they just created. Bluebirds are in the nestbox for just about three weeks. If the nest is not removed the old feather sheaths (white dandruff in the old nest) provide great food for the fire ants in addition to the insect parts and old bird droppings in old nests. Fire ants lay down a scent trail to any food they find and will swarm to the location just as honeybees will to a good sugar source during a drought! Fire ants overpower termites and can wipe out and eat an entire colony in a dead tree or in the walls of a house. Fire ants can wipe out a weak honeybee hive or bumble bee, hornet colony or even wasp nests. They chew into mud dauber nests to get to the paralyzed spiders or wasp grubs. They learn to climb the tires of your car every night to eat the insects killed in the radiator! They out compete most other species of ants in their ideal habitat which happens to be exactly what a bluebird needs. These Fire Ants avoid deep dark woodland areas. They use electromagnetic fields to navigate by and are drawn to utility right of ways that create a huge magnetic field and this is to them just like a bright light to a night flying insect! They travel along wires and often plug up electric breaker panels and the control boxes for water wells and outdoor air-conditioning units. In a bird nest they may sometimes be found swarming over unhatched eggs. Multi Queen Fire ant mounds can have as many a 250,000 ants per mound with more than 400 actively laying queens per mound. It is not unusual for there to be 200>400 of these mounds per acre in good habitat (gulf coast states from East Texas to Florida). That many ants need a LOT of food. That many ants can search out every square inch of ground and every tree limb within their territory. And yes fire ants can kill healthy baby bluebirds. After day thirteen they can cause the young to leave the nestbox well before they can fly although often the older birds are also killed. KK From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2005 9:16 AM Subject: RE: The Ant Predator Thanks, Keith, for the great post. I know what one bite from a fire ant can do on me, so I can imagine what it could do to those tiny babies. I also learned that you have to make the grease fairly wide so that the ants cannot piggy back and get across it. Some will sacrifice their lives to let others crawl over them to reach their goal. Evelyn From: Marilyn [mailto:musher"at"justfurfun.org] Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 2:13 PM Subject: Tanglefoot Question HELP HELP HELP What in the world will REALLY clean tree tanglefoot off your hands? Don't say paint thinner - WRONG! Every spring I put it on the BB box poles. I wrap duct tape on there first so I don't put it right on the pole. But when I apply the Tanglefoot I always get it all over myself because it is so stringy. Wearing gloves is really good after the first 2 or 3 poles when the gloves are stuck together. I started using this stuff after I got ants in a box one year. It works great but geez - what a mess. Marilyn Slaton From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 2:21 PM Subject: Re: Tanglefoot Question I really don't like tangelfoot. I use automotive grease or grease my husband has in a grease gun in the shop. I have "t" posts and it really goes on fast. You need to apply it about 3" or so long because the ants can piggy back and get across it if the ring of grease is not wide enough. Evelyn From: Lynn Emerich [mailto:lemerich"at"epix.net] Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 2:30 PM Subject: Re: Tanglefoot Question Marilyn, for most anything I get on my hands, I use a cream called G0-Jo.It gets rid of paint, tar, any kind of grease etc. I get it at Sams Club, but would imagine others would have it. It isn't hard on the hands and can be used with or withour water. Simple Green make a similar product (it comes in a tube, but it's not near as good. Lynn near Bernville From: MJ Shearer [mailto:eshearer"at"comcast.net] Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 2:35 PM Subject: Re: Tanglefoot Question Hi Marilyn Something called Citra-Solv is recommended for cleaning up Tanglefoot. You could try another orange oil household cleaner if you can't find this. Here's a link: I've *not* tried it, so I don't know from personal experience that it works. Good luck! MJ From: Cher [mailto:bluelist"at"localnet.com] Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 2:57 PM Subject: Re: Tanglefoot Question What about either "Goop" or "Goo Gone"? From: David Gwin [mailto:David.Gwin"at"cityofcarrollton.com] Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 3:06 PM Subject: RE: Tanglefoot Question Marilyn: I'm with Evelyn, I don't use Tanglefoot either. I use a mixture of axle grease and turpentine. Even with our heat and humidity, it seems to keep working right through the Summer. However ... I now have a hunch that towards the end of the season the armadillos are eating it off my poles. I don't know whether it has lost all of it's disagreeable qualities by then ... or if it just makes the late-Summer grubs taste a little better! Take care, From: Evelyn Cooper [mailto:emcooper"at"bayou.com] Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 3:10 PM Subject: Re: Tanglefoot Question We put it down low, about 2 ft. or so off the ground. I don't like to have to bend down too low and put it on the pole where it is comfortable for me. No, it doesn't deter any other climbing predators, but it reveals if they have tried to cross it or maybe did cross it. Evelyn From: John Schuster [mailto:wildwingco"at"earthlink.net] Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 11:02 AM Subject: I've never had Tangelfoot on my hands or fingers since Dear Marilyn and friends, Yes, Tangelfoot is sticky stuff and I'm sure some of the suggestions for getting it off your hands will work, but here is a method that I've used for years and I've never had Tangelfoot on my hands or fingers since. Find a midway point on your mounting pole (we use 3/4 inch EMT) and wrap about 3 inches of green gardening tape (the original method called for Duck Tape, but that stuff is sticky and hard to remove) around the mounting pole. If you are using U-Bars or T-Bars for mounting, then be sure to plug up the gaps under the green gardening tape or your work is wasted. If Tangelfoot is to close to the ground leafs and other garden debris will collect on the Tangelfoot which shortens its life. Now place the Tangelfoot in the middle of the the green gardening tape and make a ring of same all the way ar |