What Ants Have Taught Me

I live in Honduras where not everything seals well.  That means ants will stumble into house, and if they find anything, they will leave a chemical trail that will bring more ants in.  Some of those will branch off and seek other food sources.  Soon you will have a house infested with ants, assuming you like to eat--a fairly safe assumption unless you happen to be a robot.  If the latter, welcome!

At first this was really cool.  I'd kill an insect and they'd dismantle it down to the wings and antennae by the next morning.  However, when they started crawling on me and inside my cast when I'd broken my arm, I decided I'd had enough.  With 10% bleach solution, I'd follow their trails until I discovered where they were entering and exiting.  After that, just spray the entrances and exits.  It is a job that requires...

• patience,
• observation,
• study
• and research.

Here again is my research on ants.  By the way, I love ants.  Cool insects.  I'm just not interested in housing with them.