by Jan Feilden
I have lots of Hummingbirds and have enough feeders, but the one feeder they like best does not have an ant moat. Normally it is not a problem. The ants didn’t seem to care it was there. Somehow this year, they did.
I have been trying to figure out what to do with it as I am really getting tired of fighting the ants when I clean out the feeder. The birds don’t seem to mind the ants being inside their feeder or even the ants crawling all over it and climbing in and out of the “flowers” they feed from. BUT I mind.
It is a “Battle Royale” as I am pouring water on the feeder; they are trying to get out of it and are drowning in the meantime. Some manage to get out and crawl on my hands where they are squashed before they can bite.
I have tried all kinds of things to get rid of them. They are crawling on the ledge of the roof of the porch, then down the hook the feeder hangs on, then down the glass, through the flower port and in to the nice meal I have prepared for Hummingbirds only!!
I don’t want to spray up there with anything because I am afraid it might affect the Hummingbirds. I tried putting a pouch of liquid ant killer up there and all it did was attract more ants and drip down on the porch.
I read if you have trouble with ants coming into your house (which we didn’t) put a dab of white toothpaste mint flavor where they are coming in and problem solved. The article said they wouldn’t chew through it.
So, I thought…put this toothpaste on the hook the feeder hangs on, then on the hanger that’s on the feeder and maybe it would solve my problem! Did that this afternoon and within 20 minutes all the ants had left and are still gone this evening.
The Red Oak Ranch will explore new things to solve whatever problems there might be.
