Fun Couple of Days

Remember the lyrics to a song from our childhood that went, "The ants come marching one by one, hoorah! hoorah!"?  Well that is exactly what was playing in our apartment when we returned from our beach vacation. The tune however was NOT the happy version we all remember; especially when our feet were fiercely attacked by FIRE ants. 
Thank goodness we left a clean house, I can't imagine if we hadn't.   So instead of relaxing upon our return, we were moving the four of us (plus cat) into our bedroom, as every other room in our apartment was inhabited. Shortly after the suckers were eradicated.  The next morning their carcasses were vacuumed and carpets were steam cleaned.  Sounds like a fun couple of days, doesn't it?   OH and the kicker?  A nice little throat infection or possibly West Nile Virus,  complete with a fever of 101.7. Nice.

Here are a few non-toxic remedies I found on the web.  We're definitely going to keep these ingredients in stock for any future occurances.
1. White Vinegar: place in a spray bottle and squirt the area where you see the ants, let it dry. Reapply as needed.
2. Sprinkle plain old cinnamon where you see the ants coming into the house.
3. Black Pepper: can also be sprinkled at the point of entry to keep the ants from marching on in.
4. Mix a 50/50 blend of apple cider vinegar and water and spray as needed.
5. Mix equal parts of Windex and Ivory Soap, then spray the problem area.
6. Keeping Bay Leaves out in the areas that are affected by the ants.
7. Mixing a bit of borax with sugar then spreading out on the counter where the ants will come for a taste.
8. Drawing a line with white chalk where the ants are entering is supposed to keep the ants from crossing over.
9. Mint: not a favorite of ants and they will stay away.
10. Diatomaceous Earth: sprinkled where the ants will be walking.