Why are there ants here?

[algeh]

Why are there ants here? Off and on, I've been finding ants in my apartment. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out why, as I have never found them near a place with either food or water, but rather in the office, which contains books, a computer, cds, and my sewing stuff, none of which is known for being edible. I never find ants in the kitchen or bathroom, and rarely in the living room. (I do not keep or generally eat food in my office.) WTF?

Any clues on why this might be happening or what I can do to get rid of them? I suspect they're coming in from outside near the window. I guess I'm kind of ok with sharing my office with ants as long as they don't ruin anything, but I worry about the day they find the kitchen (which hasn't happened yet, and I've been noticing them off-and-on since I moved in in May (with a break in the winter) so I guess it isn't a pressing concern). I also have a vague worry that they might eat my printer ink, but I have no justification for that except that the colored ink ran out last summer when I wasn't even using it (this could have been evaporation or "clever" programming by the printer-makers, however).

Thoughts?

Comments

[luinied]

Although I can't offer an explanation, this is not the first I've heard of mysterious office-dwelling ants. And, oddly enough, we had sink ants in the dorm room during the short time I was in Eugene.

[algeh]

See, sink ants I can understand, because they are at least getting water out of the deal. Unless they're using my dial-up internet connection to look at ant-porn or something I just can't see what they're getting out of hanging out in my office.

[qousqous.livejournal.com]

They are probably futuristic nanobot ants, and they are searching for old floppy disks to eat.

[algeh]

I guess that would explain the disappearing printer ink, then.

[unkle-social.livejournal.com]

they're coming in through the office window and haven't managed to find the kitchen or, they've found a single peppermint livesaver under your desk (happened to me once). once they do find the kitchen, you're hooped.

i suggest you give up on being a hippie and get some old-fashioned liquid raid. put it on your windowsill. make sure you put it somewhere they hang out. while they are there. and do it every day until they are gone. after putting out raid, however, you've got to throw away any food you find ants in, as they are now raid-filled poison ants!

i had an ant problem while i was a hippie vegetarian and i tried so, so hard not to have to poison them, but nothing else worked. nothing. not even the vacuum cleaner. i'm still kind of a hippie. i won't kill them outdoors. but once they're in my kitchen cupboards, it's war.

[algeh]

I seriously only find one a day or less, sometimes none for a week at a time, and I usually find them on a wall, so I don't know quite where to put the raid or similar.

I have just re-arranged the furniture in this room, and I really, really don't think there's any food in here. I will keep checking, though. I remember clipdude once forgot some potatoes in the back of his pantry and had a HORRIBLE ant problem as a result.

I don't own a vacuum cleaner (I hate loud noises and have linoleum floors, so I just sweep and mop instead, and take my small rugs outside and beat them with a broom handle), so that's out (I'm glad it doesn't work, so I do not have to buy one). I am thinking of washing all of the walls to try to get rid of their trails, but I also am thinking that it would be a lot of work and probably not do much.

Generally, I am live and let live outside, but defend my territory against arthropod invaders using deadly methods once they get inside (usually by squishing). I don't actually own any poison, though. I suppose I could get some, but I'd probably have to go to a non-hippie grocery store to find any, so I'd have to make a special trip. For someone who really likes cheeseburgers and Nascar, I sure am a hippie.

I suppose I could complain to maintenance again. I wonder if they've fixed the outlet in my bathroom yet. I didn't notice it didn't work until January and I've lived here since May (I just don't usually need to plug in anything in the bathroom), so I don't really care if it gets fixed, but I am curious what their turn-around time is.

I suppose I should at least get some airtight containers for my flour and stuff. Maybe I'll do that this weekend.

[unkle-social.livejournal.com]

I seriously only find one a day or less, sometimes none for a week at a time, and I usually find them on a wall, so I don't know quite where to put the raid or similar.

oh, okay. you're fine then. i just saw all those red spots and assumed it was all at once. an ant a day or so is not a problem that would require poison. or action of any kind, really, besides not leaving food out.

[algeh]

Yeah, I guess that could have been clearer. The diagram was intended to represent where ants have been found for the duration of the time I've been living here, give-or-take me forgetting stuff during that time, NOT how many I've found in the past few days. If I'd found that many in the past week or so, I would have given the place a through once-over for food, then screamed bloody murder to the area office until they got maintenance over here to Make It All Better.