Ants Attack South Loop

05/07/2009 11:00 AM

By Bonnie McGrath

How did the South Loop get so many ants? Don’t they seem to be settling in a lot earlier this year? It seems like they were scurrying purposefully around my kitchen this Spring even before the temperature was consistently above freezing.

Where do they hide in the winter? How do they get in? Why are some so big and some so small? Do they do any damage or spread any disease? Are they all over the restaurant kitchens, too--from Oy Si to Zapatista to Bongo Room? What do they do about them? Yesterday I smelled bug spray outside in the air around the South Loop Club--and I wondered if their problem was ants.

The South Loop ants are everywhere--from tree trunks to the dead leaves that will eventually come up as we clean our yards for Spring. The ants get stuck in throw rugs and carpeting as they move along inside, clinging like jolly black giants would to quicksand.

Every time I kill one I feel guilty.

This is how I do it: I grab an unused napkin from Starbucks off my counter--and I crush the invader but good. Then I throw it away. And guilt overtakes me. It reminds me of the cheapness and shortness and meaninglessness of life. I wish I didn’t have to do it. But I do. I figure the ant colonies must get the last laugh because who knows what the poison in the ant traps that I have scattered around the kitchen counters and the sides of the kitchen sink are doing to me?

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By zelzah001
Posted: 06/04/2013 7:32 AM

Ants were really good biter. I would really get allergies with just bite of an ant. - YOR Health

By Sally Duros from Ravenswood
Posted: 06/22/2009 10:41 AM

Okay Bonnie - Here is an ant removal method adapted from the practices of Rinpoches in Tibet. I have tried this and it worked. If you have ants in your kitchen cupboard, wipe down the area of their trails with a vinegar and water solution. yes, sadly , you will lose a few ants when you do this. After that is done, use a sweet nectar like Hummingbird food to create a trail through your home out the door. the ants will follow the trail and set up camp where you prefer. It works!

By Brian from Dearborn Park II
Posted: 05/17/2009 10:27 PM

We had ants on the periphery of our kitchen for part of one summer a few years ago. My wife and I decided it was time to get serious and we clearned meticulously until not a crumb could be scavenged and we stayed fastidious. The ants slowly disappeared and after a couple of weeks we no longer saw them. My guess is they moved on to a neighbor's kitchen. But we have been ant-free since then. Now we hope to never to encounter a bed bug.

By Fluffy de Crossharbour from slums of Winnetka
Posted: 05/14/2009 2:57 PM

just saw your blog item. ratz, I wish I had seen it sooner. Ants (in Winnetka): two years' ago, we tried the talcum powder and pepper method. It worked. There weren't many of them. This year, we were completely overrun, and nothing worked...until this boric acid (sp?) powder from the local hardware store. It got rid of them. They had been everywhere and now, hopefully, they've moved next door.

By Rene from NW Burbs
Posted: 05/11/2009 10:28 AM

Maybe Chicago's horrible winter is something like cryogenically freezing ants. They are just now thawing out and trying to get back to taking over the city. Well, its a thought anyway. Love the post!

By bonnie mcgrath from south loop
Posted: 05/08/2009 6:16 PM

whaaaaaaaaaaa??????? and miss out on being the South Loop Observer????????

By Dan Haley from Oak Park
Posted: 05/08/2009 2:21 PM

Bonnie, Way out here in Oak Park the living is easy. I'm sitting on my porch looking out over the back 40. Can't imagine how you deal with issues of development battles, parking or late night sirens. You ought to move to bucolic Oak Park, too! Dan

By bonnie mcgrath from south loop
Posted: 05/07/2009 4:45 PM

i had NO idea you guys in the burbs had the same problems/solutions that we do in the south loop!!

By Dan Haley from Oak Park
Posted: 05/07/2009 11:47 AM

Hey Bonnie, The perfect blog post. Something everyone identifies with and thinks about but likely never talks about. I'm killing ants in Oak Park the past three days. Use my shoe. I always liked the black ants, so I feel guilty, too. As a kid, and you know about how old I am, the little red ants were discussed as being communists. What a world. Dan