Summer is coming--ant season.  Yay.  Dale's query about ants reminded me of
something I learned recently... a bunch of us were talking about various
insects and looking for ways to keep them out of our houses.  I'm very
concerned about the problem, because besides my six fuzzies, I also live
with three cats and two birds, and I really don't want to introduce
anything to the atmosphere around here that could hurt them.  I don't
really care what the companies say about the safety of their products; if
it kills a large quantity of bugs, it's not a good thing for my babies to
eat, breathe, or play in.
 
A friend of mine has been studying herbalism for years and she mentioned
that most household pets are driven off by various herbs.  The only one I
remember is tansy for ants.  Basically, you just sprinkle the dried herb (I
suppose fresh would work too) around the house, and the ants find somewhere
else to be.  I haven't tried it, because I don't have ants, just fruit
flies.  I know there were other herbs that worked for other insects as
well, and it shouldn't be too hard to find out which ones.
 
If anyone tries this, let me know how it works.
 
Jen and the Crazy Business:
Molly, Gibber, Tesseract, Winter, Simon, and Amadeo.
[Posted in FML issue 2662]