Ants… UGH!!! They’re climbing up my walls, marching steadfastly across the kitchen counter, around the sink, right to the sugar bowl. Each Annoying Ant picks up a grain of sugar and halls it away… then another, and another, and another. At this rate they’ll steal all of my sweet stuff by night fall. The little thieves blatantly parade through my house, single file like a living cargo train.
They send out scouts too, to see what else is ripe for the pickin’ and find my cats food. Working feverishly on their treasure trove they dismantle it piece by crunchy delicious piece. Then attack my cat for taking a share of their find. Those greedy buggers!!! We’re being robbed blind right in front of our eyes. Annoying, ungrateful, rude Ants. They must think this is their house. Enough already!!! I run to the cupboard and pull out my trusty poison friend, Raid Ant and Roach Killer to rid myself of this Annoying Ant Anomaly.
My organic, veggie, earth friendly roommate gasps in horror and says, ‘Wait! Stop! Don’t spray that toxic stuff in our home. They are living beings, don’t kill them, think of the karma’. Thoroughly annoyed, I say, ‘Karma, schmarma. I want ’em gone now.’ She says, ‘Use Cinnamon.’ I reply, ‘Cinnamon? I’m not baking a batch of cookies, I’m trying to get rid of pests, Raid always works for that.’ She takes the can of Raid from me and throws it in the a box destined for toxic waste disposal.
Then goes to the spice rack, grabs a bottle of ground cinnamon and begins sprinkling it in a thin ring around the sugar bowl and cat dish leaving a little break in each. I said, ‘What are you doing?’ She replies, ‘It’s a doorway so the ones inside can get out.’ Making a coughing noise I say under my breath, ‘Uh huh a door right. Why didn’t I think of that, duh!’ We both smiled looked at each other, then at the ants.
The ants reaction was amazing… within moments they began running back and forth, freaking out. I could almost hear them screaming, ‘This is wrong! This is so wrong! It’s bad! It’s real bad! Gotta’ get out now!’ My roommate closes the cinnamon circle. Then she takes an index card begins lifting out the confused ants left inside and takes them outdoors. Talking to them all the while. She tells them how nice they are, but they don’t belong inside the house because it is so much nicer and safer outside. I must be loosing my freakin’ mind!!! I’m hearing ants! And what is she doing! Did I hear her talking to them? Does she really think there is any use in that. They are ants for goodness sake!
When all ants are carefully extricated from the house, she sprinkles cinnamon across the threshold and in front of a spot where they might have entered the house. She says, ‘Just to make sure they don’t get any more ideas’.
Well huh, who woulda’ thunk…
EPIPHANY… Ants Hate Cinnamon!
I’m amazed and sold. It’s an earth, human and bug friendly solution to the Annoying Ant Anomaly.
~Bonnee Klein Gilligan