John, Diatomaceous earth or borax are sometimes used as ant deterrents; sprinkle a thick ring around the traps. They won't cross the diatom stuff because it's like walking across glass for them. Cuts through the joints in the exoskeleton. I'm not sure how the borax works, but they don't seem to like it either. The diatomaceous earth should not be a problem for your animals. Of course these have to be reapplied if it rains. Suggestions based on trying to keep ants out of the house after spring rains.
My 2 cents. Liane Cochran-Stafira At 10:47 AM 9/27/2007, you wrote: >Hi, >Looking for advice on how to deal with non-native Argentine ants swarming >over and killing small animals caught in my mesh funnel traps attached to >drift fences. >An ant-specific poison registered for outdoor use that doesn't affect other >invertebrates would be nice. >Any other info would be helpful too. The study is on the effect of >prescribed fire, and I'd rather not confound it with a huge ant eradication >project. >Thanks, >John *************************** D. Liane Cochran-Stafira, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Biological Sciences Saint Xavier University 3700 West 103rd Street Chicago, Illinois 60655 phone: 773-298-3514 fax: 773-298-3536 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://faculty.sxu.edu/~cochran/
