ANT INVASION - HELP!!

My A4 has been invaded by ants. Any ideas how to combat them? I started to
see just two or three of them on the door frame outside the rubber and I
thought it was just a coincidence and that they wouldn't find anything to
eat and would go away. That was some 4 weeks ago. Now, I've started to see
them in increasingly bigger numbers. I never left any windows or doors open
for longer than a few secs, but I can now find them even inside on the dash
board where it meets the air slot!

I don't particularly fancy the idea of using any pesticide inside the car,
so can you think of any better solutions? I am afraid they must be wood ants
and that they might be eating away God knows what! One thing is certain and
that is they must be eating something as they are in perfect vigour, those
little pricks.

Always something going on, so I'm never bored with my Audi

JP Roberts

"JP Roberts" > schreef in bericht
...
> My A4 has been invaded by ants. Any ideas how to combat them? I started to
> see just two or three of them on the door frame outside the rubber and I
> thought it was just a coincidence and that they wouldn't find anything to
> eat and would go away. That was some 4 weeks ago. Now, I've started to see
> them in increasingly bigger numbers. I never left any windows or doors
open
> for longer than a few secs, but I can now find them even inside on the
dash
> board where it meets the air slot!
>
> I don't particularly fancy the idea of using any pesticide inside the car,
> so can you think of any better solutions? I am afraid they must be wood
ants
> and that they might be eating away God knows what! One thing is certain
and
> that is they must be eating something as they are in perfect vigour, those
> little pricks.
>
> Always something going on, so I'm never bored with my Audi
>
> JP Roberts
>
>

Luckily it is not a Morgan.

JP,
That's the first time I've heard of that one - maybe you cheesed off someone
enough to go to one of those Anarchy sites on the web that give instructions
on how to wreak havoc with your enemies? Sugared pop would result in such
an infestation - but wood ants? Hmm, maybe they poured Lemon Pledge on the
car?
The ants will follow a scent trail to home base - follow one and see where
it goes - they may be nesting in the debris trapped near the heater core or
something. The best bet, provided that you don't have pets or kids
(hmmmm.....kid puts peanut butter and jam sandwich bits down the defroster
vents combo???) get some of those round ant poison dispensers from Black
Flag or something - put it where the ants are - they'll all die in a week or
so - the best part: the assembled corpses won't stink up your ride like a
dead mouse or rat would (don't ask how I know). If you don't want to go
that route....then lure them out of the car with a nice Louis XIV hutch in
your garage.
I doubt that they would eat wires...but then again chips are made from
sand.....uhhhhohhhh....did you Chip your car with an oak chip?
Marcel is right, although the pre-WWII Audis were also made with formed
plywood bodies, I'm sure they haven't gone totally retro (first the grille,
now with rust-proof OSB bodies?)
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ - never stationary enough for vermin
1980 Audi 5k - survived a red squirrel onslaught
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes - '62 purchased with mice in the
seats and exhaust - fired out a mouse nest and dead inhabitant when first
run.
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"JP Roberts" > wrote in message
...
> My A4 has been invaded by ants. Any ideas how to combat them? I started to
> see just two or three of them on the door frame outside the rubber and I
> thought it was just a coincidence and that they wouldn't find anything to
> eat and would go away. That was some 4 weeks ago. Now, I've started to see
> them in increasingly bigger numbers. I never left any windows or doors
open
> for longer than a few secs, but I can now find them even inside on the
dash
> board where it meets the air slot!
>
> I don't particularly fancy the idea of using any pesticide inside the car,
> so can you think of any better solutions? I am afraid they must be wood
ants
> and that they might be eating away God knows what! One thing is certain
and
> that is they must be eating something as they are in perfect vigour, those
> little pricks.
>
> Always something going on, so I'm never bored with my Audi
>
> JP Roberts
>
>

Eric,
It's a British car manufacturer - a "Moggie" was the only car that my uncle
ever owned that succumed to dryrot (the door fell off).
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"JP Roberts" > wrote in message
...
> My A4 has been invaded by ants. Any ideas how to combat them?

Not sure how to combat them - I guess follow Steve's advice, but the
first thing you need to find out is WHY they came into the car in the
first place. They didn't just show up for no reason. Either there's
food somewhere, or something sweet, or a piece of fruit or dead animal
that you ran over and it's stuck somewhere under the car, under the
hood, or inside the cabin. If you don't remove it, they'll keep coming
back no matter how many times you try to kill them.

Check your engine air intake ducts and filter as well as the pollen
filter, too.

Cheers,

Pete

"JP Roberts" > wrote in message
...
> My A4 has been invaded by ants. Any ideas how to combat them? I started to
> see just two or three of them on the door frame outside the rubber and I
> thought it was just a coincidence and that they wouldn't find anything to
> eat and would go away. That was some 4 weeks ago. Now, I've started to see
> them in increasingly bigger numbers. I never left any windows or doors
open
> for longer than a few secs, but I can now find them even inside on the
dash
> board where it meets the air slot!
>
> I don't particularly fancy the idea of using any pesticide inside the car,
> so can you think of any better solutions? I am afraid they must be wood
ants
> and that they might be eating away God knows what! One thing is certain
and
> that is they must be eating something as they are in perfect vigour, those
> little pricks.
>
> Always something going on, so I'm never bored with my Audi
>
> JP Roberts
>
>

put the car in a garage or lock up and run the engine for a while. The
carbon monoxide will dispose of them.

Eric

In South Africa where I live we buy an Anttrap and place it where the ants
frequent. They eat and carry the poison to their nests where they die and
also poison the nest. Takes about two weeks and they are gone.

Hope it helps.


"JP Roberts" > wrote in message
...
> My A4 has been invaded by ants. Any ideas how to combat them? I started to
> see just two or three of them on the door frame outside the rubber and I
> thought it was just a coincidence and that they wouldn't find anything to
> eat and would go away. That was some 4 weeks ago. Now, I've started to see
> them in increasingly bigger numbers. I never left any windows or doors
open
> for longer than a few secs, but I can now find them even inside on the
dash
> board where it meets the air slot!
>
> I don't particularly fancy the idea of using any pesticide inside the car,
> so can you think of any better solutions? I am afraid they must be wood
ants
> and that they might be eating away God knows what! One thing is certain
and
> that is they must be eating something as they are in perfect vigour, those
> little pricks.
>
> Always something going on, so I'm never bored with my Audi
>
> JP Roberts
>
>

> In South Africa where I live we buy an Anttrap and place it where the ants
> frequent. They eat and carry the poison to their nests where they die and
> also poison the nest. Takes about two weeks and they are gone.

I guess our "Anttrap" is the same stuff Steve mentioned when he said
"get some of those round ant poison dispensers from Black Flag or
something - put it where the ants are - they'll all die in a week or
so"

Closin doors and windows is certainly not good enough to keep ants
out. They find their way through the smallest gap (as I can regularly
see in our house).

I have heart of ants in the strangest places, including a nest in my
bosses scanner near the LED which was alway on or inside those PIR
sensors of domestic alarms (apperently a frequeny reason for false
alarms).

Christoph

--
Important: Emails sent to me which contain my full name
in the "to:" or "cc:" field will bypass my spam filter.
With most programs "Reply" should do the job.

I heard a story about a guy with a pickup truck that was infested with
horseflies. He had a friend who had a huge walk-in (drive-in) cooler
and so he parked the truck in it for a couple of days. The flies
disappeared.


On Mon, 31 May 2004 21:54:36 +0200, "JP Roberts" >
wrote:

>My A4 has been invaded by ants. Any ideas how to combat them? I started to
>see just two or three of them on the door frame outside the rubber and I
>thought it was just a coincidence and that they wouldn't find anything to
>eat and would go away. That was some 4 weeks ago. Now, I've started to see
>them in increasingly bigger numbers. I never left any windows or doors open
>for longer than a few secs, but I can now find them even inside on the dash
>board where it meets the air slot!
>
>I don't particularly fancy the idea of using any pesticide inside the car,
>so can you think of any better solutions? I am afraid they must be wood ants
>and that they might be eating away God knows what! One thing is certain and
>that is they must be eating something as they are in perfect vigour, those
>little pricks.
>
>Always something going on, so I'm never bored with my Audi
>
>JP Roberts
>

Thank you all for your solutions and comments, some of them really original
and funny I must say; I'll let you know how it all ends.

JP Roberts

P.S.: I would have never suspected ants had the remotest interest in
driving, except for driving me mad now, that is.


"JP Roberts" > escribió en el mensaje
...
> My A4 has been invaded by ants. Any ideas how to combat them? I started to
> see just two or three of them on the door frame outside the rubber and I
> thought it was just a coincidence and that they wouldn't find anything to
> eat and would go away. That was some 4 weeks ago. Now, I've started to see
> them in increasingly bigger numbers. I never left any windows or doors
open
> for longer than a few secs, but I can now find them even inside on the
dash
> board where it meets the air slot!
>
> I don't particularly fancy the idea of using any pesticide inside the car,
> so can you think of any better solutions? I am afraid they must be wood
ants
> and that they might be eating away God knows what! One thing is certain
and
> that is they must be eating something as they are in perfect vigour, those
> little pricks.
>
> Always something going on, so I'm never bored with my Audi
>
> JP Roberts
>
>