THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE - PART II

While making lunch, Hannah grabbed the bag of chili cheese Fritos from the pantry and set it on the kitchen counter. A slight movement caught her eye. “Ah!” she said in an aggravating tone. “Not an ant. Don’t tell me...” Hannah hesitated going to the pantry. She held her breath while slowly opening the door. Among the jars of Burlson’s honey and Smucker’s grape jam was a trail of Argentine ants aligned in symmetrical fashion moving around the jars. Hannah felt dread and fascination while watching their path. Continual movements in a straight line; some going up and some going doing, sometimes running over each other. Hannah moved more food staples and found another set going around the bottle of olive oil. One trail led to the top of the cabinets while others were dispersed throughout the pantry.

“Peter, come quick!” Hannah shouted. She grabbed a printed Bounty paper towel and started crushing them which produced an unpleasant musty odor.

“What’s wrong?” Peter asked.

“We’ve got ants.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Is that all?” Peter was raised on a farm and considered this invasion a minor detail. “Just buy some traps.”

“Gee, thanks. You’re a big help.” Hannah continued to move the cans and bottles from the pantry and chose a bottle of Clorox Clean-Up to assist her with this unwelcomed chore.

“I just hope we don’t have any more problems in other parts of the house.”

Unfortunately, that was not the case. In the guest bedroom windowsill crawled three emmets. A few bait stations had been left in the windows by the previous owners. As Hannah picked up the ants, she hit the bait station. Out scurried hundreds of ants. Although Argentine ants do not have stingers, they can bite on provocation.

“Ugh,” Hannah shrieked. She ran to get her Clorox and started spraying with fury. The ants began to wobble and died quickly; however, more appeared in the guest bathroom and closet.

The Griffins never used the services of a pesticide company. Peter thought it a waste of money, but this time Hannah insisted something be done. Sunshine Pest Control came out on a bright sunny Thursday morning. Hannah hoped and prayed for success. The technician thoroughly sprayed the foundation and trees, placed Deadline pellets in the planter boxes for snails, and treated the problem areas inside with Maxforce gel and Terro liquid bait.

“Mrs. Griffin, this should take care of your problem,” the exterminator said. “If you are still having trouble in a week, call us and I’ll come back out. No charge.”

“Thank you so much. I don’t think it could get much worse,” Hannah added.

Several days later, Hannah noticed that the ants disappeared outside but not inside. In the guest bedroom closet, there still were ants. In the closet in the third bedroom there was a trail as well as three trails going in and out of an electrical outlet. In the guest bathroom, ants were still crawling all over the floor and falling down from the light fixtures. Two trails were detected in the living room. They were especially hard to find on the tan berber carpet that covered a majority of the floor.

Sunshine Pest Control was a big help, Hannah brooded. “I hate this house!”

Neighbors and fellow shoppers suggested different methods to solve the Griffins’ problem. They bought Grants and Raid bait stations and even used a mixture of boric acid and sugar. Although these solutions drove the ants out of hiding, they never disappeared.

This was not the first time the Griffins had ant problems. From Albuquerque to Houston to Austin--ants--but nothing uncontrollable. At least, until now. The house seemed haunted, resembling Amityville Horror or Poltergeist.

Hannah was exhausted. Arising at midnight or another God forsaken hour to encounter a mass of ants foraging across the floor in a state of frenzy. Bruised hands and knees from endless hours of searching for ants on the carpet. It became an obsession.

After three weeks, Hannah realized she should have called the exterminator. “We have a contract. How stupid,” she said to a disconcerned Peter.

The exterminator came back and was enthralled by Hannah’s account of the last few weeks. “I have 400 accounts and four homes have a similar problem. There obviously is a heavy infestation.”

“Can you spray inside?” Hannah asked.

“We normally don’t because it forces the ants to move to places more difficult to treat, but I’ll go ahead and spray the baseboards and do the outside again with a stronger solution. I’ll also treat all your electrical outlets and drain pipes with a pesticide powder. Hopefully, this will work.”

“Whatever it takes,” Hannah said.

Every day Hannah checked the closets, floors, and windowsills. There still were ants, but this time they were dead. No more middle of the night killing fests. After several months the house seemed exorcised of all ants. Hannah could again enjoy the beautiful house with the magnificent landscaping; or could she?