Ants

Not sure if this in the right section.. however.. Noticed by the run today that there are ant hills popping up in quite a few locations in my garden. Do I need to worry about them and the rabbits?

QContrary said:

Not sure if this in the right section.. however.. Noticed by the run today that there are ant hills popping up in quite a few locations in my garden. Do I need to worry about them and the rabbits?

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Hmmm not sure if it would cause the buns harm but there are ways to repel them naturally so they don't go near the buns.
Keep all food dishes clean so they don't think that there is a supply of food at the hutch/run.

If you get a spray bottle and fill it with water and fairy liquid and spray it on the ants it actually kills them, and also get's rid of their scent trail.
If you put an inch thick line of talcum powder around where you don't wan't the ant's to go they will not cross the line, it's toxic to them.

There is also something you can get that will kill them called borax powder.
It's very toxic and you don't want it near animals or kids.

Basically what you do is you get a plate and put a blob of honey/sugary water in the middle then sprinkle some of the borax around the honey/sugar water.
Place near the ant's nest and they will go to it, they walk through the borax powder to get to the sweet stuff.
Then when they clean their legs and antennae they ingest the borax and head back to the nest to feed the larvae.
The borax doesn't kill them straight away, it does it in a few hours to days one ingested, and that way the whole nest will have been affected and you can eliminate them.

It's upto you whether you want to get rid of them completely or whether you just want to control where they go.

Just mind if you eliminate the nest's this could affect the food chain slightly in your garden, there are animals and other insects that feed on the ants.

If they aren't ants that sting or bite I imagine they're unlikely to harm the rabbits in any way.

It seems all ants over here sting and bite. Fire ants are the worse, I have to be careful of my pets coming into contact with them. Not sure about other ants but fire ants are practically impossible to completely eradicate. They always come back.

Personally I'd leave them if they do no harm, but if you do decide to kill them you should try to use something that's environmental friendly. Diatomaceous earth might work.

Ants are a big problem here this year. We've got them all over the house (our basement is a dirt floor with about 3 feet clearance) and I've even found them dropping onto me in my bedroom from my window. :shock:
Things like citrus, peppermint and black pepper are supposed to be good deterrents for ants. Any strong smelling herb, really. But I'm having a time keeping them out. We just have so many nests nearby (our soil is perfect for them, not to mention the black spruce roots that they build in) I figure it's a matter of time before they are all living in the house with us! :evil:

Can't use toxic stuff due to the pets. Otherwise I'd try the borax.

Hi, I've just searched ants as I have found an ant nest . mound of earth in my rabbits run... Searched online and it seems to say that the risk is that the bunnies accidently eat them and then get parasites such as tapeworm... is this true?? If so should I try and get rid of the nest?? I've read about putting peppermint or ccinnamon on it, that won't harm the buns will it?

Thank