Ant Update

Got a call about 12:15 from the tech for the supposedly local exterminator I called this morning.  He needed to know how far toward Rockwall he had to go on 149 out of Terrell since his GPS wasn't finding the address.  First, that's FM 148 in Terrell, and it changes to FM 205 if you head toward Rockwall.  Second, I live on County Road 149.  In Kaufman.  Third, I'm certain the words "toward Kemp" and "near Becker" came out of my mouth when I scheduled the appointment this morning.  Both of those would have been HUGE location clues to any local company.

This is the company who did our pest inspection when we bought the house.  Apparently they have been sold since then.

It is now 12:50 p.m., and I can see a slow-moving white vehicle rounding the big curve on CR 146.   That's either our pokey neighbors who drive 15 MPH all the time, or I gave good directions...  Back in a few with a report...

...Okay, I'm back and need to eat some crow.  I'm a negative nelly.  They are still local, they've just changed the name of their pest control branch.  The guy was super, duper nice  and the dispatcher gave him the wrong address, so it wasn't his fault at all.

He sprayed the entire outside of the house, roof to foundation and the inside, paying special attention to the bathroom, and he guaranteed his work for 3 months.  And his eyes lit up when I mentioned something about spiders not grooming, and therefore only being affected by a contact kill.  Sometimes all this useless trivia comes in handy.  Like when I need to impress the bug guy with my vast knowledge.  *chuckle* 

The culprits are Pharaoh's Ants:

This awesome photo was taken by Alex Wild

Makes perfect sense, because one of the things they feed on is toothpaste.  Guess what gets splattered all over Aaron's countertop on a regular basis?  Here's hoping it won't take the full 2 weeks for them to be gone.  On the flip-side, I am more than a little bit sad that all our Praying Mantises will probably croak. I do love those little buggers and have enjoyed finding lots of babies as I've worked in the flower beds this summer.

This one's from National Geographic, and if you click the link you can read more about the Mantis religiosa.