ANTS IN YOUR PANTS

Being that I live in a ground floor apartment and it's technically spring now (in spite of the weather not quite indicating that), it's almost a given that I'm going to be encountering some new 'friends' here and there in the months to come. A couple weeks ago I was stretched out on my couch while watching some good 'ol March Madness when a movement off of the tv screen caught my eye. . .it was a rather big, and quite disgusting, bug with long antennas, and a plethora of legs. If you know me at all, I hate. . .no, despise, such creatures and loathe having to take care of them myself. But alas, I live alone and so I had to put on my big-girl demeanor and defeat my foe on my own. I was indeed victorious. However, this week I discovered some new 'friends' that were making themselves at home where the carpet of my bedroom meets the tile of my bathroom. . .lovely little ants. In a conversation with my mom I was advised to try using pepper to stave them off since she recalled that working for her before. So, despite my uncertainty about pouring pepper on my bathroom floor I went ahead and did it. For awhile it seemed to be working, but one by one a few daredevil ants made their way out from the metal strip separating the two rooms. Fast forward to later in the day, now conversing with my dad, he suggests that I try using Tabasco, aiming for the spiciness to deter the ants. Reluctantly, I decide to give it a shot. There I was, dropping drops of Tabasco (on top of pepper) along the edge of my bathroom floor, all while shaking my head and saying "what on earth am I doing. . .this is not a good idea." Since the whole thing was already a mess I went ahead and added masking tape to the mix as well to try and seal off their entrance/exit. Surprisingly enough, it's actually working. . .but now this is what my bathroom looks like,

and I'm constantly catching a whiff of Tabasco in the air. I suppose it's a fair trade off if it means not having to deal with the ants anymore, but now my next task is focusing on cleaning up the interesting mess that I made. Perhaps next time I'll steer clear of a home remedy and just make a trip to the store instead. . .