ants in the cat food

[Imbrium]

for the last couple months, I've had tons of sugar ants around the foundation of the house, including along the front of the garage door where the strays congregate. I've got two stray kitties, an opossum and a raccoon that eat from a gravity-feeder type food dish that I fill with cat food. (little buggers are so ravenous I had to go back and buy one twice the size of the original... went to a different walmart to get another like I already had and found one that was the same type but 2x the size - it holds 3 lbs of food and cost < $6. why couldn't they have just had that at my normal walmart in the first place??)

the sugar ants have started to find their way into the bowl of the gravity feeder. it's not many; usually just 4-5 on there... more are nearby, though, and I don't like ants in the food. any suggestions for keeping them at bay so my collection of strays can nom their cat food in peace?

on a side note, my menagerie now also includes a ginormous spider. it's really awesome looking and quite big (body, not including legs, is maybe nickel sized or a bit bigger... overall about the size of a quarter). it was set up over the garage entrance, then one day it and the big web were gone. I was kinda sad, but it was nice not having to worry about wrecking the web when I went to the hose to refill the kitties' gravity waterer. a few days later it set up shop again, this time from the overhang near the front door where I have to be a little careful to avoid the edge of it coming up the walk... inconvenient little bugger, that one! I've tried to get a good picture, but I can't get the camera to focus on it properly and can't get close enough because it's afraid of me and will run up to the roof and hide when I get near it. I like spiders, they eat the icky bugs!

 

[missyscove]

I know some people have success with putting the food dish inside a pan or bowl of water. The ants drown before they get to the food but the pet can still easily reach the food.

 

[Imbrium]

hmmm... the feeder's pretty big, but I bet I could find a disposable aluminum roasting pan that's big enough to hold it without being too big for the opossum and raccoon to reach across. thanks!

oh, and I saw my raccoon again tonight . I thought it was the gray and white cat at first b/c I'd only caught a glimpse of blackish/gray and started talking to the "kitty" then got a bit closer and realized it totally wasn't a cat, lol.

 

[whitelop]

Haha you sound like me. I don't feed racoons and opossoms though, just strays. You could probably get some diatomatious earth and put it around the feeder. It will help keep the ants at bay and its not harmful to animals. I put it all around my house ti keep wolf spiders out and i dust my chickens with it.

Is the big spider at your house fat bodied and round? Those are orb weaving spiders and i have them all over. We had one make a web over the back door, so i had a conversation with the spider and told him he was in my door and couldn't be there anymore. The next night, he made his web to the left of the door and stayed there all summer. I think they're really cool too and the only spider I'll tolerate.
Yeah, re-reading that, i sound like a NUTJOB!

 

[Imbrium]

no, it's kinda oblong/slender.

I'm not feeding the raccoons and opossum on purpose, they just come to the cat feeder, hehe. I have fed some in the past, though. I had a raccoon that would come to my patio door every evening for food. I'd know he was there because my cat would throw a HUGE tantrum, hissing and meowling and all of that, and the raccoon would just stand by the door and look at her like "what's your deal?"

he was almost tame - I bought a bag of dog food for him and I could open the patio door, hold out the cup and he'd come up and take kibbles right from the cup! later, he started bringing a very shy, slightly smaller (I'm guessing female) raccoon with him. she'd hang back in the corner and wait for me to dump the kibble and close the door. a lot of times, I'd sit there with the door cracked just a couple inches and talk to them softly while they ate.

that same winter, I caught a little white opossum rooting through a bag of trash on my porch that hadn't made it to the curb yet. I didn't want him tearing up trash bags, so I started putting dog food out for him, too. he munched and crunched SO loudly for such a tiny creature!

 

[agnesthelion]

I have no tips for the ants but just wanted to comment on your menagerie. I bet all the creatures in the neighborhood are hearing that your place is the nice house

I'm not a fan of big spiders. I can handle little ones but not big ones. I'd be afraid it come into my house! that's when I'd get all girlie.....

You talking kitty to the racoon made me chuckle and think of that eye glass commercial where she's like calling her cat in for the night and instead a raccoon walks into her house. The punch line at the end is "need glasses?" hahahaha

 

[Imbrium]

I remember that commercial, lol. the raccoon was so cute!

 

[whitelop]

When I lived with my mom still, we fed all the strays and the racoons. One night, this girl that we knew came over and was drunk.
She was in a bush petting something. She was like "oh, your cat is sooo soft!" My mom and I looked at each other and were like..."none of our cats are outside right now!"
And the strays we had weren't people friendly, except my mom.
But the racoon we fed, would come up to us. Not that we ever touched it. So I really think that drunk girl was petting the racoon in the bushes. My mom and I still talk about it and laugh so hard at it. Just thinking that racoon, was probably like, "yeah, this is nice! Food and a scratch!" I just thought again about you talking to the racoon and had to share my racoon story.

 

[agnesthelion]

Hahaha Morgan that is funny!!

When my son was littler he used to have snacks like cheerios and crackers on a big blanket I would spread on the floor. When he was done i would often shake out the crumbs out the back door.

One night we heard this grinding and scratching. I turned on the outside light and opened the blinds and there was a raccoon right there on my deck.

It was winter and the cracker crumbs were frozen under a sheet of ice and the raccoon was digging and biting to get at the food.

What I marveled at was how NOT afraid this thing was. We were inches apart but with a glass sliding door protecting us. My son was a baby and laughing and pounding at the door. This raccoon didn't even flinch. Even pawed at the glass at my son.