7.20.2014

July 19, 2014

White Dog rushed out of the office in front of me. We had both heard the sound of plastic being crunched and in our house that is NEVER a good thing.The flash of white that we had seen scurry past the door just before the nomming started had been Puff so we sought her out.

We found her hiding next to the momma chair in the living room, hunkered down on the far side squished against the stereo speaker. Bella was watching her from under the chair. She had her paws wrapped tightly around the clear rectangular plastic, body hunched to protect her prize, jaws of death madly working to snap the box and get inside.

I yelled, "NO! Puff! Drop it!" and lunged for her but she scampered past me plastic still in her mouth over to YoYoMa where she climbed over him to rest between his body and the fireplace. Yo looked confused.  Suddenly Puff was the nearly feral girl we had first adopted so long ago.

I knew that any movement toward her would send her down the hallway and out of the dog door into the yard where I had no chance of getting the box away from her. It was a small ant trap filled with bait and it was certainly something I did not want her to have.

It seems our house is sitting on top of a giant ant hill. In days gone by, things were balanced and the Ant Atlantis lived and existed without problems. But our long standing drought and our slow terraforming to a xeric landscape has prompted them to come seeking water and food (of course Michael's period of hiding open food in the basement a few summer's back did a GREAT job of advertising food availability). To rid ourselves of the colony would require poisons and digging under the foundation. Most of the time, with herbs and natural remedies we can keep the little guys at bay but they seem to "bloom" cyclically.

Before we asked our exterminator for the ant traps, we researched the baits and chose one that is safe for pets and which is used in day care centers. So the traps are not toxic to the White Dogs but the bait still should not be ingested. Steve read that some dogs find the bait smell appealing so he went to great lengths to make sure their placement was hidden, high up as possible and inaccessible.

Inaccessible to all except an old Eskie girl hellbent on getting it. The trap she found had been placed in the bathroom behind the toilet on the wall brace for the water tank. She really had to work to extract it. And I have NO clue how she even knew it was there; she does not frequent that room.

White Dog came up with the perfect solution. She hopped up behind me on the chair and pawed at the purple jerky bag. Of course! The entire WDA drops whatever they are doing when the bag opens. I reached and all of the Army came to line up in front of me. The plastic pieces and mangled box lay on the hearth.

I handed out strips of duck and Puff moved to her usual spot in the hallway where she eats her treats. I crossed the room and snatched up the trap and pieces while all were occupied. I gave White Dog an extra portion in thanks.

Steve is now challenged to reassess his hiding spots and to find a new one for the bathroom. I only half laughingly suggested duct taping it 5' up the wall. If it comes down to a choice between living with temporary invasions of ants and the safety of the White Dogs, my clever Army and I will train those six-leggeds to have "Party Manners!"

3 comments:

Brian's Home Blog said...

Okay WD Army, no eating the ant traps or you will have to trap them yourselves!

Random Felines said...

yikes - that is scary. glad the White Dog thought fast....treats are an excellent distraction

meowmeowmans said...

Oh, how scary! We are glad all ended well (and with duck jerky).