We are very pleasantly surprised to note that the dibs system of saving street parking spaces is not currently in effect on our street. We’ve written about the complicated situation around dibs before, including the argument that if one’s labor is used to clear a street parking place of snow, one should enjoy the space. However it feels way more civilized to look out the front door and see the calm of open parking spaces rather than cardboard boxes and broken lawn furniture marking claimed spaces. Plus you can move your car without the fear of having to protect your space.
And now for a very occasional feature called… the creature report! Fans of the Octonauts, a favorite of Rory (and his parents!) will know this as the part of the show when a sea creature is discussed. Our creatures today is ants. As residents of an old house we’ve had creatures before. Still, it was surprising to come downstairs last week and see that our humidifier (small electric unit that pumps moisture into the air, crucial to counteract the dryness in winter) was covered with huge ants. It was like a weird dream and hard to believe at first. We managed to get them all off the humidifier and flushed them down the toilet, and after giving the humidifier a day break I refilled it with water and added a few spoons of vinegar which hopefully will deter them from enjoying it as a water source. Miles filed a secondary report that there are ants in the downstairs bathroom, but with no details. It was more of a creature alert!
I’ve never seen a creature report where the creatures are flushed down the toilet! We’ve actually had a few ant battles ourselves… one outbreak a few years back when I saw lots marching in the front door and then found a ton in the key panel for the alarm system and then just before this kitchen renovation too. I must say I tried the vinegar and lemon options but in the end had to go for a product called Ant Rid… again this would not be a feature of creature report!!
Funnily wed been watching a lot finned episodes of Octonauts recently when they don’t do the creature report but as a result of kitchen upheaval we’ve been watching the older eps on Netflix and I’ve been getting flashbacks to your basement!
True about the nature of this creature report being very unlike that on the Octonauts! I don’t think vinegar will solve anything in this situation other than their interest in the humidifier, but glad to know that another product out there works. There’s something about ant organizational skills that makes them very interesting creatures indeed!
I’m really surprised that you get ants in the winter time.
I agree! Update: Someone left a pretzel on the floor in the basement and it was swarming with tiny ants this morning. At this rate the creature report may become a regular feature!