Ants in our Pants.. or RV rather!

When we first found the Defiant she was parked in the woods with a few tree branches leaning on her roof.

We carefully inspected the RV to make sure she didn't have any mice, roach, or ant infestations before we drove her home.

The first night we had her we wanted to see how the loft space (the bunk above the cab) worked and when we went to slide the frame back we found a huge colony of wood ants...



We hate killing anything, Robert will catch a fly in his hand and take it outside. The same applies with spiders, & wasps (except he will use a cup and a sheet of paper).

My first step was asking the ants to leave nicely.. of course that didn't work. ;)

Then I found a mixture to keep ants away: In a large spray bottle I mixed 2 parts water, 2 parts apple cider vinegar, and 20 drops of melaluca and lemon. I sprayed this around their colony and that just made them mad, they frantically began moving their eggs and relocating. Ugh...

So, the final (we thought) step was to set off a bug bomb in the RV, we hated having to take this route and it did kill a few ants & two huge spiders but for the most part the ants just continued moving their colony behind a crack in the wall paneling.

Introducing Terro Ant Killer. 

This stuff was amazingly effective. As soon as Robert laid the bait down the ants made a b-line towards it and carried the liquid back into their colony. The next morning when we opened the door there were thousands of dead ants on the floor and in the light covers.

I know this is all a little disgusting but we are trying to share our experiences good or bad here with you about living in an RV, and some parts will be... well... gross.

Finally, we emerged from the possibility that we bought a lemon and had an ant free RV.

We kept the remaining trays of the Terro poison and I sat one in the outside compartment that lets the refrigerator vent in case any decided to come back.

This next bit will touch on the metaphysical part of our lives in the sense that we believe that when an animal, or insect, appears in our lives there is a spiritual message behind the sighting; or infestation in this case. 

When Ant comes marching into your life:

Encountering an ant you should consider that all good things come with time, and effort. Work with diligence, with conviction, and work with others in order to forge your dreams and turn them into reality. Despite their tiny size these little spirits are immensely strong, great strength of will and accomplishment can come even in the smallest of packages.

Alternatively it may be time to consider your own role, concentrate on your specialties and make sure you are making the most of your natural gifts. However, remain aware that nothing can be accomplished without the unity of the whole. Think about how your own contributions in your career, your family, and day to day life fit into the larger picture. No matter how small your task, or your contribution, it is still essential. Click here for the page we found this on.

Thanks for reading, the good and the bad & stay tuned for a three part series about the renovations we have done on the Defiant!