Birdhouse Spy Cam, West Linn, OR 97068US
Ant & spider problems
We thought Texas was where everything was really, really big. But apparently they, and some of the other southern states also have really, really tinsy winsy ants and spiders, which climb through the Hawk Eye Cam's microphone hole, and gum up the works. Solutions -- other than moving to Oregon where we have more civilized sized ants and spiders -- come from Texas native, and customer, Laurel W. who says:
I had a LOT of ants in the bird box, it was like they were piled all on top of each other, hundreds of them, like a nest, just laying there, except there was nothing in the box! It took me almost a week to get them to leave. And, here's how I did it.I found a recipe from a man online that was battling ants in his parrot's birdcage. The ants were attracted to the bird seed and they were a nuisance! So, I thought if it was okay for a bird living inside, it would be fine for a wild bird's house. First, I found a little plastic container that you'd get at a fast food restaurant for salad dressing or ketchup (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter at the top and approximately 1 1/2 inches at the bottom). Then, I mixed together the following: 1 teaspoon of boric acid powder, 6 tablespoons of sugar, 2 cups of water. I soaked cotton balls in the mixture and placed the cotton balls in the plastic container. I set the container in the bottom of the bird box and waited. The online explanation said that the ants would form a line going into the container to get the mixture and a line leaving, to take some away. I never saw a line going in and out... I waited and watched. It seemed that there were fewer ants each day I looked. On the fourth day, there were no more ants alive in the box. They had either died or departed. To make the bird box undesirable to the ants, I am going to add a little cayenne pepper to the bottom of the box. I heard from another parrot lover, that a little cayenne pepper in bird seeds doesn't bother birds but the ants hate it.
Also, down in Texas, we have trouble with wasps moving in to occupy a bird box before the birds do. When I first started learning about birds and putting out bird boxes, this was my biggest problem! But, I have solved the problem and don't have to worry about wasps anymore - the solution is vaseline!! Every January, I go out and put vaseline on the inside roof and upper corners. I coat the roof and corners with vaseline and the wasp cannot start his paper nest on the surface due to the vaseline. It was a miracle prevention for me against wasps!! Occasionally, I'll find a wasp getting a little more creative and trying to start his nest along the side wall near an upper corner, but I pull his nest and put a little more vaseline in.
