[eskielover]

Ok, know this is a strange post.....but it's something that I just noticed yesterday. Ugh, it's spring & my house has been taken over by the ants.....think they will end up caring it away if I'm not careful.....they took over my kitchen & this morning they took over my dog food container. I use the Hot Shot lemon grass spray & it works great.

However....the other day, I took a papertowel & squished a whole bunch of ants that were on the counter......smelled this horrible smell but didn't think much about it. It was interesting though because I didn't remember smelling the horrible smell before I killed the ants.......so I got a clean papertowel....NO SMELL at all......then I took the papertowel & squished another pile of ants & the smell was horrible.

I looked it up on the internet & sure enough.....they emit a horrible smell when they are squished....it's a chemical they give off. Guess different ants give off different smells.

I have always been sensitive to smells & they do trigger my migraines.

Just wanted to know if anyone else has noticed this same strange fact about ants. I find that even if I squish ONE with my finger, it smells that horrible smell.

Will have to just SPRAY them with the lemongrass.....it kills the ants & kills any order.

[lastyearisblank]

I have NEVER noticed this! Will have to watch out for it. At least they don't ~crunch~ like certain bugs....

[Umbral_Seraph]

I have noticed this from a very young age; I don't even have to squish them, I can smell the chemical trail. Everyone has always thought I was crazy for saying I coul'd smell ants...

[Sabrina]

I've got an ant problem too but I don't squish them, I spray them with a citrus smelling insecticide. Interesting.

Removes squished ant sniffing from my list of things to try.

[Okami]

Wow.
I too have been infested by ants this time of year... And I killed a whole bunch myself not too long ago before calling out pest control. I can honestly say I never noticed a scent... Erm. I wonder what type?

The ones infiltrating my space where carpenter ants.
I'm just thankful they're measly ants and not roaches and crap. Ugh.

[Brighid]

That title is HILARIOUS! Thank you for that!

[Brighid]

Although I never knew that about ants. Sorry you have to deal wit that

[EJ711]

Really Eskie Lover,

What are you doing sniffing dead ants?

EJ

Originally Posted by eskielover

Ok, know this is a strange post.....but it's something that I just noticed yesterday. Ugh, it's spring & my house has been taken over by the ants.....think they will end up caring it away if I'm not careful.....they took over my kitchen & this morning they took over my dog food container. I use the Hot Shot lemon grass spray & it works great.

However....the other day, I took a papertowel & squished a whole bunch of ants that were on the counter......smelled this horrible smell but didn't think much about it. It was interesting though because I didn't remember smelling the horrible smell before I killed the ants.......so I got a clean papertowel....NO SMELL at all......then I took the papertowel & squished another pile of ants & the smell was horrible.

I looked it up on the internet & sure enough.....they emit a horrible smell when they are squished....it's a chemical they give off. Guess different ants give off different smells.

I have always been sensitive to smells & they do trigger my migraines.

Just wanted to know if anyone else has noticed this same strange fact about ants. I find that even if I squish ONE with my finger, it smells that horrible smell.

Will have to just SPRAY them with the lemongrass.....it kills the ants & kills any order.

[JeanneDoe]

I have never smelled ants. Not even a squished one!
Maybe I will have to remember to take a whiff next time I am squishing up ants.
For the ones that can smell ant trails.. I bet you could get a cool job in a scent testing lab or something.
Maybe you are really a superhero and you just dont know it yet.

[Perna]

Oh, don't start with ants and smell! I still remember when we had ants in the basement of our big house 20+ years ago and the guy came out and said they were "citrus ants" and then asked, "Haven't you ever picked them up and smelled them?"

http://www.livescience.com/11068-ant...t-medians.html

[eskielover]

Removes squished ant sniffing from my list of things to try.

LOL Byz.......now YOU don't have to smell them....I've smelled them for you.....but if you ever squish an ant & wonder where the smell is coming from....at least NOW you will know.

Really Eskie Lover,
What are you doing sniffing dead ants?
EJ

LOL EJ....cause I quit sniffing glue....however this smells as bad as those glues that are dangerous to sniff....if not WORSE

I had never realized they had a smell before either.....as I always squished them while spraying horrid smelling insecticide which covered any possible smell.....but this year, for some reason, the little black ants have taken over my house. I realized that the smell I had thought was part of the insecticide before was actually the smell of the squished ants just the other day. I didn't smell the horrible smell before I squished them & I did afterward....it's actually formic acid they emit.

I needed to prove to myself that the smell I was smelling came from the squished ants......so I took a clean paper towel.....folded it, smelled it & it had NO odor. Then I had a pile of ants on my kitchen counter & I squished them with the papertowel....& the SMELL was so strong I almost got sick from it. Every since then, when I had a black ant crawling on me & squished it, it smelled the same horrible smell.

I try not to squish them now, but it's hard......how sensitive I have become to smell.....it's horrible. When I first started getting my migraines, smell was one of my horrible triggers & it seemed that everything smelled horrible....having the same problem now.

I was at my friends house yesterday & decided to see if her ants smelled as horrible as mine.....YEP. At least now I know where the horrible smell comes from....but it's sure a nuisance being that sensitive to smell. I knew I wasn't crazy though after doing the experiment....I proved to myself that it was really the ants that were causing the horrible smell....then the internet backed me up with other information on ant smell..

[EJ711]

Eskie Lover,

You always have the most amusing stories, especially since moving to the country. I was enjoying watching a wild turkey walk across our back pasture the other day, and down into the tall grass along the edge of one of the ponds. I'm hoping maybe she is nesting, but don't really know.

EJ

Originally Posted by eskielover

LOL Byz.......now YOU don't have to smell them....I've smelled them for you.....but if you ever squish an ant & wonder where the smell is coming from....at least NOW you will know.


LOL EJ....cause I quit sniffing glue....however this smells as bad as those glues that are dangerous to sniff....if not WORSE

I had never realized they had a smell before either.....as I always squished them while spraying horrid smelling insecticide which covered any possible smell.....but this year, for some reason, the little black ants have taken over my house. I realized that the smell I had thought was part of the insecticide before was actually the smell of the squished ants just the other day. I didn't smell the horrible smell before I squished them & I did afterward....it's actually formic acid they emit.

I needed to prove to myself that the smell I was smelling came from the squished ants......so I took a clean paper towel.....folded it, smelled it & it had NO odor. Then I had a pile of ants on my kitchen counter & I squished them with the papertowel....& the SMELL was so strong I almost got sick from it. Every since then, when I had a black ant crawling on me & squished it, it smelled the same horrible smell.

I try not to squish them now, but it's hard......how sensitive I have become to smell.....it's horrible. When I first started getting my migraines, smell was one of my horrible triggers & it seemed that everything smelled horrible....having the same problem now.

I was at my friends house yesterday & decided to see if her ants smelled as horrible as mine.....YEP. At least now I know where the horrible smell comes from....but it's sure a nuisance being that sensitive to smell. I knew I wasn't crazy though after doing the experiment....I proved to myself that it was really the ants that were causing the horrible smell....then the internet backed me up with other information on ant smell..

[Yoda]

Ladybugs smell bad too.

[Elysium]

Ants are also quite spicy to taste!!! Speaking from unfortunate experience.

When I was a teen, I had gone to bed with a soda sitting on my night stand. I woke in the middle of the night and reached over, grabbed the can and took a swig. To my surprise......it was an ant festival!!! A bunch got in my mouth....I did my best to spit and spit....and spit, but it didn't keep me from ingesting some.

Spicy little suckers!!

I have never again gone to bed with a can of soda at my bedside.

laughing out loud----somebody should write a song about this one....

[MandiePoo]

Originally Posted by theodora

laughing out loud----somebody should write a song about this one....

OHHHHHHHHHH!
The smell of a squished ant
Certainly does not enchant!
I try to hold my breath
but they really smelled in death

The other day an ant walked by
And i thought "I'm going to squish you, bai!"
Then more came around
they made a wonderfully squishy sound

one little two little three little squished bugs
theres one group i wont be giving hugs
Little red and black soldiers marching through
Squish one, squish three, squish four, squish two!


*bai is a Nova Scotian term used in the Cape Breton area in the same way as "eh"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Brilliant!!!

Thank you (((MandiePoo)))!!!!!--I've been thinking about ants squishing and smelling all day--I'd not read this thread before--amazing!!!

Been laughing all day--my thoughts about ants even overflowed playing games!!!

Still laughing!!!--Great song!! Thanks!

[Sabrina]

hehehehehee, I am loving the chuckles Theo is getting from this thread (just head over to games...)

Just a note...

Ants hate salt and cinnamon. Either will do the trick of getting rid of them but both together are the best combination. Then when they're gone just clean it up easily, without all chemicals that damage your pets lungs.

Love and hugs,
Tara

[eskielover]

Ok, another bit of ant wisdom that no one will ever care about knowing but.......veryyyyy in-te-re-stink (yes, pun intended...not just a misspelling).

It's not just squishing ants that makes them smell, but freezing them does also.

I put a couple of frozen waffles in my toaster oven for breakfast yesterday morning....but was running late & ended up running out the door without eating them....leaving them in the toaster oven

Got home later last NIGHT.....went to fix a little food for dinner, looked in the toaster oven & the waffles were crawling with ants......tons of ants

So I carefully picked up both waffles & put them in a zip lock baggie before the ants could flea (no, ants aren't flea's even though these are the same color) & stuck them in the freezer to kill them (no this wasn't an experiment in Cryogenics)....just like I did with the ants that got into my box of turbinado sugar last week & my carefully closed bag of marshmallows the week before.....when they found these tasty morsels on the very top shelf of my kitchen cabinet where even I can't reach.

It definitely worked, I ended up with a whole zip lock baggie full of little black frozen ants that smelled horrible. I carefully brushed off the ones still sticking to the waffles onto one of those Styrofoam take out boxes in my kitchen sink & dumped the baggie full of frozen ants into my trash can. (no, I do not expect them to unfreeze & run away). That got rid of a whole bunch of ants without using the insecticide.

[eskielover]

Tara,
Thank you for the wonderful suggestion.....cinnamon & salt....that I can do & the smell of cinnamon is one of my favorites. Can't wait to give this solution to my ant problem a try.....TY, TY, TY

MandiePoo,
Oh Thank you for the adorable song.....what brilliant talent you have for the tiniest of annoying creatures. I will definitely cherish these lyrics & think of them constantly while battling my ant war.

Elysium,
Yiech.......I can't imagine what a horrible experience that had to have been.....a whole mouth full of ants from the soda can.....I know how they just completely cover thing until you can no longer even see what they are covering....sputter, splats, spitting out ants out of sympathy here. Know that smell & taste definitely coincide....I can only understand the horrible taste it left you with..know that experience would stick with me forever also.

Yoda,
How interesting, thank you for sharing that information about Lady bugs...I had no idea that they also smelled. We get smothered in lady bug here...can't remember just when. Entomology is very interesting considering we are surrounded by bugs everywhere, it's nice to know the little known information about them

EJ,
Oh how fascinating about your turkey...they are such interesting birds. That would be so exciting if she were nesting & you could find the nest & follow the birth of the little turkeys. Keep us posted on what you find out about your turkeys. We have many turkeys around where we trail ride. They unknowingly spook the horses when they get scared by the horses....their low flying escape is amazing...never knew that turkeys could fly....sort of like the bumble bee....seem to be aerodynamically impossible.

I am enjoying the replies of everyone....glad you are all having fun with this thread & not letting it make you creepy crawley

[salukigirl]

It's called reflexive bleeding and a lot of insects do it so you can smell them all! Take a lady bug and kinda squeeze it a little - it will release this brown, smelly liquid all over. Other beetles (Blister beetles) actually release a chemical so bad it will - as the name implies - give you blisters.

The only one that smells good that I can think of is a genus called Cybister. It's a predaceous diving water beetle, up to a couple inches long....and if you catch on, put it in a ziplock and shake it up, it smells like apples.

[missbelle]

Sure they were not the stink bugs we have here in Virginia? They DO smell horrible when scrunched!!
and stink bugs is their true name.....they earned it!!

[eskielover]

We had stink bugs in California also....little black beetles....that would raise their back end when you come near them or when a dog pokes the with their nose.....
No, there are really ants....just plain old black ants that give off the formic acid when squished & found out that the pile of dead ones that I ended up freezing that were on my waffles .....smell also....after they thawed out a bit I think