So...... More or less, we don't have many pests in the house. We get a couple of geckos sneaking in through the week, and the tiny ants are basically unstoppable (any solutions on this? we've tried every ant poison/trap we've gotten our hands on) but I think we might have a new uninvited guest. El raton. Last week I found what appeared to be mouse caca behind the fridge; odd I thought, as I've never seen any kind of mouse/rat or a trace of either since being here. Today our little garbage sack, which hangs under the bar counter, had some left over tacos al pastor and when I went to take out the trash, I found a nice hole chewed in the bag and a trail of meat across the kitchen floor... We were at Soriana and City Club tonight and I didn't find a single mouse trap or mouse-targeted poison. So is it my imagination that there are mice here or I am just blind looking for a solution? I'd be grateful for any suggestions on where I can find a 'asesino raton'.
There are rats/mice here but they are not overly problematic due to the concrete construction of most building here. You can get rat poison and traps, and I'm pretty sure I've seen them a Wal-Mart in the pesticide section. They also sell those sticky trap things at many stores. As for the little ants.. they are next to impossible to get ride of.... the best results I've had is just keeping all of the surfaces clear of anything at all food related, and using Pinol floor cleaner on all of the tile. Also make sure that your trashcan isn't near any wall or counter. I used to find trails of ants going to my trashcan in the kitchen, but ever since I moved it to a more central location away from the walls I haven't had that problem. I always leave the lizards alone, as they don't bother me near as much as the ants and spiders that they feed on...
We live on the second floor of an all concrete building, surrounded by concrete buildings so I'm pretty curious how the little bugger found his way in. I'll check out Walmart tomorrow; the sticky traps always served us well in the Midwest. Those ants, geez, there must be like 10 billion of them or something. Laura cleans more or less constantly, so we are never overrun, but it is rare to go a single day without finding at least one trail of them carting off something - be it a scrap of food, a dead spider, and even once a butterfly! If Laura doesn't see the gecko I usually just let them be -- she is [irrationally] petrified of them though, so I always have to catch them and take them outside...or at least try to catch them, they are agile little things. Thanks for the advice!
For the little ants, and big ones too see http://www.terro.com/. If you search the forum you'll find a long discussion of Terro, which is basically a sugar syrup holding boric acid in suspension. With a little creativity, you can make your own. We just had a major breakout from one of our old air-condtioning ducts. A strategically placed Terro assault has resulted in a total, if temporary eradication. They'll be back in a month or so, but a 3 day exposure to Terro will handle them.
coby: I make mo own "ant rid". Just buy a tiny bag of acido borico (found it in Farmacia Paris on Yachilan) 3 pesos for a few grams. Mix it 50/50 with regular sugar and dissolve with a couple of drops of tap water - boom! Most important: let them feed and bring it back to the nest to kill the queen. @Geckos: Try to let them be - they do a magnificent job at getting rid of baby roaches, mozzies, flies, crickets, ant etc. I have only seen one rat since arriving here and our pitbull mix made short work of him before I could even react :shock:
Rats We have mice and rats here on Isla Mujeres. The rats are roof rats. We have seen them cruising along the tops of walls. They stole bars of soap out by the pool (and ate off them - yes, there were teeth marks). We have found 5 dead rats around outside, killed by... Luna, the best hunting cat we've ever had. I hate when she kills iguanas and birds, but she also gets the rats. So...maybe get a cat? http://dentrodeljardin.blogspot.com/2009/08/not-creature-was-stirring.html Good luck! Sue
And that's exactly what I meant by home-brew Terro. You don't have to use a lot. Just a couple of drops where you see them will do. BTW, the commercial product is much weaker; only 5.4% Borax, and 94.6 % "inert ingredients" (read sugar syrup). Borax is a salt of boric acid. The chemistry doesn't have to be precise, but err on the side of less boric acid rather than more. Happy hunting!
