Not sure why the ants like salt shakers since it kills them and is a great ant deterrent as well , not to mention for other garden pest like slugs.<br><br>Anyway - Fight the Ants or change your life style and move out too. Them ants will move to something else even if you turn off your Macs , the fridge , pantry , where ever they find attractive. Sounds like you have a new "colony" of ants with a different Queen<br><br>IMO<br><br>1 - Traps don't work well , tends to catch the dumb ants "workers"<br><br>2 - Kill any stray ant <-- thats the ant colony "scout" smart ant so to speak . This ant scout reports back to the colony with directions of where to go for food<br><br>3 - Insecticides <-- I know , I know not very enviro safe let alone child safe either -- still the most effective . Find one thats active for 3 to 6 months and never use the same brand twice in a row , so your going to need to buy 2 different brands of insecticide , then alternate between both brands.<br><br>4 - Be a Military General so to speak , locate points of enemy ant insertion . Find areas where ants are entering your home ? Doors and windows yada yada<br><br>Bottom Line;<br><br>Your Mac electrical harmonics or EM , humm Jobs reality distortion field seems to be attracting your particular colony of ants <-- fight back with every weapon you can get<br><br><br><br><br><br>

Good tips.<br><br>I think the weather is my best ally: I've lived here for 4 summers, and these same ants come out every summer, but only for a few weeks. I fear there is NO beating them--they live in the walls, and my building is gargantuan so fighting them in my one little corner is probably futile. But there aren't that many of them--I see 3 or 4 a day. It's just odd the places they always go!<br><br>And they never go for food. Only water and expensive electronics. (Which I myself would choose too, if I could only have two of those three needs.)<br><br>Hopefully as the seasons change they'll go away as usual. If not, I'll have to change my lifestyle. (Although I'm fairly committed to heterosexuality.)<br><br>nagr[color:red]o</font color=red>mme<br><br>I require stroyent!<br>TeamMacOSX.com | MacClan.net

Only "fairly committed"??? LOL<br><br>[image][/image]

Update:<br><br>* MacBook Air: keys aren't working as well. Ants smashed inside, I am betting. I am not amused.<br><br>* PowerBook G4: turned off for a week AND unplugged. Full shutdown, no battery charge left even. I looked at it today and it had ants crawling on it!<br><br>So it's not heat or anything electrical. Nor crumbs: I don't eat at my machines, and my kitchen has plenty of crumbs, which the ants ignore. They only like computers and sinks/tubs. And light switches/outlets--probably because they live in the walls.<br><br>* iPhone: the ants have come for that as well. I caught one headed for the headphone jack. I keep it in the middle of a mesh shelf now, but that won't stop ants.<br><br>I wish I knew where to put traps... I always see them ON or near the computer, but never on the way there. And as I mentioned, this is a desk sitting up on complex casters, in the middle of a carpeted room, with no vents overhead! I look at the power cord and ceiling a lot to see if I can catch ants arriving by those routes but I never do. It's like they teleport onto my desk. Or maybe are living in my Air and don't HAVE to arrive from anywhere....<br><br>It's about 2 to 6 ants per day, 1 or 2 at a time, on each machine. Not swarms, but still a constant problem and sometimes they slip away under the keys or into the vents before I can catch them.<br><br>nagr[color:red]o</font color=red>mme<br><br>I require stroyent!<br>TeamMacOSX.com | MacClan.net

Apparently, ants hate the smell of mint - if you grow mint plants and place some around your mac etc., it will fend them off (also peppermint oil smeared where they try to come into the house will deter them).<br><br>- padmavyuha<br><br>[color:purple]A lopsided man runs best along the little side-hills of success<br>- Frank Moore Colby</font color=purple>

Interesting. I need more plants anyway.<br><br>nagr[color:red]o</font color=red>mme<br><br>I require stroyent!<br>TeamMacOSX.com | MacClan.net

It takes a lot of patience and attention span to track ant movements. Try to follow one as it leaves your computer and see where it goes. It could take hours, but you will find their entry point. Of course, everyone else will think you've gone over the edge. <br><br>

Ah, if only they WOULD leave my computer <br><br>I once used time-lapse photography (an ability of my little Pentax digital) to locate an infestation.<br><br>nagr[color:red]o</font color=red>mme<br><br>I require stroyent!<br>TeamMacOSX.com | MacClan.net

I'm pretty certain their entry point is every light switch and outlet in my apartment--except, thankfully, in my bedroom.<br><br>But there's no direct way from there to my computers: I have a long cord to a UPS to another long cord to a power strip into which my Mac's own power cords are plugged. And I never see ants on any of those cords. Maybe they burrow through the carpet and make a dash for it!<br><br>nagr[color:red]o</font color=red>mme<br><br>I require stroyent!<br>TeamMacOSX.com | MacClan.net