The Good: Relatively inexpensive, Clean, Effective.
The Bad: Method of opening baits frequently makes a little mess.
The Basics: Despite minor spillage when opening the vents on them, the TAT Ant Baits are extraordinary at killing ants for months!
I loathe heat. I also loathe the way heat forces me, without an air conditioner or funds to afford running one, to open the windows to my home. Inevitably, opening windows means letting creatures into the home that I would rather not have there. While my cat Gollum takes care of flies and moths (he's a little hunter!), none of the animals seem to be keen on taking care of the ants. This year, the ants have come into the house to eat our dog, Mitzie’s, dog food and I've been grossed out by seeing the ants crawling over her food and I'm sure she's none to keen on it either. So, I went looking for ant baits. I recalled having a great experience with MaxAttrax ant baits and I went searching for them. I did not find any. Instead, with time being of the essence, my wife told me she had good experiences with TAT Ant Baits, so I went searching for them. I found them at the local hardware store and for $2.49 plus tax, this seemed like it could be a great solution to our ant problem.
So far, it has been.
TAT ant bait comes in a 4 pack (in a bright red box) for $2.49 locally, though so many places nearby me seem to only have the ineffective RAID baits. I purchased one pack and set the four baits in four rooms, actually close to where Mitzie’s dish is, where the ants are frequently seen coming in through the window, the kitchen and a nearby room. The actual traps are 1/6 oz. little metal tins.
The individual baits are white and red metal tins that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and ¼” tall. The metal sides have four tabs which need to be pressed in. This is easy to do with a key or a small, flathead screwdriver. The ants walk into the bait through those holes; that's where the bait/poison is.
Rather extraordinarily, the ants ran right for this when I set them down near the window and near Mitzie’s dish. Within half an hour, I found a pile with five dead ants clustered together. All of the rest of the ants were gone. Completely gone. Outside the one group of very dead ants, after using the TAT ant baits, I've not seen a single ant body anywhere in the areas where they frequented beforehand. In fact, I've never seen an ant in the house after setting out the ant baits. I don't know where they go, I presume they are all dead, but I know they're not here any longer.
Having seen these work, it is easy for me to enthusiastically recommend them. They are inexpensive, seem largely pet safe and more than anything else, the TAT any baits work. It is noted on the package that there is peanut butter in this and those with peanut allergies ought not to use these baits. The very best baits and insecticides work by the absence of proof and I have to say that this is especially convenient. If all of the ants died in plain view, that would just be another thing for me to clean up around here. That most of them are dead away from view works for me.
For those who have children or animals, for something that kills one form of life, these seem remarkably safe to use. The insecticide active ingredient is .25% propoxur and while some of the bait might fall out as the holes are punched in the bait, after that these seem very safe. The holes in the sides on the TAT ant baits are small enough to prevent children from sticking their fingers in it inadvertently. This seems very child friendly. I have two cats, a dog and a rabbit and they avoid these like the plague, which is interesting because Mitzie loves peanut butter and seemed happy to check the bait out when it was first set down next to her dish.
It's worth noting that the package recommends washing your hands after touching them and I've followed that pretty religiously. The bait emits no scent and they are fairly discrete for those who are worried about appearances.
Finally, the packaging advertises killing within 24 hours. Mine seemed to work within an hour.
I am quite impressed by the ant baits from TAT ant baits and while they offer a satisfaction guarantee, I've never had to exercise it; these have always worked. I am bound to keep using these because my wife was right: these work amazingly well!
For other pesticides, please check out my review of Safer Japanese Beetle traps by clicking here!
9/10
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© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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