Ants

[firefighteremt]

So last weekend me and my wife took off camping for a 4 day trip for the holiday weekend. I went up early and she was coming up after work Friday.  I got to the campground around lunch and as soon as I flipped the bed end over on our qs6 and went inside to put the Bimini bars up I was met with a lot of ants just above the AC unit on the little ledge.  Just quick background we store our qs6 at home outside on the side of the house. We keep zero food inside of camper. Anyone else had this problem and any solutions to help this problem not to happen again?

[admin]

I see two parallel course of action when dealing with ants (or bugs in general). One track is to deal with the source of the problem such as identifying what may have attracted them in the first place and then removing the attraction. Track two is to prevent future infestations.

So for me I'd make sure the area was clean so no residual food attracts them. I would also look for sources of electrical attraction. Ants are known to follow strong EM fields such as power cords. I would also make sure the ground around where the camper is parked is not on top of an ant hill.
Step two would be to treat for ants both at the ground level and in the camper. I spread a pelletized insecticide around my house due to a bad ant and tick problem. I also treat openings to the house (or in this case the camper) with a long lasting chemical called Permethrin. This is the same active ingredient used in any bug repellent clothing. It is safe around people and most animals when applied as directed, but it will still kill a wide range of insects on contact. It generally lasts months when not washed away. If applied to clothing or cloth it will not only last about 6 months but it will also persist through a standard washer for about 6 washes.
Sawyer sells a version of this for clothing and gear here: http://astore.amazon.com/livcamfor-20/detail/B00MA950E0
However I dilute my own from concentrate like this: http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/gordons-permethrin-10-livestock-premise-spray-1-qt or from Amazon here: http://astore.amazon.com/livcamfor-20/detail/B002TMB4DE
I mix to the same active ingredient concentration as Sawyer which is .5% and I have personally used the Permethrin in many situations and I swear by it now.

If you still have ants after that, then I guess the only thing to do is kill it with fire!

[charliem]

[quote timestamp="1465242369" author="@admin" source="/post/21976/thread"]
If you still have ants after that, then I guess the only thing to do is kill it with fire! [/quote][font size="3"]The sweet aroma of smoked QS   [/font]

[firefighteremt]

Thanks Sean for the insight. I have treated the ground around the camper but I am concerned it will do no good since we are in the time of the year we get a rain shower it seems every afternoon and washes everything away.  In theory there are only 3 points of contact to the ground. Both tires and the tongue. Not sure any other method they could be getting inside

[charliem]

[font size="3"]North American Jumping Ants (Jumpus Norte Americus) ?   
[/font]

[admin]

Any tall grass around or hanging wires? They are sneaky little buggers...I've seen how some ants can form an ant bridge if they need to get somewhere. A bunch of them link up to cover a gap so the rest can keep on marching. Now I doubt they are doing that to get into the QS but where there is a will there is a way.

[whoofit]

Check the power cord. I had them climbing up a propane line before.

Seriously though, whenever I had an ant problem a call to my uncle usually took care of that.

[buffresmgnt]

It seems that the ants in the south love getting into QS series campers.  We also live in Georgia and have had the same problem in the past. We also store our trailer by the side of our house with no weeds, grass or any other debris, just dirt, that would enable these little visitors to explore the inside of our trailer.  We found that putting ant poison in the form of ant traps inside the trailer every time we returned from a trip and placed the trailer in storage did the trick.

[firefighteremt]

Thanks everyone for your input.  I hope I have them removed for good.  

[walt3]

A few ideas.... One on the attraction front moisture either running away from it or looking for a source of it. Maybe try a moisture remover. Some safe ways to kill them. Try  diatomaceous earth (make sure it's not the pool filter type). Try equal parts borax mixed with sugar. You could put it on a lid of some kind under the trailer.