Well 4 weeks on the road and we stop for a couple of days, I don't spray anything.........the little black mongrels are watching me do the dishes....damn... they know......would have been okay but for some rain the other day...
Exterior Ants
- Thread starter mikerezny
- Start date
Hi @Drover,
can you find were they are getting in?
Although I was advised to throw away the bit of timber I rest the draw bar on, I sprayed the wood with insecticide and used it again, convincing myself that the surface spray would be enough..... Well it wasn't and a day or so later I found 10-20 of them crawling around the outside of the front boot. Yes I know, I am a slow learner!!!!!
I resisted the urge to use a shotgun as just suggested and squashed everyone of them. Most therapeutic! Then I finally took the good advice, put the jockey wheel back on and sprayed the shaft with insecticide AND threw the piece of wood well away!
Been a week and have only found two of them inside the exterior hatch where I keep the small portable solar panel. It is possible they may have got in by crawling up the lead to the solar panel, or were on the solar panel when I last packed it up! Yet another thing to check for when we pack up.
Oh well, there are sure to be worse things than this.
cheers
Mike
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They could have crawled from anywhere had jockey wheel down, 4 legs and power and drain all on the ground and not sprayed, rained at the camp before and bucketed down while travelling so anything sprayed outside was washed away.......Wood doesn't attract them unless you used green pine, I have a block under the stand I use on the draw bar and usually a hardwood block under each leg, give them and everything else thats on the ground a spray......a bit of road kill front and back should distract them for short stays anyway.
We had ants for the first couple of weeks but it was raining elephants and crocodiles....so gave up ..we had more important things to grumble about.
Cost $2,500 odd...no idea what they charge for extras.
They came up the side of the van happily ...and we happily swatted them off.
Since the end of the deluge, we've lost the ants...drowned?
Now ...we've had two consecutive fine days and no ants...maybe it's the weather or, we're so happy to see fine weather that we couldn't give a r@@@@ A$$$$.
Anyway, got rid of them with a surface spray but only used outside so maybe they'll be back tomorrow.....ran Out if talcum powder which we've used in the past
Cost $2,500 odd...no idea what they charge for extras.
They came up the side of the van happily ...and we happily swatted them off.
Since the end of the deluge, we've lost the ants...drowned?
Now ...we've had two consecutive fine days and no ants...maybe it's the weather or, we're so happy to see fine weather that we couldn't give a r@@@@ A$$$$.
Anyway, got rid of them with a surface spray but only used outside so maybe they'll be back tomorrow.....ran Out if talcum powder which we've used in the past
Hi @Dobbie,
happy to read that you are once again enjoying some good weather.
I must be thick but what is this about?
We head off on Friday for 16 days from Melbourne exploring North West Victoria.
cheers
Mike
happy to read that you are once again enjoying some good weather.
I must be thick but what is this about?
We head off on Friday for 16 days from Melbourne exploring North West Victoria.
cheers
Mike
Hey Mike.
Neither do I!
I notice sometimes when I type in a comment the previous one hasn't been sent....I've been on very flakey Internet ...drops out all the time.
So maybe that's a residual from some other mind blowing comment I meant to add somewhere but it didn't post?
It just proves I should read it before posting....to avoid confusion.
How's the chippy experiment going? Talking of ants.....
Neither do I!
I notice sometimes when I type in a comment the previous one hasn't been sent....I've been on very flakey Internet ...drops out all the time.
So maybe that's a residual from some other mind blowing comment I meant to add somewhere but it didn't post?
It just proves I should read it before posting....to avoid confusion.
How's the chippy experiment going? Talking of ants.....
Hi @Dobbie,
the chippy is going fine. It was given a good tryout at Marley Point. Heaps of wind but it still did the job. Had to put it behind a tree and build a bit of a wind break. We can cook almost everything we want on it. Hot water is easy.
We can't do a BBQ and boil veges at the same time. So we heat the water and veges on the chippy then simmer them on the gas while we do the BBQ.
To make coffee, we boil the water on the chippy, then pour it into the cook top espresso. It then takes less than a minute to finish it off on the gas.
Damper is coming along. I have been using the Sunbeam, but I cannot get enough heat to brown the top. Next trip, I will use a cast-iron frypan and lid. I am sure with the reduced surface area, compared to the Sunbeam, I can keep the 'oven' around 180C.
The best bit is how easy it is to find the wood to feed it. Firstly, it uses very little wood, and secondly, we can usually find enough suitable wood within 10-20m of where we are camping. It will also quite happily burn charcoal left over from other fires. Otherwise, all that is needed is to bring a handful of sticks back whenever we go for a walk. So essentially, it takes almost no effort to feed it.
I need to improve my damper making skills. Last one was too dry. Tasted ok, but didn't look the best.
Might give the roast a try on this trip.
At the moment, we are having too much fun with the chippy to consider upgrading to a Weber baby Q.
It creates quite a bit of interest at the camps. A few people have taken photos of it, and it is a great conversation starter.
Given a couple of people a taste of the damper and they have been kind enough to say they liked it.
cheers
Mike
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You'll be writing a cookbook soon!
"The Great Chippy Cookbook". or. " how to survive and eat on a few twigs"
"The Great Chippy Cookbook". or. " how to survive and eat on a few twigs"
Now back on topic, people..........................last night I laid enough Ant Rid to stick the whole van together, the little black bastads where having a great time in their thousands, this mornng all gone...yay.
I'm watching......:spy:.........................now for The Dobbiesan to chime in.........:laser:
Hi @Drover, @Dobbie,
I just couldn't help myself ....
This reminded me of a song from my childhood:
:drum::music:
It's my thready and I'll stray if I want to.
Stray if I want to,
Stray if I want to,
You would stray to if it were started by you.
:music::drum::lalala:
Probably not many of us that would remember that song.
:focus:
Found one stray ant today running around inside the bottom fridge vent. Squiisshh!
cheers
Mike
arty::music:arty::music:arty::music:arty::hurt-41:
:hurt-41:
:hurt-41:
:director::sorrow: :couple_inlove:
Your getting as bad, if not worse than both of us @mikerezny , good to see...........no ants , too flamin cold for them here.
Another digressor!
At least i dont feel lonely. ..just wet.
:focus: remind me about the topic.....i suspect it was ants.....none seen today on the east coast
Or was it to do with being off the topic?
Maybe the latter..
(Nearly 200mm here today. ...i might see some ducks)
:rain:
At least i dont feel lonely. ..just wet.
:focus: remind me about the topic.....i suspect it was ants.....none seen today on the east coast
Or was it to do with being off the topic?
Maybe the latter..
(Nearly 200mm here today. ...i might see some ducks)
:rain:
Hi @Dobbie,
at least you can enjoy the comforts of a caravan in the wet weather! Look outside and remember what it was like in a tent in this weather.
When I hiked across Europe with a backpack, it rained continuously for over two weeks. It was a real pleasure to once again see the sun and walk without a couple of kilos of mud stuck to my boots. I still remember well, packing up the wet tent day after day after day.
How is the van coping with the wind and rain?
:focus: since @Drover might be watching:
Don't worry the ants will be back soon enough.
take care
Mike
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Speaking of ants and other critters......
There are green tree snakes here that we can see in the trees...none on the ground as its like a river.
Birds are few and keeping out of the rain.
Van is holding up so far...there's less wind so we're not getting that horrible sideways rain that gets in everywhere and everything is working well. I love our extended awning ...it's 99pc waterproof so that's a bonus and gives us an extra 3m of awning space and we can use use the outside kitchen even in the rain.
Just been for a walk in the rain along the river and it's wild and woolly out to sea.
I'm thinking of changing my moniker to Debbie......@dobbie attracts too much rain.
I seem to remember @dagree had that title for a while...or maybe it was @Bushman ?
There are green tree snakes here that we can see in the trees...none on the ground as its like a river.
Birds are few and keeping out of the rain.
Van is holding up so far...there's less wind so we're not getting that horrible sideways rain that gets in everywhere and everything is working well. I love our extended awning ...it's 99pc waterproof so that's a bonus and gives us an extra 3m of awning space and we can use use the outside kitchen even in the rain.
Just been for a walk in the rain along the river and it's wild and woolly out to sea.
I'm thinking of changing my moniker to Debbie......@dobbie attracts too much rain.
I seem to remember @dagree had that title for a while...or maybe it was @Bushman ?
Well kiddies, I think rain is better than this flamin wind we have here, had to take my flag down is was that blowy, put the storm pennant up instead..........no more ants since the big baiting but only just 20 deg here so might be too cold, probably camped in back of fridge where it's warm.............sure hope the power doesn't go at home I have bait in a fridge, so if I smell something when I get home, I won't open the fridge door just tape it up, chuck it in old Ute and take it to the tip.
White Ensign flying high.....
...down to Storm Pennant...
..Off Topic !!!!......Ha.
White Ensign flying high.....
...down to Storm Pennant.....Off Topic !!!!......Ha.