Ants!!! [Archive] - MacRumors Forums

xisforextreme

Jul 18, 2005, 01:51 AM

tech4all

Jul 18, 2005, 01:55 AM

Has anyone else been having this problem? For some reason, small red ants are sadistically attracted to my iMac g5, MY BRAND NEW iMAC G5! I think that maybe they are attracted to the electrical signals it gives out. Recently I've been finding them coming out of the intake port and all over the screen. It's really scaring me that they're inside my machine!!! Recently I've noticed some strange smells coming out of my iMac, all I can think of it being is fried ants! For now I've sprayed 2 full cans of insect spray around my desk area, and have to check out the computer a sbest I can before turning it on. One intertesting thing is that there seem to be less ant invaders if bluetooth and airport are off... :confused:

Maybe they are attracted to the wifi/wireless signals somehow.....either that or even ants love Macs ;)

But that is definitely freaky.

xisforextreme

Jul 18, 2005, 01:56 AM

either that or even ants love Macs ;)
Everyone loves macs!

iMeowbot

Jul 18, 2005, 02:07 AM

It's true, some ants love electrical fields (http://www.google.com/search?q=ants+electrical-fields)! About all you can do is spend time watching to see where they are coming from, and dealing with them at the source.

mad jew

Jul 18, 2005, 03:41 AM

I've got a bit of an ant problem. Interestingly they prefer my sleeping iBook to my iMac.

Maybe you should get a box and paint it white like an iBook...

dmw007

Jul 18, 2005, 07:07 AM

I sure hope that ants are not atracted to Power Mac G5s. :o

iDM

Jul 18, 2005, 07:49 AM

I hope this does not come off rude but I'd love to see a picture of the ants marching in/out of your mac, probably make for a funny desktop. Sorry to hear about the problem though.

mpw

Jul 18, 2005, 07:55 AM

Cats love iBooks, they treat them like hot water bottles.

I once had a caterpillar in an apple. :)

wide

Jul 18, 2005, 10:02 AM

elevate your imac on a small (the size of the imac's base) platform that is held up by very thin (but of course sturdy) legs. the ant's wouldn't be able to get up. do the ants bite?

mad jew

Jul 18, 2005, 10:06 AM

Umm... Ants can walk on water so they really aren't phased by vertical tight-rope walking (or would that be climbing?).

Semi-serious suggestion: build some sort of a moat around your Mac.

Sure, I know that sounds stupid after what I just said but they wont actively cross water intentionally. It's what my girlfriend does to keep them away from her jams.

ITASOR

Jul 18, 2005, 10:06 AM

Once I had those big black ants in my cable modem. Gross. I could smell them burning as well and with an occasional shake, a few dead ones would come out.

So, i got one of those little round things in the store that come in 2 packs. Basically they have poison inside and little tunnels leading to the inside. The ants are attracted inside, take the poison (which they think is a delicious dinner) and bring it back to their tribe. Then they share it (unless they're greedy) and the whole sha-bang falls over and dies.

No more ants in my cable modem, room, or whole house for that matter!

andiwm2003

Jul 18, 2005, 10:42 AM

Has anyone else been having this problem? For some reason, small red ants are sadistically attracted to my iMac g5, MY BRAND NEW iMAC G5! I think that maybe they are attracted to the electrical signals it gives out. Recently I've been finding them coming out of the intake port and all over the screen. It's really scaring me that they're inside my machine!!! Recently I've noticed some strange smells coming out of my iMac, all I can think of it being is fried ants! For now I've sprayed 2 full cans of insect spray around my desk area, and have to check out the computer a sbest I can before turning it on. One intertesting thing is that there seem to be less ant invaders if bluetooth and airport are off... :confused:

don't be worried. that is just a side effect of apple programing you into a mac addicted apple fanboy via bluetooth and airport. they make you ignore the high prices. it unfortunately also reprograms ants. and since they can't afford imac's they have to go for yours.

apple will change the signal soon to make the problem go away. they program you to ignore the ants......

idea_hamster

Jul 18, 2005, 10:49 AM

Ants can walk on water [...] Semi-serious suggestion: build some sort of a moat around your Mac.
Isn't this a bit inconsistent?

I would suggest the following:

open your iMac and clean out any resident ants with canned air,
close it up and set it up somewhere else temporarily where you haven't seen ants,
clean your desk top and the area with something like 409, hopefully destroying the local pheromone trail the the ants have left,
wait a few days for the ants to loose interest in the area, and
move your iMac back, but put down some ant traps around the floor and desk legs to keep them from getting to it again.

Hopefully, that'll work. Best of luck!

strider42

Jul 18, 2005, 10:54 AM

some ant sprays put down a chemical barrier that repels ants. perhaps spraying such a chemical around your machine (or the whole room ro the whole house) would prevent them from getting into the machine.

In africa, I think anyway), the beds have the feet of the bed in pans of water to stop ants from coming onto the bed at night. Perhaps doing the same around your desk will help, though the eltrical cord would undoubtedly still be a problem as they could walk on that and I can't think of a good way to stop them from doing that. But still, limiting the ways they can get to the machine may help.

mpw

Jul 18, 2005, 12:47 PM

Try creating ducting to channel the hot air blown out the top of you iMac down to your desk top, if it's anything like mine this will simple blow the ants away! I channel the exhuast from mine out on to the drive way in winter to clear the snow but the paving cracked under the heat.

Do you occasionaly see the fried remains shot out the top?

superfunkomatic

Jul 18, 2005, 01:13 PM

talk about dealing with software bugs. pun intended.

wdlove

Jul 18, 2005, 01:54 PM

Luckily I haven't seen any ants around my 2Wire Wireless unit. It's kind of scary having ants inside of an iMac. That is certainly something that Apple would not want known. Has the spraying made a difference? :eek:

mad jew

Jul 18, 2005, 08:09 PM

Isn't this a bit inconsistent?

Yeah, first one to admit it. But I did explain myself by saying that ants wont consciously walk across water... Even for an iMac. :D

idea_hamster

Jul 18, 2005, 08:54 PM

talk about dealing with software bugs. pun intended.
Sort of O/T, you do know that the origin of the term "bug" for a computing problem originated from a moth being stuck on one of the register switches in one of the original computers. Since the switch couldn't close, the program (on punch cards, I presume) wouldn't run.

So I guess that just as computers have gotten smaller, so have the bugs that plague them....

MacsRgr8

Jul 19, 2005, 02:32 PM

Get an aardvark.

XNine

Jul 19, 2005, 02:53 PM

Get an aardvark.

YUS! AN AARDVARK INDEED!

JDOG_

Jul 19, 2005, 03:05 PM

I third the aardvark notion.

Otherwise do what idea_hamster said, it sounds good to me. As somebody who lived on a hill in Southern California, cleaning off the trails and spraying entry points is the only way to go...that & getting rid of all food stuff in that area on a very regular basis. :D

Kerry Sanders

Jul 19, 2005, 04:14 PM

Sometimes, these threads just take on a life of their own. :D

xinxin

Jul 25, 2005, 06:03 PM

I have seen twice. Why the hell is that? Now i don't exactly know how many in it, better not a queen!

devilot

Jul 25, 2005, 06:11 PM

I agree w/ idea_hamster: move both computers to a safe ant-free location, clean the desk and surrounding areas. Use Raid (make sure its a formula that is ok for indoor use and will get rid of ants) and spray that desk, any surrounding windows, and that corner of the room. Leave the room unoccupied for a day or two (those fumes aren't good for you either). Move back the computers and see if the ants still come marching...

BornAgainMac

Jul 25, 2005, 06:18 PM

Place some honey inside a Dell next to your Mac. That should take care of it.

vniow

Jul 25, 2005, 06:37 PM

Macs must be a popular ant vacation spot.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=119271
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=48170

jeremy.king

Jul 25, 2005, 07:14 PM

Terro! Terro! Terro!

Liquid ant baits work great for me.

http://www.terro.com/

idea_hamster

Jul 25, 2005, 07:22 PM

I agree w/ idea_hamster
I think that's the first time anyone has ever typed those words! Hooray! :D

Separately, for laptops, I think that you could also put it in the freezer overnight. That would likely take care of the ants without poison. (It might even be more humane, but that might not be top priority.)

My only concern with the freezer method would be the condensation issue after taking it out. You'd have to put it into a sealed plastic bag before and not take it out until it had returned to room temperature.

katie ta achoo

Jul 25, 2005, 07:42 PM

I got a GIANT FREAKING ant on my PB. It crawled onto my hand, and I got so FREAKED OUT. (I hate bugs. ALL BUGS. Even though I'm a vegetarian, I still Kill 'em all. They outnumber humans at least ten-fold. They'll do OK.)

Why do bugs love Apples?

*crying in corner, holding a can of RAID*

adamjaskie

Jul 25, 2005, 08:43 PM

You can get special "ant barrier" spray. You spray it around the edge of the floor in the room, and around any outlets and lightswitches, and it repels the ants so they won't cross the line.

Do what was suggested about moving the computer to an ant-free location, then spray around the edge of the room, or even around the bottom edge of all the floor in your house, and the outlets and lightswitches, and you should not have any more problems inside the house.

Put ant traps around the inside of the house, in cabinets and under the couch, places like that, and outside of your house right near the foundation, too.

wide

Jul 25, 2005, 08:43 PM

get a USB-powered anteater. or just play lots of SimAnt (and lose to the spider and anteaters intentionally). that ought to scare 'em away...

btw, is there a downloadable Mac OS X version of simant and simtower, either of those games? they truly were spectacular..

xsedrinam

Jul 25, 2005, 09:14 PM

Opt+Cmd+A+P - would that zap your ARAM? :eek:

mikeyredk

Jul 25, 2005, 11:57 PM

i got them too (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=139787)

Tip to keep ants away use talcum power they hate the feel of the power

Xephian

Jul 26, 2005, 12:03 AM

mad jew

Jul 26, 2005, 12:31 AM

*crying in corner, holding a can of RAID*

RAID comes in a can now? Coolness. :cool:

Sorry, bad geeky joke. :o

katie ta achoo

Jul 26, 2005, 12:59 AM

RAID comes in a can now? Coolness. :cool:

Sorry, bad geeky joke. :o

Yeah, I was gonna make some horrible joke about a RAID array but.. Ehhh. :)

Macky-Mac

Jul 26, 2005, 03:40 PM

O..M..G !!!

I just discovered an ant crawling around INSIDE my G5 iMac's display......it's walking around in there, seems to be between the backlight and the LCD

i-unit123

Jun 23, 2006, 12:45 PM

RAID I, ANTS 0... lol

regre7

Jun 23, 2006, 01:15 PM

No ants, but at work a few days ago, I was typing away and a spider came down from the ceiling and continued descending right in front of my face. I'm just glad it didn't land on my head.

dextertangocci

Jun 23, 2006, 03:10 PM

Why do bugs love Apples?

Because Apples are sweet:D

Mojo67821

Jun 23, 2006, 04:56 PM

*crying in corner, holding a can of RAID*

Haha... I'm with you. I scream like a little girl every time I see a bug.

celebrian23

Jun 23, 2006, 04:59 PM

Haha... I'm with you. I scream like a little girl every time I see a bug.

So do I. I can deal with almost anything...but not bugs! Keep them as far away as possible! If I found they were in my mbp I don't know if I could ever use it again

Queso

Jun 23, 2006, 05:03 PM

This is stage one of their plan. Today, get computer literate. Tomorrow, inherit the Earth.

nickelbackmac

Jun 23, 2006, 07:16 PM

Isn't this a bit inconsistent?

I would suggest the following:

open your iMac and clean out any resident ants with canned air,
close it up and set it up somewhere else temporarily where you haven't seen ants,
clean your desk top and the area with something like 409, hopefully destroying the local pheromone trail the the ants have left,
wait a few days for the ants to loose interest in the area, and
move your iMac back, but put down some ant traps around the floor and desk legs to keep them from getting to it again.

Hopefully, that'll work. Best of luck!

I love your idea. *takes notes for future reference*. I'm not being sarcastic. That really is smart. I would have never thought of clearing the pheromone trail, as I would just worry about getting rid of ants. Now, if the little devils attack MY Mac (new MBP 17", I would hate for it to get infested with ants), I will know what to do. T-H-A-N-K-S!

RichP

Jun 23, 2006, 08:49 PM

I love your idea. *takes notes for future reference*. I'm not being sarcastic. That really is smart. I would have never thought of clearing the pheromone trail, as I would just worry about getting rid of ants. Now, if the little devils attack MY Mac (new MBP 17", I would hate for it to get infested with ants), I will know what to do. T-H-A-N-K-S!

MBP = The Ant Broiler

Fleetwood Mac

Jun 23, 2006, 09:52 PM

I couldn't resist!!

My latest creation;

pink-pony115

Jun 24, 2006, 02:18 AM

I have experienced ants crawing around my iBook. What I did was moved my iBook permately to my desk. So far, iBook is ant free!:D
-pink-pony115

bousozoku

Jun 24, 2006, 02:28 AM

I'd say that it has to do with a slight buzzing that's below our hearing threshold. Ant's hearing is quite sensitive and in an emergency situation, they make a sound something like a old style fire alarm bell.

Mammoth

Jun 24, 2006, 02:52 AM

If you actually want to make a 'moat', get the lid from a cookie tin, put your iMac in it, and fill it up. I hope it doesn't rust the stand. If you're afraid it will, get a smaller lid and put it so that it's like a little island and put the iMac on that. Get it?

macenforcer

Jun 24, 2006, 03:37 AM

Guy robbed my apartment one time. I tracked him down, beat the crap out of him and got my stuff back. One of the items he took was a cordless phone. When I hooked the phone up I saw a roach crawl out of it. I freaked. Then I saw another one. I took it into the bathtub and opened it up. (no water). There was a whole freakin nest in there. YUCK! Cleaned it out and it was good as new. I guess he got the last word. LOL!

You are going to have to take it apart man.

Josias

Jun 24, 2006, 04:52 AM

I couldn't resist!!

My latest creation;

LOL!:D

BTW, macenforcer. I've once had roaches on MY TV!:eek: I was afraid anything was busted, but when sprayed some insectspray down there, they kinda dissapeared, and I haven't seen any since. He might not have to completely take it apart, just take off the back and put in some insectspray;) :p