Do ants chew?

[daffodil]

I have a big ant problem. I have the big black ants, the medium size ones and now the real little ones. I've been putting my brown sugar and bread and such in gallon baggies to keep the ants out but this morning I went to get the brown sugar for my oatmeal and the bag had a bunch of ants in it. Then I noticed 2 holes had been chewed in the baggie. Just small holes, kind of like mice chew. I'm wondering if ants chew thru baggies because if it's a mouse I don't know how it's getting away with it because I have everything on my kitchen table (no storage) and I have 2 cats which frequent that area and are even sometimes closed in there when I leave the house. I'm going to have to throw the sugar out. It was almost a full bag and with trying to cut costs I can't afford to have things wasted.

[NCLee]

As far as I know, ants do chew. However you wouldn't see holes like those made by a mouse. If they do manage to chew through something, it would be more like a pin hole.

I suspect mice or perhaps one of your cats. It's possible that one bit through the bag just out of curosity. (sp)

FWIW, where possible, I like to store dry goods in glass containers. If you're starting from scratch, it takes a while to collect enough for storage. See if you can find a local source for gallon glass pickle jars. (Food service places often have them, along with other gallon size ones for mayo ketsup, etc. Although I must admit they're harder to find, now that plastic is taking over the world.)

Get friends and family to save glass jars and jugs with lids for you. If you have waste disposal convenience centers nearby you may be able to obtain from them.

Glass, even from a waste bin is easy to sanitize or even sterilize for re-use. Sanitize in a bleach water solution by soaking about 10 minutes. Boiling for 10 minutes to sterilize.

Glass not only keeps out ants and mice, it keeps out weavils from grains. Keeps moisture out (plastic bags can breathe to some extent.)

Finally, not picking on your cats, but some cats just don't make good mousers. Over the years, we've had a few that wouldn't catch a mouse if half of their 9 lives depended on it. While I don't know for sure, I suspect it's something mother cats teach their young. If mama cat doesn't have the opportunity to teach, the kitten may not ever learn what to do if a mouse shows up. -- That's just my 2-cents. :)

Hope you find something in this post that's useful.
Lee

[daffodil]

Finally, not picking on your cats, but some cats just don't make good mousers. Over the years, we've had a few that wouldn't catch a mouse if half of their 9 lives depended on it. While I don't know for sure, I suspect it's something mother cats teach their young. If mama cat doesn't have the opportunity to teach, the kitten may not ever learn what to do if a mouse shows up. -- That's just my 2-cents. :)

Hope you find something in this post that's useful.
Lee

We did have a tiny, tiny baby mouse in the house quite a few years ago. My one cat hid and the other was beating it with his paw! It ran off and went in it's hole in the wall. I thought maybe they would have learned by now how to get them!
I do like the glass jar idea. But like you said finding them is another thing, everything is plastic now.

[Wyobuckaroo]

Darling daughter, Tornado, took out a sack of garbage from the kitchen the other night without being asked......... I was shocked.........

She got it as far as out into the garage. Next morning, there was a quite large hold chewed in the bag and a trail of ants (1/4" long ones) coming and going to the bag. I cleaned up the mess, and sprayed the ants. Found the hole next to the wall where they were coming and going to. Sprayed that, and seems to be no more problem...... So far..........

Good luck
Wyo