Not much movement on patio
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
A friend of mine was complaining the other day about ants in her house, and it got me thinking that I had heard that if one surrounds one’s house with a barrier of minced garlic about two inches high, the ants will not cross it. That means running a lot of garlic through one’s blender, though, so it may be less trouble just to move to another house, one that doesn’t have ants.
There is the option of having someone come to your house and lay down a swath of poison, which is what we do at our house, but some people are squeamish about that. They are afraid their cats and dogs will lick up the poison and get sick, but I can tell you from experience that doesn’t happen.
The cat at our house is not a poison licker. She only goes for the high-end cat food. She won’t eat ants, either, although you would think they would be easy pickings for her. All she does is watch an ant when one ventures across the patio, having perhaps been over at the neighbors when the sprayer man came around. The cat does this while lying splayed on the concrete in the shade. She will move her eyes, and maybe her head just a little, but when the ant gets out of her line of sight, she just looks away or shuts her eyes and goes back to sleep.
Which makes me think the cat has finally figured out how to handle hot weather. She lies on cool concrete, where there might be a little breeze, and only moves when I trot out with breakfast or supper.
Sometimes the backyard bluebird will land on the lawn, and the bird and the cat will stare at each other, but neither has the energy to chase or be chased.
It can be that way in the middle of summer. I know how they feel.
