Hello Everyone, You are all right. All your methods work. We all fall into the trap of it doesn't work anymore. OR 24 hrs and they are back. All I can say is you have to look at your situation and be smart. If you live in an apartment, expect roaches. If you live near a restaurant, expect rats. If you live in a house with landscape, expect spiders, ants and mice. Bottom line. MICE: Look around before you open the door, and don't leave your doors open. Make your screen doors snug around the edges. Try to screen off your roof vents or openings with metal screen. Plug up holes with steel wool. Leave traps up year round and eventually they will be gone. If not for good, a long time. An old building was demolished across our street and it took a year to get rid of them as they were looking for a new home. Been there!! ANTS: Its not just you.....what about your neighbor. My neighbor was collecting soda bottles outside his house as I discovered.......which created a SUGAR ANT SUPER COLONY. Guess where they decided to live?....That's right!!! in my garden. Borax and sugar bombs worked great. However, they were only control devices. We had to open up the ground and burst the colony, then spray. We left bombs inside and out, as well as next to all the ant ports. Eventually.......gone. But.....they are never gone, so don't be fooled. We also used bates of three Brand names....only temporary. Borax bombs worked best. ECO SPRAY Seems to do a good job. We also use peppermint and lemon essential oil as a spray to finish coat on our counters and other areas where they might wonder. Just a quick coat before we go to bed and no visitors in the morning. They hate that stuff and so do spiders. The spray mix so far does not damage anything. We use consumable essential oil...in other words we can eat it. If you need help getting some, I can direct you where to get it. We noticed in our new home that we had a different kind of ant. A protein ant as others have stated. So we left some ice cream on the counter all night for two days. Not a single ant. But, when we used a frying pan, and even washed it.....they came to visit again. Soooo............here are some tips. Ask the correct questions first. What are they going after? How big are they? What is our weather like? Where are they located? (Kitchen, Bathroom, Shower). Can I trace the ant trail outside? Do I think the nest is inside? Once you have done that...take it from there. SPIDERS: They really are a pain. Lots of trees? Lots of spiders. Lots of junk? Lots of spiders. And so on. Don't give them a home or opportunity, and you wont have a problem. Lemon pledge, Lemon and peppermint essential oil spray, keeping your house orderly, and window sills clear will help a lot. We use our diffuser with essential oils and they don't seem to appear anymore. I leave essential oils in bottle caps under the couch, closet and hidden corners, and again no appearances. Determine what type of spider you have the most in the same way you did with the ants. Sometimes they are just lost checking out your house and trying on your shoes!! (Joking) Do some reading and try different things. I read once where a couple had a super spider invasion and could not get rid of them. They were in everything and everywhere. When any pest problem gets to this level.............call a professional. ****No matter how you slice it....you share space with all of these creatures because your dwelling is on the ground somehow, and someway. You don't have to kill every spider you see...just keep it from coming in. You get what you put into it!! Bottom line. If you want to get rid of them....you have to go the extra mile. If you go the extra mile as I did when I dug up the ant colonies.......you get the big results. Like everything else in your house............its work. And it has to be done. And remember...the BUGMAN is like your Auto Mechanic.....do you think he will tell you everything!!??? It's up to you!!!!! Good Luck.

Several years ago good friends gave away all of their HTs to the city gardens. They kept one Abe Darby, One Mme. Plant it here and their Minis. The minis are in raised beds with automatic watering and an easy fertilizing attachment. The soil after so many years is so rich it takes minimal care. They have had fun trying out wierd stuff, pineapple lillies (he has a small greenhouse,) a whole bed of Monarda, huge sunflowers, what ever tickles their fancy. They have stopped giving an annual tour of their gardens. For myself, when RRD struck last year, and having seen other gardens go down in ruin, I decided that I would branch out my interest keeping in mind that I am no spring chicken anymore. I bought a whole bunch of weird no care OP lilies, Chinese Tree Peonies (shaded blooms lasts a week if you are lucky and water me and I will die - I promise,) and other easy care stuff. I have been given permission this year from the Troll (DW) to buy some more roses if I want, as we had a late frost. I am going to replace French Lace even though it is a major pain to keep alive in our zone, a damask Dr. Henry Najat likes that I forgot the name of--- Belle something or other, and perhaps an other Alba. I am going to pass on MIP even though she won several awards at shows. Perhaps I won't. Something to kick around over the long winter. Getting old is not for sissies. What ever you decide please don't plant the EVIL Mr. GRASS! It has to be mowed, fertilized, watered, and it hides snakes. Foghorn Leghorn National Anti Grass Leaque

Laura, I'm also so very sorry to read this about your cat. It's heartbreaking. I had the neighbor from hell situation for about 2 years. It's much better now, and I'm so relieved we don't feud anymore. But it was basically over dogs. Her dogs roamed the neighborhood in a pack, and they barked all hours of the day and night. I called the police every night when I couldn't sleep because of these dogs. I called the police every time the dogs were threatening a pet or child. I called and called, made complaints with animal control, and FINALLY it paid off. I think the fines must have gotten too much, and she decided to keep her dogs in at night and confine them to a fenced yard during the day. So my advice - just be persistent. I know you're moving, but I wouldn't back down until I was officially moved out. I just don't like bullies. Never have. And it's something I won't tolerate. Good luck to you.

Logic, I could tell you so many stories. They were so smart and very clever. My little female had a fascination about opening doors and gates. We watched with our own eyes as she learned how to kill the batteries in the collar just by keeping it beeping. The collar emits a warning beep prior to the shock. It gives the dog a chance to back-up. She would keep moving back and forth making the collar beep. After about 100 times, the battery would fail. She would jump on the gate and open the latch and off she went. Even the IF people couldn't believe it but came to the house to watch her from the window. The stories written here are so sad. I can't imagine living next to people like those discussed. I don't know what I'd do. We always had large properties and dogs. We always had fences. Although I never cared for the look of chain link, we always planted shrubs to hide the fence. We spent extra for attractive gates. Most people will not open a gate when dogs are present, even if friendly. I'm a great believer that good fences make good neighbors. Jane