Ants!!!

[xisforextreme]

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...

 

[tech4all]

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...

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

But that is definitely freaky.

 

[xisforextreme]

either that or even ants love Macs

Everyone loves macs!

 

[iMeowbot]

It's true, some ants love 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]

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]

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

 

[iDM]

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]

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

I once had a caterpillar in an apple.

 

[wide]

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]

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]

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]

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...

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]

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:

1. open your iMac and clean out any resident ants with canned air,
2. close it up and set it up somewhere else temporarily where you haven't seen ants,
3. clean your desk top and the area with something like 409, hopefully destroying the local pheromone trail the the ants have left,
4. wait a few days for the ants to loose interest in the area, and
5. 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]

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]

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]

talk about dealing with software bugs. pun intended.

 

[wdlove]

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?

 

[mad jew]

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.

 

[idea_hamster]

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]

Get an aardvark.

 

[XNine]

Get an aardvark.

YUS! AN AARDVARK INDEED!

 

[JDOG_]

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.

 

[Kerry Sanders]

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

 

[xinxin]

My powerbook got ants too.

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

 

[devilot]

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...