ANTS IN MY TRAIL CAM
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: GhostBird
05-Jul-17
Checked one on my trail cams yesterday and it was FULL of ants and ant eggs. I scraped them out with a stick best I could and swapped cards. I got hundreds and hundreds of photos of ants crawling around. I am going to have to do something to rid the camera of the infestation, because I'm sure they will be back. The area around the camera is in standing water from heavy rains and the little buggers found a nice dry spot inside my camera. I don't really want to spray the camera with bug spray because of the stink, and I'm not sure Sevin dust would be good inside a camera. I think I am going to put a Thermacell pad or two inside the cover and see if that works. Any other ideas????
From: Brotsky
05-Jul-17
Maybe try ringing the tree with peppermint oil? I think I've read somewhere that it is a natural repellent of sorts and probably would not bother anything in the woods with the scent.
From: elkmtngear
05-Jul-17
How the heck is the thing weatherproof, if ants can get inside? Curious about the brand/model?
Best of Luck, Jeff
From: GhostBird
05-Jul-17
It is a Moultrie cam, several years old. Not sure of the model. The LED display was sort of jacked up too. Probably a combination of ants & moisture.
From: eddie c
05-Jul-17
"How the heck is the thing weatherproof, if ants can get inside? Curious about the brand/model? Best of Luck, Jeff "
probably ate through the seal. it's amazing what those buggers can do.
From: Ole Coyote
05-Jul-17
get a pack of TERRO Liquid Ant Baits, these are self contained ai a small plastic tray and the ants will take the bait back to the nest and it will destroy the colony. I have used these for years work grat never have ants in my night crawler coolers now! You can find these at most hardware stores or Target and Walmart.
From: t-roy
05-Jul-17
Terro Ant killer. It's a syrup that you put a dime size drop on about a 1" square of thin cardboard. They eat it and take it back to the nest and feed it to the rest them. I've it used a couple of times last year and it worked very well. I've never had ant issues in my cams till last year and the Terro worked well.
From: pav
05-Jul-17
Same thing happened to one of my cameras a few years back. Got it cleaned out and relocated....but the darn thing would never hold a battery charge after the ants. Would only get about three days of photos on a fresh set of batteries....so I had to replace it.
From: t-roy
05-Jul-17
Must have been typing at the same time, ol coyote!
From: GhostBird
05-Jul-17
Thanks guys.
From: MNRazorhead
05-Jul-17
Same thing happened to me, too. It ended up shorting out from them, even after I put the camera in the deep freeze to kill the ants still inside. I think it basically became an ant nest as they were absolutely packed in it.
From: Cheesehead Mike
05-Jul-17
Tell me about it!
This is a Moultrie Trace cam intended for surveillance rather than a game cam. It has two tiny holes in the bottom, I'm guessing for ventilation and I think that's where the ants got in. I have 2 of these cameras and the last time I checked them they were both full of ants. The other one was actually worse than this one.
I've had ants in my mailbox before and I sprayed it with regular mosquito repellant and that got rid of the ants. I was thinking about putting some on my cameras, or plugging the little holes with toothpicks or something.
From: APauls
05-Jul-17
...moultrie's clever little trick to increase sales...one drop of syrup inside the case in each camera as they go out the door lol.
From: Cheesehead Mike
05-Jul-17
I've been using those cameras for a few years and this is the first time it happened.
From: elkmtngear
05-Jul-17
Wow, crazy cool pic, Mike!
I'll be checking my cams for holes...
From: hitmanatgym
05-Jul-17
We run Moultrie cam's aswell and have ants in them all the time... I can't wait to try the repellant.
From: Meat Grinder
05-Jul-17
A guy I know had the same problem with ants. He wrapped a small piece of a moth ball in Kleenex and put it inside the camera. It worked to repel them. Good Luck.
From: Woods Walker
05-Jul-17
Ants in the trail cam? Now THAT is the funniest thing I've heard all day!
But wait...you may have an entrepreneurial opportunity here.......FOOD PORN FOR AARDVARKS! (ya gotta think outside the box a bit.....or in this case the trail cam...)
From: JL
05-Jul-17
I've had ants in da' cam too when using them down south. Yup...an older Moultrie.
From: RutnStrut
05-Jul-17
They are attracted to something in the batteries. I was told this by the Cam-Trakker people years ago. I have had this problem once in a while for many years. I just clean them out and then put Tero in any camera that had them.
From: MeanMachine
05-Jul-17
Put the whole camera in the freezer for a week. Then use a bait insecticide in a small container in that area before reinstalling you camera.
From: wvbowbender
06-Jul-17
I've had them in my cam too, also a moultrie. Put in a Browning at the same spot, no ants, yet.
From: great white
06-Jul-17
It happened to me years ago the camera was in a security box Try adding some moth balls. Didnt seem to spook the critters
From: Chris S
06-Jul-17
Happened to me with a stealth cam and it would not turn on. I was told there is a scent in one of the chips that has been known to attract ants similiar to a pheramone. Could be BS but sounded plausible. Anyway I put it in a gallon zip lock in the sun for a day which killed them. Then took it apart blew everything out with a small compressor. Then I cleaned all the crud out with a tooth brush. Last I wiped all the smudgy crap off all the resisters and solder connections with Qtips dipped in isoprophal alchohol. Everything worked fine again. I wiped the outside of seal down with terro ant killer when I put it back up and no more problems. Hope it helps good luck.
From: TX Cazador
07-Jul-17
Bengal .....comes in a spray can....cost twice as much as others but worth it
From: DougLamarr
28-Jun-18
Well, there are few tips that will let the ants stay away from the cam: You can use insect repellent by simply placing a pinch of insect repellent inside your trail cam housing where it will not cause damage to the camera. You can freeze the camera by placing the camera in a zip-loc bag and then place it in the freezer for 24 hours. You can put ant bait around trail cam and wait a week or two or at-last you can treat source directly by taking help from pest control East Bay CA http://eastbay.pinnaclepest.com or any other local exterminator.
From: spike78
28-Jun-18
I put Seven dust in my mailbox and it worked although I was concerned the mailman would think it’s anthrax or something lol.
From: olebuck
28-Jun-18
happens to me in the summer time. a good misting of OFF bug spray fixed my problem after i cleaned them out.
From: elk yinzer
28-Jun-18
I had a camera fall victim to this last year too. It kept working but was never "right" again. Would take photos occasionally but I knew it was missing a lot too. I'm hesitant to spray anything on it because the other threat to my cams is bears, and I figure any scent on there is just going to make them more curious.
From: Killbuck
28-Jun-18
I've had that problem, Sprayed inside and out w/Permithron, wiped off lenses, good to go.
From: White Falcon
28-Jun-18
I have had them in mine, bug spray!
From: APauls
28-Jun-18
Now only if there was a spray to disinterest bears!
From: darralld
28-Jun-18
mix one cup warm water with ½ cup sugar and 3 tablespoons borax. Mix it until sugar is dissolved. Soak it up with cotton balls & place around the tree. If you can get a few close to the camera even better. It will kill them after they eat it. Do it when you won't have rain for several days to give them time to eat it.
Darrall Dougherty
From: spike78
28-Jun-18
Darall you just jogged my memory it was Borax I used and not seven dust. To try it out I sprinkled a bit on a carpenter ant and it went into convulsions. Stuff works great I like your idea.
From: jdee
28-Jun-18
What would you do if you had ants in your house ? Spray it with ant spray.
From: darralld
29-Jun-18
If you mix the borax like I posted they will carry it back to the nest & wipe the rest of them out. Takes a few days but works.
From: JL
29-Jun-18
I had ants in one of my Moultries again last week. I have some of the ant juice I can put at the base of the tree.
From: Medicinemann
29-Jun-18
Terro....like Ole Coyote and t-roy mentioned.
