This morning marked the first day of the Spring Ant Invasion Season at my house... I woke up to find them streaming through an electrical outlet above my kitchen counter.

Since I'm "going green" as much as possible, using toxic ant sprays, especially in my kitchen, is not an option.

Here are some "green" tips for taking care of ant invasions:

• Keep kitchen counters clean! Make sure there are no food products or food debris left on the counters overnight. Easier said than done with kids in the house, but if you leave your counters clean overnight, you'll have less chance of them being black with ants in the morning.
• Store grain-based products (cereal, crackers, etc) in sealed containers rather than the cardboard boxes they come in. I've found that the ants consider Kashi with Blueberries a special treat, and I'm guaranteed to have an ant invasion when I leave an opened box in the pantry.
• If you find yourself in the middle of an ant invasion, purchase Terro ant baits and put them near the invasion area as well as anywhere you see them entering the house. These are non-toxic ant baits that use a combination of pancake syrup as a lure and borax to kill the ants. You can purchase them at Home Depot and similar stores or online at http://Terro.com.
• Use a damp sponge to wipe up all ants that are running around so they don't start exploring other parts of your kitchen.

Be advised that Terro ant baits do not stop the ants in their tracks - the product is meant for them to bring it back to their nest for others to feast on as well, thus killing off the Queen and preventing further invasions from that source. The ants seem to love the stuff - they'll stream right into the plastic ant traps to feast on that sugary syrup.

Although it is not advisable to have pets eating the traps, the manufacturer says that there is not enough borax in a single trap to cause any concern. Borax is a mineral that is mined in the deserts of California, and is commonly used in soap products like 20 Mule Team Borax.