# So I got back from Vacation (TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 27, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-back-from-vacation-tmi/281716 "2004-12-27T00:07:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-back-from-vacation-tmi/281716/1 "2004-12-27T00:07:55Z")
So, I left for Sarasota for a couple days, and put out the stray cat that has adopted me (since she has trouble aiming in the litterbox and I don’t want it staying around for days,) and put out some extra food and water for her. Now, before when I did this I came back to find the food taken over, only half-eaten, by hordes of ants. But I did what my Mom suggested, and which was face-slappingly obvious when she told me :smack: , which is to leave out a large pan of water with a pan of food in the middle: ants cant get it. So I left several days worth of food outside and left. When I came back, there was still the pan of food, mostly empty, in the middle of the water pan. But floating in the water pan were, I kid you not, more than a _dozen dead cockroaches_. Okay, guys, let’s make a deal. If you want to make it past the nuclear holocaust, you can’t keep volunteering yourselves for the Darwin awards like beer-cravin’ slugs. ---
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-back-from-vacation-tmi/281716/2 "2004-12-27T01:31:17Z")
Charge of the Cockroaches’ Brigade! If it isn’t ants, it’s cockroaches. And I’m sure if you found a way to avoid the cockroaches, some other pest will rear its ugly, antennaed, multi-eyed head up. WRS ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-back-from-vacation-tmi/281716/3 "2004-12-27T02:19:04Z")
In retrospect, perhaps they perished in search of water, rather than food. But it doesn’t make it any less gross. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-back-from-vacation-tmi/281716/4 "2004-12-27T17:30:15Z")
To keep the ants away, put the bowl of food on a larger plate or tray on which you have sprinkled cinnamon. The ants don’t like it. I’m not sure how roaches feel about various spices, though. Can’t help you there. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-back-from-vacation-tmi/281716/5 "2004-12-27T20:41:42Z")
> [@missbunny](#): > > To keep the ants away, put the bowl of food on a larger plate or tray on which you have sprinkled cinnamon. The ants don’t like it. > > I’m not sure how roaches feel about various spices, though. Can’t help you there. From what I understand, roaches really dislike bay leaves. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-back-from-vacation-tmi/281716/6 "2004-12-27T20:49:59Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > From what I understand, roaches really dislike bay leaves. They also really hate bay windows, so if you have a large, nice living room, you could put the food in there. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-got-back-from-vacation-tmi/281716/7 "2004-12-27T21:02:21Z")
I was expecting something totally different, since I first read the thread title as So I got back from the Vatican (TMI)