Invação das Formigas

I seem to have an ant thing going on in my kitchen. One day, they appeared out of no where and since then, encouraging them to take their leave has been challenging. A few odd observations:

1. It is clear that ants are attracted to anything sweet. Anytime there has been a drop of anything -- fruit, cookie crumbs, juice -- on the counter, the ants go nuts. Clean up the sweetness, goodbye to the ants. However, strangely enough, even when the counter was absolutely spotless there would still be a small trail of ants moving back and forward. Scrub as I might, they just would not disappear. In a moment of scientific lucidity, I decided to move my cookbooks off the counter. Ten minutes later, problem solved! The ants must have been attracted to the decade-old food splotches in my cookbooks. Yuck!

2. This one I can't figure out. Aside from small remnants of food, the ants are wildly attracted to Felix's water bowl. Perhaps they are dying of thirst? Or trying to perfect their freestyle? No, but seriously, the ants are all over the water. I will routinely find dozens and dozens and dozens of them clumped together floating/swimming in the middle of the bowl. It's quite the sight!

In any case, things are under control now that I have moved the cookbooks and I feel like I have regained control of my kitchen! Now I just need to find a new spot for the books.