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It's "flying ant day", which happens at roughly this time every year - and in the UK as well, although you may not have noticed it if you didn't live in the country...😎

Kath, ants don't like the cold, they stay in their nest and hibernate in winter and early spring. So you'll only see them when it's warmer.

I did see a few winged ants last week.

Thank you, we had the winged ants a few months ago here so not them again but I to Jane seem to remember it just being a summertime issue. Ah well village life ah.

We can't eliminate ants from the garden (and probably shouldn't try), but you don't have to share your house with them, Kath! There are some suggestions on your other ant thread.

Thank you Jane, we've been out all afternoon on a village bus trip and unfortunately there were more tiny ants in the sink all drowned now I think

Ants can't swim, or breathe in water, so they drown very easily. In the old days in Australia one way of dealing with ant plagues was putting the kitchen table and cabinets up on little moats!

If they're tiny brown ants, be careful of any live ones, as the ones like that at my place bite! I had black ants in my kitchen last year, but the problem was fixed once I found where they were getting in (a crack in the wall under the sink) and blocked the hole inside and out with silicone sealant and cement. Then once I'd swept up and put out the ants already in the kitchen, they haven't been an issue.

Where water pipes enter and leave the house could be a possible entry for ants, too.

@janemulberry

Easy on the "old days" bit, Missy! 😎

I well remember living in the tropics and having large used tins under the legs of the dining table and chairs, all half-filled with paraffin to keep the various species of ants at bay - the Fire Ants were the worst, especially when wearing shorts!  Our cat had a hobby of bringing live snakes into the house, preferably venomous ones, and hiding them under the carpets: either no-one had told her that some of them like to eat cats, or she was skilled enough to avoid that fate.  It certainly caused enough consternation among the family when we had to gingerly roll back yet another rug while wondering what we were going to be faced with - luckily, her ambition didn't stretch to the various types of cobras and even pythons that inhabited the jungle next to our house.

I guess that once you've gone troppo you never get over it... 😎

LOL, I'm old enough to remember that, too. Thankfully we mostly only had the little black ants and big brown sugar ants in our house in Australia. The huge black and red bull ants, with a vicious bite, didn't usually come into buildings, though we did have to watch for them outside.

And yes, cats are trouble that way. We co-exist with rats and mice in the garden here in the UK, but the only time any have been in the house, they were brought in by cats and released! I do hope they don't start bringing in snakes when we move to Bg!

@janemulberry

Many Bulgarians, especially the country-dwellers, subscribe to Balkan Snake Fantasy, ie "all snakes are venomous", and like to kill them on sight; the same is true in Greece and other parts.  You'll even catch the beggars pounding slow worms - and they won't be told that the poor things aren't snakes of any kind! 😡

I've seen  what I'm almost sure was a slow worm in my garden, but no snakes as yet. Only one or two species of snake in Bg are venomous, right? I won't be happy if I get a snake in the house, but in the garden, it's live and let live.

@janemulberry

There are 18 species of snakes in Bulgaria, 4 of which are poisonous.

Vipera ammodytes (Nose-horned viper):

.This snake is widely known and considered the most dangerous due to its large size, long fangs, and potent venom.

Vipera berus (Common European adder):While not as large as the Nose-horned viper, the adder can also inflict severe and potentially life-threatening bites, with symptoms including double vision and drooping eyelids due to its neurotoxic venom.

Other potential venomous snakes:

While the above two are the most commonly encountered, there are other species of vipers found in Bulgaria, though they may pose less of a threat to humans.