Posted on 09/15/2004 7:31:58 AM PDT by An American in Turkiye
Anyone have a tried and true way of killing fire ants? I bought some white, nasty powder from Ortho and all it did was make the ants move their mound. After 5 attempts, I poured boiling water on them. Killed them all, along with a patch of my grass. Any suggestions would be welcomed.
I got bit by one of those suckers while on a whitewater rafting trip. Spent the entire second day dragging my foot in the river to calm the burning. Ow!
I have been stung so many times it is not funny. I hardly notice it any more.
I'd never encountered one before, and never hope to again.
My 3 y.o. tried that, but no one told him to not let his shorts fall on the ground by the antpile. After he pulled them up: ants in pants dance. I couldn't figure out at first why he had them in his pants, but not his shoes, because he said he didn't sit in them. After he got stripped down and his story out, I had a good laugh. Another life lesson learned on his own!
This may sound crazy but...we used one of those little black ant traps meant for indoors and tossed it on the mound. The little suckers would pack the poison right on in there and poof! Took about a week but they didn't move the mound like some of the other methods. Oh yeah, we did that for about 6 years. Worked everytime for us. -A
Kerosene; light em up!
Dept of Agriculture can offer a bounty for fire ants. We have seen what happens to other animals when they produce revenue. They will become extinct. Thats why we have bans on killing or certain varmits. Probally won't work. The spca would intervene. Heck.
I still miss Myrex. It was the best stuff. I should have stockpiled it.
Not really. We just put old orange peels in a tub and soaked em for awhile and then poured it on.
Take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Boy, you know how to kill an appetite, don't you?
LOL!
Whenever anyone complains about the snow, I tell them that I'd rather shovel some snow than deal with fire ants.
You've found the best answer yourself, short of an anteater.
Boiling water. I used a few gallons of it on a few colonies that had to number in the millions that were in my backyard.
That was years ago. They're just now managing to recup their numbers.
Guaranteed to work.Apply acephate to individual mounds,but also spray the entire lawn with liquid acephate.It will help control them for a few months and then you'll have to apply again.Problem is,the poison leaches into the soil and after time,the ants from next door will move in.Gotta keep the poison at surface level.
I'm the fire ant king.Was bitten over 100 times one summer night.Went to the hospital and the whole nine yards.Still have deep scars on my legs and it was 2 years ago.Now,it's personal.
Stake a Democrat to each mound. Ants should be dead within 3 or 4 days.
i tried everything when I lived in Texas, then some old timer at the feed store told me to try this - it works and chemical free.
Perhaps Diatomaceous Earth from the pet shop, for aquarium filters. I heard it is like ground glass to them, and gets through their exoskeletons.
I would also try mixing Boric Acid powder with powered sugar, which I KNOW is curtains to roaches. They eat it off of their tiny sneakers, thinking it is only sugar.
I used to live in San Antonio and we used a yellow granulated product called Amdro (or something similar). It's a poison bait that the workers bring into the colony and feed to the queen...kills an entire mound quickly. Best use is to broadcast it on your lawn so foraging parties will keep bringing it back to their homes, but once you stop using it they colonize your yard quickly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.