Posted on 06/11/2006 3:31:25 PM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
In the 70 years since the imported red fire ant sneaked into Mobile aboard a ship from Brazil, no insect has been more vilified or subjected to such a relentless chemical assault from Southern homeowners, gardeners and farmers.
Even the government joined the quest to kill the pest, but through it all, the fire ant has not merely endured, but prospered, expanding from its original beachhead in Alabama to populate 320 million acres in 18 states.
Every year as the weather heats up, Southerners notice anew the earthen mounds of Solenopsis invicta rising like the pyramids of some ancient city, from lawns, pastures, parks and golf courses, visible proof that the tiny stinging ants, the bane of barefoot living and curse of the constant gardener, are here to stay.
Still, the battle rages. Hardware and garden store shelves overflow with chemicals designed to keep the ants in check potions and poisons that promise "Entire Colonies Destroyed Within 3-7 Days," and granules that vow to "Kill the Queen in 24 Hours." For big jobs, there are special chemical drenches, pressure injectors, scalding steam, bait stations and chemical spreaders.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the cost of pesticides and other control efforts, plus damage caused by the ants, is $6.5 billion a year.
Although the ant's sting unsually amounts to little more than a painful annoyance, it can be life-threatening when inflicted in sufficient numbers on hypersensitive individuals, infants, or the elderly. Birds, turtles, small deer and calves occasionally fall victim to swarms of fire ants. Their large mounds, up to 18 inches high, have also been known to damage farm implements and lawn mowers.
Chad Grosklags, co-owner of U-Spray Inc. in Lilburn, says he gets hundreds of calls a year from homeowners seeking solutions to the "ants from hell."
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
I live in south Florida and we had a serious fire ant problem years ago but we used commercially available fire ant poison for a couple of years and have not seen one in maybe 10 years. Those suckers are mean but not immortal, kind of like terrorist. Just keep killing them and eventually they go away. Better living through chemistry (and 500 lb bombs).
After the hard blisters, came the ITCH...an itch that goes clear down to the bone and there is no relief.
For two weeks, the itch was unbearable. The only temporary relief I got was to take a HOT shower, as hot as I could stand it without scalding myself..and let the hot water aimed at each area of bites, bring the histamine's to the surface. Oh lord, it felt so good..
A hot shower three times a day for two weeks..and I promise you'll survive :)
sw
Mewz, if ant motels would kill fire ants, they would be more than precious than gold in the South. The manufacturers of ant motels would be wealthier than Bill Gates, and we would have statues dedicated to them on every county courthouse yard.
Texas A&M has their AMDRO, which is supposed to kill the queen, but all it does make the mound move over about 5 ft. Some daring souls try pouring gasoline down the ant holes and lighting a match. More pastures have been burned up because of that than you can guess. Everything known to man so far has done nothing but encourage the fire ants. And I'm sure they'd love a nice little ant motel. They'd move in and bring 5 generations of relatives with them. They'd thrive and prosper and tell all their friends. You'd end up providing a vacation resort community for fire ants.
I've seen them kill baby chicks. It was awful. Texas A&M is working on something to destroy them, like they did the screw-worm. I hope they come up with something.
Hate fire ants. I used to pour boiling water on ant hills. Sometimes it works, some times it just chases them to the neighbor's yard. I got where I gardened barefoot because I could wash the bites immediately, but if I were wearing shoes, I'd have to take the shoes off and I'd get a blister.
Here NO had so much flooding with salty water that the fireants, though, died.
KYOTO PROTOCOLS?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Good one!!!
Toothpaste works good on the itch.
The Kyoto protocols are as valid as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion..
You have my deepest sympathy. Fire ants eat protein, and we represent an excellent food supply for them. Ranchers say that newborn calves in their pastures have been killed by those little monsters. There's got to be some sort of a neutron bomb for fire ants only.:)
Why do you insist on breathing, evil human?
I am concerned about little kids stepping in one of those mounds. I didn't even see it coming. We have to eradicate those Fire Ants.
sw
sw
History shows a normal poster.
Maybe a near fatal missing sarcasm tag?
Drive by or sleeper cell Troll?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Get ready. Set. ZOT!
Here in Florida, where a lush green St. Augustine lawn is a matter of suburban pride, we use so many chemicals that nothing should be alive.
Fire ants and mole crickets get the poison.
Dollarweed and stinging nettle get the herbicide.
And of course a good quarterly fertilizer keeps the turf a good 3-4 inches thick.
It's an environmentalist's nightmare!! GG
Maybe if it were only one comment I could see it, but two?
If you look, the one above the Kyoto Protocol comment is another description of man's meddling in the way the Earth works....
Chlordane. If you can find it.
You just can't kill these things off. You know those 500-lb bombs that destroyed Zarquawi and his companions the other day? Well the news didn't tell you this but the very next morning, the rubble was covered with new fire ant mounds. Bush doesn't want us to know that. This country has been through enough trauma.
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