New to AL (Ft Benning area) help with fire ants please?

10 years ago

I have been on GW for many years, though I have not been active here in awhile. With a new state, a new (to us) house and a blank slate yard that needs major tlc, I am sure I will be on here a lot again.

My first problem is a yard with many fire ant hills. I am not opposed to poisoning these demons, but worry about my dogs as well. We have kids and dogs that play in the yard, so I dont want them or me getting attacked by fire ants. It turns out I am allergic to them, so one more reason they have to go. Help? Advice?

Thanks!
Amy

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Comments (3)

alabamanicole
10 years ago
I would not worry about the dogs. A dog would have to eat a LOT of the poison to harm themselves.

And honestly, once a dog steps into a fire ant mound once, they are usually bright enough not to repeat the experience!

http://www.extension.org/pages/34815/are-fire-ant-baits-toxic-to-humans-and-pets

More info:
http://www.extension.org/fire_ants
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
10 years ago
Amy, welcome to Alabama! I clearly remember my first introduction to fire ants....I had a severe reaction but my sensitivity went away with time. Maybe yours will, too.

Of course, you don't want to expose your children or pets to toxic poisons! And fire ants often climb aboard an animal or person in large numbers, stinging only when a bunch are present.

Fire ants are best controlled with a product labeled as a bait. In my experience, the best bait for fire ants is Amdro. When used properly, it poses little problem for anyone but the ants.

You can do a mound by mound treatment, which is what I would recommend for homeowner yards. Sprinkle a small amount of the granules around the perimeter of the mound.....gently, please. You do not want to disturb or rile them. In a minute or two, the granules will be discovered and pretty soon every little tidbit will be gone, taken into the nest chambers where the poison will be fed to larvae and even the queen.

For Amdro to work, you need to apply it when the ants are active and you must be careful to not disturb the colony. If fire anfs are disturbed.....they move to another location in your yard.

Do not over apply the product, more is not better. It should disappear into the mound in just a few moments. It does not work immediately, as it has tk be fed to the population. But it is very very effective.

Keep children and pets away from the Amdro. It is a poisonous material, even though it doesn't look or smell like it. Amdro should not be used around edible plants. Just read and follow the directions on the label.

There are "organic " baits, as well. Might not be as effective (from what had been reported to me), but can be used in a veggie garden.

Don't buy any more Amdro than you'll use in one season. It loses its effectiveness in storage after opening. I keep mine in a laundry room cupboard, not in a hot garage or shed.

I'd avoid insecticides that are not baits. Fire ant nests are very complex and extensive. Contact poisons just can't work.

My final advice is to purchase a container of granulated Adolphs meat tenderizer (not flavored) . When applied to a recent sting as a paste, it takes away the firey sting and prevents the itching and formation of the little pustule that shows up in a day or two. If I'm in the gardens, I have the Adolphs with me. It works on any kind of insect sting or spidef bite. Mosquitoes, too! Gotta catch it early though.
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I keep meat tenderizer in my purse just in case I get bit. You make a paste and it supposedly helps disperse the acid, which lessens the reaction. As far as my yard, I won't take any chances. My 2 year old fortunately hasn't met a fire ant yet. He has gone in the beds and came out scratched from a crown of thorns and some bougies, no crying though. He does have bad reactions to mosquitoes though, hence the bug light. Sorry their worth is not as great as my son's. To Laura, I gave birth to a beneficial yesterday!!! I was digging in some dirt and found a lizard egg. I had just put it on my hand to show DH, and he popped right out. It was too cool!!! I put him back where his egg came from, but I still think I can hear him calling me momma =D Have a good day all Shannon
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The North Carolina ag extension agents have been giving classes in fire ant removal for a year or so. The gist of the class is the following. The effective way to remove fire ants is to poison the ants with any of the slow acting types that slowly get carried to the whole colony including the queen. This completely removes the colony AFTER A FEW WEEKS. Generally these are distributed around but not on the hill on a warm day when the ants are foraging. Put a potato chip near the mound if in doubt; if the ants don't show up in 30 minutes they won't be around to pick up the poison until it gets damp and unappatising. Also important; one should not indiscriminately poison all ants. Other ants are teritorial and will fight to keep fire ants away. They are your friends!
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Thanks for the continued help! Yes, I saw that too! Fascinating to watch them 'climb the tower,' but takes more time. That's why the one plant was completely under water, the whole thing, foliage, flowers, whole thing. The ants were crawling around under water after 30 minutes. It got too dark to see in there after that, but the one plant that stayed in for 2 hours still had ants when I finally took it out. The ants seem to have no interest in anything inside, so I don't know if they're what you're calling house ants or not. I never saw this kind of ant in OH, or any of the smaller ones that take up residence in pots here, just much bigger black ones which were definitely interested in coming inside. AFAIK, plants don't have pests aside from the occasional aphid or white fly that any bunch of plants outside would have, which I dispose of/rinse or trim off. I look at every leaf at least 4-5x per week, almost every day. They're definitely not picking pots housing plants with pests as a basis for that decision. The pots that seem to have ants in them more often than not show signs of stress and slow growth from issues around the roots, not pests at the foliage. The primary issue is nests in pots. If I could isolate why they like some and are not interested in others, that would be awesome! I'd like to put a moat around the whole porch, sigh! Yes, there's a lot of pots, most of them hanging. The ants find those too. They can be temporarily thwarted by coating the hanging arms with veg oil, or backwards tape, but either method is short-lived, and messy or ugly. (Not that this conglomeration of cheap plastic pots is terribly attractive, but I'm working toward having the outside of all pots covered with enough dangling foliage to 'fix' that.) This is shady end of front porch. There are more pots on the back porch, around my potting area, hanging from several trees, and our dog's house.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
10 years ago
Duplicate

This post was edited by rhizo_1 on Sun, Apr 6, 14 at 15:43

New to AL (Ft Benning area) help with fire ants please?

Comments (3)

alabamanicole

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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