I use Amdro in the rest of the yard but not in the raised beds where I grow food - its not considered organic nor is it environmentally friendly. To me, it works the best but can take a day or so to see any results. You often see the results in piles of dead ants at the entry area, they look like tiny coffee colored jewels on the ground. Around food crops I use a similar bait based on the chemical Spinosad which is considered "organic". I think the product I use is called "come and get it". But (and there's always a but) insects quickly develop a tolerance to Spinosad. In my yard it seems to work for a year or so and that's all. I find that just messing with the colony will cause them to move somewhere else. Often I pretend that they are extra thirsty and need a nice long drink from the hose. My elderly neighbors laugh at me for using a dolly to move even a one gallon pot across the yard, or a bucket to haul sweet corn the 20 steps to the kitchen door - its all because I've learned the hard way that fire ants like to live inside black plastic pots and ears of corn and heads of lettuce. You don't want to hold anything up against your body. In the summer I often have one of those large plastic tubs with the rope handles off to the side and full of cold water - something to step into if my bare feet are getting stung. Fire ants like to crawl up inside your clothing and wait for a chemical signal from one ant then they all start to sting at the same time (they grab ahold of your skin with their mouths but they actually sting you with the other end, like a tiny wingless bee). So loose clothing, no socks and simple sandals mean it is easier to get them off of you if you should get swarmed. Otherwise you're ripping off your clothes while you run to the door and those same elderly neighbors will think you've finally gone crazy. My yard's fire ants only build the raised mounds if we've had a lot of rain the soil is moist, otherwise they can look like any other tiny ant colony. Don't worry - a new invasive ant is on its way up from the deep south and it kills fire ants. I believe they are called Crazy Ants. They're bigger and I don't think they sting but they invade houses.

It's hard to imagine how this could have happened and the aftermath looked horrific. Such a sweet-looking town.

Oh how terrible for this to happen so close to the holidays. Please let us know when they find the kitty. She's fortunate to have you helping them out. They'll be in my prayers.

This is NOT a situation where a typical insurance adjustor/appraiser is of much use - this is beyond their area of expertise. You do need a landscape professional - either a consulting arborist or a certified horticulturist. Or even better, a member of the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA). With the exception of larger, established trees (and a few other exceptions), the value is that of replacement cost of the closest sized same species shrub (and the associated costs of removal and replanting). Other than trees, there is little value added to plantings based on age or degree of maturity, unfortunately, and one is seldom able to replace shrubs on a size-by-size direct replacement.......nurseries just do not sell 40 y.o. boxwoods or lilacs!! But there are recognized formulas available for calculating the value of mature, established trees that factor in species, size, condition and location. You need to hire someone properly versed in this sort of evaluation - it is quite a specific skill set and not one that your homeowner's insurance adjuster is likely to have under his/her belt.