Fire Ants!

[wshytle]

With the recent rains we've had I've experienced an explosion of fire ants. After the standard YouTube visit I decided to get some 100% orange oil which I had to order online and hit them with boiling water in the meantime. I have a LP free standing cooker I made many years ago and a very large pot. I set it up in the front yard starting Sunday and got things pretty much under control today. You'd be amazed at how many eggs are right under the surface of the mound...thousands. I don't think I'll ever be 100% successful but I'm hoping the orange oil will help me stay on top of matters. It's supposed to be some nasty stuff for ants and sort of melts their skin off. It will kill anything it touches like earthworms but I'll only be using it in spots obviously. I've already stood on a hill while getting a tomato at dusk last year. I never felt the ants on my feet until the pain started which was pretty much immediate. By then they had covered both ankles/feet and I went a dancin' The good news was the pain didn't last very long and that surprised me.

Anyone else had the pleasure of dealing with these little devils? I don't think they've gotten to the upper half of the country yet.

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[digger]

Wayne S.
I've got family down south and they really got over run this year. I told them to get malathion.
From the reports from them and everyone with a mile that started using it, it stopped the little bastages dead in their tracks. Now the county they live in is recommending it to everyone, LOL

 

[wshytle]

Charlie-

I've used malathion before on squash bores and it did do the trick. The thing I don't like about it is the smell...like it came from the hog pen.

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[kmcconaughey]

I hope those fire ants never make it up to Wisconsin...

Malathion certainly does stink. It does kill stuff though. The only thing I use it on is my Schefflera and Ficus Bonsai trees to kill scale insects.

 

[lhinds]

I used a insecticide called Montana this year on part of the garden and at the cabin in the woods. It doesn't smell bad and worked on ants, wasps, mosquitos, potato beetles and lasted for several weeks before I had to reapply. I think it would work on fire ants.

 

[wshytle]

Luther-

The biggest advantage I've found with using the orange oil is the fact it's non toxic and organic as well. And it does seem to work. I used it for the first time last evening and there were no signs of any ant activity in those mounds this morning. It doesn't kill them instantly. I've watched and you can see them wriggling around trying to go about their duties. They appear to be in pain and for that I'm sorry but...they gotta go! Pain or no pain. It slowly dissolves their outer coating and I guess that dehydrates them to their death.

I've been out this morning and dispersed about 8 gallons...maybe 10. I ordered a quart of 100% cold pressed orange oil from Amazon. While making the order I had the obvious choice of paying $7 and change to get it in 3 days or the usual free shipping choice I seem to always make. I chose free shipping and got it in 2 days! Go figure.

Anyway, I found I have closer to 40 hills just in the garden area. I take landscaping flags and mark them just walking around. You have to look for some of them. I then go mix up (it's only an ounce/gallon of water) 2 gallons at a time and go a walkin'. I've found several that survived the boiling water earlier in the week. I have mounds from the size of a softball to the size of a basketball and bigger. I can see now I will need to be ordering more oil. My garden butts up to a cow pasture that is full of anthills so it will be an ongoing process. They've only been here less than 10 years too. We didn't use to have the little bastards. Heck we didn't have skunks here until last year. I'm waiting for armadillos and bears now. Neither one is far away I'm sure.

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[lhinds]

I have heard of only a couple Armadillos here. Bears, Skunks are plentiful here. The Big South Fork river and recreation area has been stocking bears for about 15 years. That is around 10 miles from me. The closest I have seen fire ants is around 100 miles South. Hope they stay away.

 

[wshytle]

I just recently realized that my house is now right at the line of fire ants and their move north. I have no ant hills north of my house but I'm sure I eventually will. I also learned that by adding Dawn dish detergent the orange oil solution it has a much better chance at being permanent as in being the end of that particular mound. I also want to say I haven't done any counting but it looks like I may have better than 50 hills just in my garden. The more I walk the more I find.

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[wshytle]

Update-

I've been pissing in the wind yet again. I have realized I can kill fire ant hills till the cows come home but there will be another the next day. And I AM surrounded already. I found a huge mound back by the barn which is on the north side of my house. It's a shame that walking around the yard barefooted has to be a thing of the past. The little bastards are everywhere. It is now time for calving and there are several newborns out there. I can just see one lying down, which they do all the time while mom grazes, and find they have laid on a fire ant hill. There are hills all over the pastures and since I'm surrounded by pastures I guess I will have them from now on. Due to the expense I am resorting back to boiling water. This will give me a temporary satisfaction but will always be just that...temporary. They will always pop up again just a few feet away. Apparently it isn't hard for them to find (or elect/assign?) another queen. I hope people north and west never get infested but the question is how far north/west they will they migrate.

This just goes to show that bad immigration isn't limited to terrorist and illegal criminals. I think it started here with the Japanese beetle (or was it the cudzu(sp) for erosion control?). The climate and atmosphere here must have been wonderful two hundred years ago. Nowadays one can only imagine.

What will be next???

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[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, this is probably the only way to ever get rid of them:

 

[wshytle]

Kraig-

You're probably right but someone said that about cockroaches and how they could survive radiation. I'm beginning to think fire ants may be right up there with the roaches.

It's raining now so tomorrow I plan to get some pics of a fresh hill "cleanout". I understand they have to clean out all of the little caverns so they really appear after rains. After the pic I will disturb the top and then get a pic of the thousands that appear immediately. I just walked out to the garden and found 3 more that popped up. The saddest part is I have spent about $75 to learn I've been peeing in the wind. The expensive way works but they just keep coming.

As you can imagine, the local news has been covering the aftermath of hurricane Florence and I hear some have seen little islands of fire ants floating/drifting on the water. Nature never ceases to amaze me with phenomena such as this. That is one heck of a survival technique.

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[mgwin]

Wayne,

Have you tried pouring gas on the mounds?
I have gotten rid of other ants this way. Just don't smoke outside!

 

[wshytle]

Marty-

I use gas on yellow jacket nest but if I used it on fire ant hills nothing would grow in that spot for years. The boiling water kills the grass but it will return by next year. My garden looks like it has cancer spots now.

We're in for some nice weather finally and I can't wait. I had a squaw line come through this morning and it rained like crazy for a short while. That rain will bring them critters out in the open tomorrow or the next day. I plan to set my cooker up by the garden and spend 1/2 a day boiling ants.

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[kmcconaughey]

Wayne, I wonder if something like this ---> Steam/hot water pressure washer <--- would work to kill those fire ants? Not cheap but it would have other uses, cleaning up a Cub Cadet for one...

 

[rkelm]

Wayne, use a small amount of gas (a quarter cup or less) and it will get rid of them. Wait about 3-5 days and then put Dr. Pepper on the spot and mix it in with the dirt, the ground usually comes back. Don't know why or how it works but give it a try on one of them. It has worked for me. Wayne, I also use a product called Orthene, it is a white powder, Do Not use it according to the directions, take a stick and make them mad and put it on the exploding nest immediately. It gets on the ants and they take it into the nest and it coats the tunnels and it gets on all of them, it may take a couple of times because they move but each time the nest gets smaller. I have had good luck with this also.

 

[rkelm]

Wayne, on the Orthene you only have to just sprinkle it on the ants when they explode looking for the culprit (the stick) that disturbed their nest. Also, I use it when the sun is shinning because their eggs are at the top of the nest and with the Orthene sprinkled on them it will kill the eggs too. They will definitely try and move the eggs so the powder does get on a lot of them.

 

[rkelm]

I keep thinking of things as I have a lot of fire ants. I only use about a heaping tablespoon of the Orthene. Most times I just sprinkle it out of the container and when it looks good I stop.

 

[wshytle]

Rodney-

Thanks for the tip on Orthene. I'll check on availability next trip to town. It sounds like it would be just the ticket for the ant hills...especially the ones about the size of a softball. And how does the Dr Pepper work? How big do your ant hills get? Some of mine are the size of basketballs or even a little bigger. I've also noticed that fire ants come in several different sizes. Some hills contain tiny ants and others have ants about 1/4" long.

Kraig-

I saw an episode of Gold Rush that showed the old timers injecting steam into the ground to thaw the permafrost. If it wasn't so expensive it would be a great way to kill some. After I use the boiling water there are actually wads of hundreds of dead ants in the aftermath. I think it readily finds the queen too. I've had as much luck with the hot water as with the orange oil and Dawn...and it's a lot cheaper. Last year I bought a $14 bottle of Andro (think that's the name...label fell off) which is made for fire ant control. I only had a few hills show up then. It's a granular mixture you sprinkle around the hill and they eventually take a snack to the queen. Once she's gone the hill will turn into a bare spot of dirt.

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[rkelm]

Wayne, I don't know how the Dr. Pepper works but I think it is the corn syrup/sugar that mixes with the dirt and replenishes what the gas takes out. Waiting 3-5 days kind of lets the gas dissipate some. The ant hills we have here are several different sizes dependent on when you see them and start attacking them. I usually try and get them about the size of a soft ball or smaller (when they first show up). I have had some about the size of a basketball and have had to really work to get rid of them. The actual "fire ants" that came from the boats in Alabama/Georgia/Louisiana in the 30's are usually light to dark brown in color and about 1/8 to 1/4 in length. The bite from them cause a burning and on some people form a little pistula or pimple at the bite spot. There are some here that some call fire ants but they are red and 1/4 to a little larger but these are native ants. Some of the smaller ants some call fire ants are also native and are a real light brown and what most people call sugar ants and get into cupboards and pantries and are a nuisance. Most of the time these are harmless.

 

[wshytle]

Just went for a stroll in and around the garden and spotted nine new hills. They're like a damn plague.

I'll do the pic thing after a while. I want the boiling water ready when I disturb the hill to be photoed.

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