AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH! FIRE ANTS!

#51
UKDslayer said:
I think you mean like diatomaceous earth. Fossilized silica granules will supposedly cut up their bodies and make them dehydrate but it's really hit or miss.
Click to expand...

DE works really well to kill a lot of insects.
Plenty of companies will remove your outlet covers and use an aspirator bulb to blow it along the wiring.
Roaches and whatnot will clean themselves and die due to ingesting the DE.
When I worked at the desalination facility, we never had roaches because of all the DE that got airborne.
The only place with fire ants was the opposite corner of the property.
 
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#52
Mike Casselton said:
DE works really well to kill a lot of insects.
Plenty of companies will remove your outlet covers and use an aspirator bulb to blow it along the wiring.
Roaches and whatnot will clean themselves and die due to ingesting the DE.
When I worked at the desalination facility, we never had roaches because of all the DE that got airborne.
The only place with fire ants was the opposite corner of the property.
Click to expand...

If a personal pet were to happen upon the place where DE is deployed, would they be in trouble?
 
#53
GreenGO Juan said:
If you are really bored you can mix to ant mounds and watch them try to kill each other but the likely hood of also getting bit is quite high.
Click to expand...
I tried that. The damned little buggards outsmarted me and formed an alliance.
Mike Casselton said:
My Dad used to pour gasoline on each mound. He'd let it sit for 10 minutes and then do it again.
Wait another ten and toss a match on it. Interconnected mounds would all light up.
Problem solved.
Click to expand...
Your dad is going straight to hell for that one (according to the EPA. If hiden biden or kacklin kamala were still in office an EPA task force including tanks and F-15’s and maybe a nuclear bomber would be heading to your house right now.).
 
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#57
Fx51LP308 said:
I started to see a few mounds come up within the cracks of my driveway. I was able to sweep the mounds away and apply Raid "Ant & Roach" killer to those cracks. It seems to have worked for the cracks. But now they made a huge mound at the base of my little patch of lawn where my mail box is located. I bought some "lawn pest killer" in granular form and a spreader. I wanted to confine the spread of the pesticide. But first, I had to knock down he mound and rake out the grass.

BIG MISTAKE!

They swarmed all up my pants legs, etc. And they HURT! Immediately, I brushed off my legs and calves. And I got some more Raid Ant & Roach killer for concrete parts of the driveway. I was able to spread the granular insect killer on the lawn itself and wet it down. It's also going to rain tomorrow so, hopefully, that will help. I have a liquid insect killer arriving on Wednesday from Amazon and I'll apply that as needed.

As for my skin, I'll watch for the welts they say fire ants leave, followed by the blisters. I'm hoping the infestation wasn't that bad but we'll see. I did ensure that I was completely brushed off before I went inside my house, and I then took a shower to wash off the wounds...... BTW, USE COLD WATER, NOT HOT!!!
Ask me how I know.... :eek: :ROFLMAO:

The greater question is did I kill all the entire infestation or not and how did it get there in the first place? I'll check around the neighborhood but I don't see my neighbors having these issues. I can't imagine someone just dumping a colony on my property and they just "burried down." These came from the ground up. I have to figure out where they came from and how to take'em down. But I guess I may have to wear PPE when I do it so I don't get bit.

UGGGHH!
Click to expand...

Yeah they're mean

We also have these things because everything in Arizona just has to be horrible:

giantdesertcentiped2e.jpg
 
#59
BCP said:
Yeah they're mean

We also have these things because everything in Arizona just has to be horrible:

View attachment 8620969
Click to expand...

Since the Mojave Desert is right on the borderline (near Kingman), do you worry about Mojave Rattlers?

I've been to Kingman, BTW. I drove I-40 from Cottonwood to Kingman, had lunch, and then back along the classic Rt. 66 route to Seligman (saw the Barber that waves at everyone). Then up north to the GCNP.
 
#60
Fx51LP308 said:
If a personal pet were to happen upon the place where DE is deployed, would they be in trouble?
Click to expand...

I put DE in my dog food.
Tractor supply sells it for adding to livestock feed.
It helps control parasites along with proper applications of fenbendazole.
DE increases the efficiency of deworming regimens.
 
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#61
When I first moved to SC, a neighbor told me to not upset ant hills and use the gasoline method described by others here. I was really fortunate to get this advice early in my stay in the south. She was a divorced rodeo girl and had horses that stayed on her side of the fence. Since this is the Bear Pit, I'll answer the obvious question now - we shared some beers and meals, but I was friend zoned from the git-go. No matter, her ass was too muscular and skinny for me, and she turned out to be a really good friend. In an incident where I woke up one morning and discovered a steer that escaped from a ranch down the road in my back yard, she came over and roped and held it until the owner came with a trailer to get it.

I had another neighbor who was an explosives guy in a local quarry. He liked to dig around the anthills and place the right amounts of ANFO. That also worked, and was also entertaining

On a dive trip to FL, I saw a girl kick into an anthill near Devil's Den before I could stop her. She was wearing sandals and her feet and lower legs were bitten up badly.

I know gasoline works. I hope the stuff from Amazon works for you.
 
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#62
CheStadium said:
When I first moved to SC, a neighbor told me to not upset ant hills and use the gasoline method described by others here. I was really fortunate to get this advice early in my stay in the south. She was a divorced rodeo girl and had horses that stayed on her side of the fence. Since this is the Bear Pit, I'll answer the obvious question now - we shared some beers and meals, but I was friend zoned from the git-go. No matter, her ass was too muscular and skinny for me, and she turned out to be a really good friend. In an incident where I woke up one morning and discovered a steer that escaped from a ranch down the road in my back yard, she came over and roped and held it until the owner came with a trailer to get it.

I had another neighbor who was an explosives guy in a local quarry. He liked to dig around the anthills and place the right amounts of ANFO. That also worked, and was also entertaining

On a dive trip to FL, I saw a girl kick into an anthill near Devil's Den before I could stop her. She was wearing sandals and her feet and lower legs were bitten up badly.

I know gasoline works. I hope the stuff from Amazon works for you.
Click to expand...

As do I. Thanks! :) I'm afraid the gasoline method might be a bit too much for the "Neighborhood/HOA Karens." And this is a much more suburban area than rural. Half of the stuff y'all get away with in the sticks we can't even touch in the burbs.
 
#63
Fx51LP308 said:
I started to see a few mounds come up within the cracks of my driveway. I was able to sweep the mounds away and apply Raid "Ant & Roach" killer to those cracks. It seems to have worked for the cracks. But now they made a huge mound at the base of my little patch of lawn where my mail box is located. I bought some "lawn pest killer" in granular form and a spreader. I wanted to confine the spread of the pesticide. But first, I had to knock down he mound and rake out the grass.

BIG MISTAKE!

They swarmed all up my pants legs, etc. And they HURT! Immediately, I brushed off my legs and calves. And I got some more Raid Ant & Roach killer for concrete parts of the driveway. I was able to spread the granular insect killer on the lawn itself and wet it down. It's also going to rain tomorrow so, hopefully, that will help. I have a liquid insect killer arriving on Wednesday from Amazon and I'll apply that as needed.

As for my skin, I'll watch for the welts they say fire ants leave, followed by the blisters. I'm hoping the infestation wasn't that bad but we'll see. I did ensure that I was completely brushed off before I went inside my house, and I then took a shower to wash off the wounds...... BTW, USE COLD WATER, NOT HOT!!!
Ask me how I know.... :eek: :ROFLMAO:

The greater question is did I kill all the entire infestation or not and how did it get there in the first place? I'll check around the neighborhood but I don't see my neighbors having these issues. I can't imagine someone just dumping a colony on my property and they just "burried down." These came from the ground up. I have to figure out where they came from and how to take'em down. But I guess I may have to wear PPE when I do it so I don't get bit.

UGGGHH!
Click to expand...


This is what ONE mf’ing fire ant did to me last year. 😡
We didn’t ever have a fire ant problem before our Hispanic invasion a few years back.
Not a coincidence 🫤


IMG_1464.jpeg
 
Last edited:
#66
Dead Eye Dick said:
I tried that. The damned little buggards outsmarted me and formed an alliance.

Your dad is going straight to hell for that one (according to the EPA. If hiden biden or kacklin kamala were still in office an EPA task force including tanks and F-15’s and maybe a nuclear bomber would be heading to your house right now.).
Click to expand...
1739912098175.gif

Must be Irish fire ants.
 
#67
Fx51LP308 said:
Since the Mojave Desert is right on the borderline (near Kingman), do you worry about Mojave Rattlers?

I've been to Kingman, BTW. I drove I-40 from Cottonwood to Kingman, had lunch, and then back along the classic Rt. 66 route to Seligman (saw the Barber that waves at everyone). Then up north to the GCNP.
Click to expand...

When hiking yeah but I killed way more rattlers in norcal than arizona. One year I got I think 26 or 28. I got pretty good at holding their head down with a stick and then cutting it off with a pocketknife.
 
#70
Fx51LP308 said:
What do you think caused the invasion and how did "Hispanics" play a role in that?
Click to expand...

Local Hispanic merchants buy produce and other cargo from other Hispanics only if possible. That means trucks carrying produce and other cargo from South of the border gave them a ride up North. One invasion to another.
 
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#72
Fire ants are bad and the little bastards will wait for you to walk by in the grass and give you a nasty bite for no reason, other than they just like to piss people off.

But Fire ants can’t hold a candle to the tiny little ants in Vietnam. We never knew their real name, just called them “piss-ants.” Those damned ants could leave a welt on you that would embarrass a red wasp. Quarter sized or larger welts were not unusual. I was usually up all night monitoring our equipment (in other words looking for bad guys) so I slept in the day when I could. While sleeping, one actually crawled inside my mouth before he administered the coup de grace. I’ll never forget.
 
#75
Dead Eye Dick said:
Fire ants are bad and the little bastards will wait for you to walk by in the grass and give you a nasty bite for no reason, other than they just like to piss people off.

But Fire ants can’t hold a candle to the tiny little ants in Vietnam. We never knew their real name, just called them “piss-ants.” Those damned ants could leave a welt on you that would embarrass a red wasp. Quarter sized or larger welts were not unusual. I was usually up all night monitoring our equipment (in other words looking for bad guys) so I slept in the day when I could. While sleeping, one actually crawled inside my mouth before he administered the coup de grace. I’ll never forget.
Click to expand...

Could they possibly be transported via regular passenger traffic to/from VietNam (like Killer bees migrated from Brazil)?

I sure as Hell hope CBP is on the lookout for that.
 
#77
Fx51LP308 said:
As do I. Thanks! :) I'm afraid the gasoline method might be a bit too much for the "Neighborhood/HOA Karens." And this is a much more suburban area than rural. Half of the stuff y'all get away with in the sticks we can't even touch in the burbs.
Click to expand...
Just don't light the gas. I use a shovel handle to poke a hole in the bed and pour gas in the hole. No fire. Just a dead spot in the yard for a while
 
#78
sloporsche said:
One year yankee carpet bagger living in florida and i am just learning how to combat no-see-ums.......no ants [THEM] yet
Click to expand...

If you have the little no seeums biting bastards in your yard, you can treat it once a year and you should be good.
Now is a good time before it warms up.
 
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#79
Mike Casselton said:
If you have the little no seeums biting bastards in your yard, you can treat it once a year and you should be good.
Now is a good time before it warms up.
Click to expand...
I do spray but they come in such vast numbers it seems easier to use OFF pre bite and zest with aloe after bite ,long pants and long sleeve shirts too next visitors are black flies and i think another one too maybe a bee .....i am learning
 
#80
Fx51LP308 said:
I started to see a few mounds come up within the cracks of my driveway. I was able to sweep the mounds away and apply Raid "Ant & Roach" killer to those cracks. It seems to have worked for the cracks. But now they made a huge mound at the base of my little patch of lawn where my mail box is located. I bought some "lawn pest killer" in granular form and a spreader. I wanted to confine the spread of the pesticide. But first, I had to knock down he mound and rake out the grass.

BIG MISTAKE!

They swarmed all up my pants legs, etc. And they HURT! Immediately, I brushed off my legs and calves. And I got some more Raid Ant & Roach killer for concrete parts of the driveway. I was able to spread the granular insect killer on the lawn itself and wet it down. It's also going to rain tomorrow so, hopefully, that will help. I have a liquid insect killer arriving on Wednesday from Amazon and I'll apply that as needed.

As for my skin, I'll watch for the welts they say fire ants leave, followed by the blisters. I'm hoping the infestation wasn't that bad but we'll see. I did ensure that I was completely brushed off before I went inside my house, and I then took a shower to wash off the wounds...... BTW, USE COLD WATER, NOT HOT!!!
Ask me how I know.... :eek: :ROFLMAO:

The greater question is did I kill all the entire infestation or not and how did it get there in the first place? I'll check around the neighborhood but I don't see my neighbors having these issues. I can't imagine someone just dumping a colony on my property and they just "burried down." These came from the ground up. I have to figure out where they came from and how to take'em down. But I guess I may have to wear PPE when I do it so I don't get bit.

UGGGHH!
Click to expand...
Gasoline and a match works wonders
 
#81
ggmanning said:
Bifen. Mix up and spray any mounds and the entire yard.
Click to expand...

This. BiFen is the shiznit.

And bifen granules minimum 0.2%, sprinkle it on and around the mounds they will bring out their dead overnight.

Pretty much any brand with 0.2% is fine, more if you can find it but I never have, Ortho produces better results than others for me.

Also, Demon/WP everywhere, mix it with water in a pump sprayer and it kills every fucking thing. You can even spray it on mounds but it won't last through a rain. Good thing about it is it's water based so it won't stain and won't harm pets.

iu
 
Last edited:
#84
sloporsche said:
I do spray but they come in such vast numbers it seems easier to use OFF pre bite and zest with aloe after bite ,long pants and long sleeve shirts too next visitors are black flies and i think another one too maybe a bee .....i am learning
Click to expand...

Don't swat at the bees. Just let them go about their business. Even if they land on you, they won't do any harm unless you try to kill them.
Lots of times, I'm in the yard and I'll see them on Rebecca's flowers. I'll usually go over there and have one crawl on to my hand. I love looking at them closely.
 
#88
doubloon said:
This. BiFen is the shiznit.

And bifen granules minimum 0.2%, sprinkle it on and around the mounds they will bring out their dead overnight.

Pretty much any brand with 0.2% is fine, more if you can find it but I never have, Ortho produces better results than others for me.

Also, Demon/WP everywhere, mix it with water in a pump sprayer and it kills every fucking thing. You can even spray it on mounds but it won't last through a rain. Good thing about it is it's water based so it won't stain and won't harm pets.

iu
Click to expand...

This (Ortho) is precisely what I purchased and used yesterday. And as of 3pm earlier today, the colony seems to still have vanished. Nowhere to be seen. I did received the Amdro this afternoon and I'll apply that tomorrow.
 
#89
Fx51LP308 said:
This (Ortho) is precisely what I purchased and used yesterday. And as of 3pm earlier today, the colony seems to still have vanished. Nowhere to be seen. I did received the Amdro this afternoon and I'll apply that tomorrow.
Click to expand...

As has been noted in several posts, none of this is a permanent solution. I don't think one exists.

It's your own personal middle east war on a micro scale.

I use the granules on mounds along the trail where I walk dogs. The mounds I sprinkle stay dead for a while weeks/months but more mounds always pop up nearby.

My yard stays any free year round but only because I spread it from fence to fence every few months and use a fertilizer that also has a insect killer integrated into it.
 
#92
Had issues for a while one colony liked to explore on the contacts for the pressure switch relay to my well pump and their dead bodies would pile up enough to block the connection. Ended up drowning them in boiling hot soapy water.

Had a shallow water table, about 12 ft, no way I am putting poison in the yard there.
 
#95
david walter said:
Like this?

View attachment 8620265
Click to expand...
Looks about right....

At least you didn't find a yellow jacket ground nest with a lawn mower like I did at the end of fall last year..... probably had 25 stings all over. Been where you're at before though when I was a kid... long story short stalling out a dirt bike trying to go around your dad's Jeep Wagoner in the woods and not hit it, and falling over into a army ant mound sucks.... and it's not funny when your grandpa is laughing his butt off at you jumping around jerking your pants off and swatting and jumping around while he was waiting on his cup of water to boil from his little Coleman burner to make his coffee.... in retrospect looking back though its kinda funny, had to have been hilarious from his point of view.

Don't pop the little blisters, it's very tempting to do, but your just opening your skin to potential infection.
 
#97
Fx51LP308 said:
Hard not to do
Click to expand...

I always pop and drain. Seems to heal sooner and more completely for me that way.

Dab it with some alcohol if you're worried about infection. Smear a little anti itch neosporin on it if you're extra neurotic.

Hardly a day goes by I don't have some kind of cut or scrape somewhere, I don't see a popped ant blister being any more prone to infection that those.
 
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#98
Mike Casselton said:
DE works really well to kill a lot of insects.
Plenty of companies will remove your outlet covers and use an aspirator bulb to blow it along the wiring.
Roaches and whatnot will clean themselves and die due to ingesting the DE.
When I worked at the desalination facility, we never had roaches because of all the DE that got airborne.
The only place with fire ants was the opposite corner of the property.
Click to expand...

That's a great use as long as it's in ductwork and behind walls, etc. but if you apply too liberally indoors it can be a nightmare to clean up. It can get everywhere, and even though many brands sold as "food grade" quality DE; if you get too much in your lungs it actually nicks up and scars your lungs causing pneumonia and even her permanent scarring.
 
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#99
kcbird said:
Bayer fire ant powder is damn good. Knock the top of the mound off and sprinkle a small amount on the swarm. Don't use a half a cup or what ever the instructions say, its too much and a waist. Don't get the multi insect one its no good, just the fire ant killer.

View attachment 8620654

To keep them out of the house I spray a mixture of permethrin and demon on the outside slab footing and about a foot up the wall. I do this about once a mounth, if I fuck around and don't get it done they will be in the kitchen.

I've been killing fire ants all my life and this works pretty damn good.
Click to expand...
They stopped selling this in my area last year. Not a bottle to be found.
 
#100
Fx51LP308 said:
If a personal pet were to happen upon the place where DE is deployed, would they be in trouble?
Click to expand...

Yup,like stated above - can be beneficial and dog food, just blend it well so that the dogs don't actually inhale it; it goes down the G.I. tract instead. Some humans do it too. I saw one guy going on and on about a silica depletion we have nutritionally.
 
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