[Uncle Erik]

There's a fire ant mound in the empty lot next to my place. I take a "live and let live" approach to most everything, but not these little demons. I snuggle with kittens and spoil children. A few times now, they've climbed my legs while performing necessary cat petting and they all bit me at the same time. Biting/stinging insects are on my feces list.

I've been researching ways to eliminate them. I've poured gallons of boiling water down their holes, but they always come back.

Today, I went for the nuclear option. I poured bleach and ammonia down their new holes.

Yes, I know bleach and ammonia are Not To Be Mixed. But I'm a formally trained English Major who knows a thing or two about law and accounting, so I figured I could handle it. Don't try this at home, kids. You need an irresponsible adult who has been drinking beer and eating cheap hot dogs most of the day for proper supervision.

Long story short, I managed to not kill myself. I followed up with more boiling water.

The little demons haven't reappeared, but I'll be at a loss if they do.

Has anyone here successfully battled fire ants?

 

[fabio-fi]

Darn i cant stand any insect bite, specially ants. My parents dealt with them using some kind of pesticide at their farmhouse. You should also consider a special “Fire Ant wipe out” day in your neighborhood. 

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

There's a fire ant mound in the empty lot next to my place. I take a "live and let live" approach to most everything, but not these little demons. I snuggle with kittens and spoil children. A few times now, they've climbed my legs while performing necessary cat petting and they all bit me at the same time. Biting/stinging insects are on my feces list.

I've been researching ways to eliminate them. I've poured gallons of boiling water down their holes, but they always come back.

Today, I went for the nuclear option. I poured bleach and ammonia down their new holes.

Yes, I know bleach and ammonia are Not To Be Mixed. But I'm a formally trained English Major who knows a thing or two about law and accounting, so I figured I could handle it. Don't try this at home, kids. You need an irresponsible adult who has been drinking beer and eating cheap hot dogs most of the day for proper supervision.

Long story short, I managed to not kill myself. I followed up with more boiling water.

The little demons haven't reappeared, but I'll be at a loss if they do.

Has anyone here successfully battled fire ants?

fight fire with fire.

 

[matthewh133]

One of these should do the trick:
 

 

[wink]

 
Quote:

 
 

 

Bunker buster

[size=small]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/size]
 
Jump to: navigation, search
A bunker buster is a bomb designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground. 

 

 
Or, better still,
 

 
But, best of all for those deeply entrenched pismires

 

 
The official method and history...
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_imported_fire_ant 

 

[jjinh]

I havent battled fire ants myself, but a family of giant anteater would be cool. You could probably also snuggle up with them if you avoid their claws.
 

 

[funniecow]

Find the entrance of the and hill then find an empty coffee can or any type of can or pipe that is large and wide.  scratch or put abrasions on the inside of the can, outside too if you want.  Then go ahead and rub that ant chalk on the inside and out side of the scratched surface, then push the can down around the entrance of the ant hill without applying too much pressure and damaging the tunnels underneath.  The scratches will hold on the the chalk more readily and allows the ants to climb up and make contact with the chalk and die.  If you really have stray cats nearby and don't want them to get killed by the ants, get the problem professionally addressed. 
 
My art teacher use to swear that pottery clay killed ants and roaches, because it would expand or clog them to death.
 
 
I think in general depending on where you live, if you just pour boiling water into the soil, the lower layers of soil is cooler, and would quickly absorb the heat. 
 
In Hawaii we don't have the same type of fire ants, but these tactics normally work.
 
If you're more earth loving, try getting some Niem plant, and grinding it up and pouring over the area.  Just make sure that you don't move the ants towards your property.

 

[wink]

    
 
 
Get one of each for the set....

 

[Uncle Erik]

I really like the anteater idea! It would be fun to have around and they always remind me of UC Irvine.

Anyhow, the little devils are back, but seem fewer in number. A couple more gallons of boiling water went down the hole. Maybe this is a war of attrition. They certainly haven't had much time to gather food.

I'm a little afraid of using commercial poisons since I have four cats in the area. They're not quite pets, but I'm working on them. One trusts me but won't let me touch her. The other three let me pet them, but aren't ready to be held yet. I have a small entourage when I go outside - all four show up and follow me around.

I am thinking about digging up the hive. The question is whether I could do it without being attacked by the ants. Maybe a disposable bunny suit would work. They wouldn't be able to bite through that and I can wear the motorcycle helmet. Might not be the wisest idea when it's 110° out, but I think it could be dug up in 20-30 minutes. Then maybe pour a couple gallons of denatured alcohol over everything and set it on fire.

It would be easy to distract the cats during the fire. Three or four cans of wet food on a plate far away would hold their attention for awhile.

 

[sari0n]

Are they always in the same area?  What if you just left a hose or sprinkler running in the area for a few days?

 

[RobbieE]

Regarding fire ants, there's a company that the Dept. of Defense/ U.S. military uses (Army, Navy, Air Force, etc.) that makes a professional gun and chemical that kills the entire mound within seconds.  It's very cool. It kills the entire colony,  I'm hoping to get one for my farm which is covered in fire ant colonies and is alway bothering our horses.  The compnay is at AntKill.com .  They are not yet registered in our state but hope to see them soon.

 

[flyingbangus]

Spoiler: Inappropriate%20Insanity%20Wolf%20is%20appropriate%20to%20this%20thread%20%3DP

 

 

[cifani090]

Quote:

Yes, I know bleach and ammonia are Not To Be Mixed. But I'm a formally trained English Major who knows a thing or two about law and accounting, so I figured I could handle it. Don't try this at home, kids. You need an irresponsible adult who has been drinking beer and eating cheap hot dogs most of the day for proper supervision.

Hahahah, i know at my place of work, they are having problems with fire ants, flying ants, ants,etc. They are a pain, and i feel sick when im their. It seems to be they did not seal a window correctly, and this building was just made for the tendant/CEO less than 8 months ago.
 

 

[funch]

As I understand it, you have to get poison down to the queen, so you need to use something like Amdro, which is little chunks that the workers
can grab and take down into the colony. If you don't kill the queen, you don't kill the colony.

 

[seaskimmer]

If you plan on digging stuff up, you could try a bee suit. I use one at work sometimes and they are resistant to almost any insect.
Never dealt with fire ants in Canada before, but you could try 'smoking' them as with bees to slow them down a bit when you are working near them.
 
If worst comes to worst, you could just dig a trench around the area then pour some gasoline.....
Or if you have any fireworks left over from the fourth of July....