With Summer almost here, my children love to practically live outside, however, my yard and beautiful lawn seem to be infested with fire ant mounds. I have tried things but it seems the ants just move a few feet over and build another nest...I am so fed up with ants and ant bites on my precious babies! And yes, I have tried grits and corn meal and hot boiling water and etc., and etc.,......
Any helpful advice is appreciated
I would call a professional to come and get rid of the ones you have now. After that, you can zap any new mounds as they pop up. The professional companies will come out with a big stick looking tool, shove it into the ground and spray for the dang things. This way the ants are gone from the whole yard and any little colonies that come up can be taken care of easily.
Amdro makes a bait that can be used on individual mounds...it is picked up pretty quickly by the ants so you don't have to worry so much about residue.
Also, I believe there is one called Once and Done...or Over and Out...I can't remember. Both, very effective.
It is important to treat fire ants at the right time of day--baits should be applied when ants are more active (cooler part of the day/evening). They lose effectiveness quickly in the high heat conditions.
Fire ants are best controlled through a two-step process: 1) baits and 2) mound control through poisons (or other physical means i.e. boiling water)
If you Google "two step fire ant control" you'll get a lot of recommendations for your area that emply both natural and synthetic means.
If or the babies do get stung...roll-on deodorant does a lot to remove the sting and help it dry up quickly. Does great on other bites too.
My advice would be, having Pest Control experience, to contact a Company that will come out and give you a free observation, tell you what is needed and the possible cost, depending on the size of the property, and magnitude of the problem, and allow time for you to make a decision on your timetable, and according to your budget
HI Hopie,
I'm for all natural but if that's not working you still have to get rid of them. (They say GA is simply one big ant bed that had grass rolled in,lol)
My husband went to Home Depot and bought the regular fire ant killer. He put it down two days before we were expecting rain. The ants died and then rain washed away the residue. He then shoveled up the beds that were above ground to get rid of as much as he could. The yard looks great and the ants are gone. Grits will work on small mounds but when they get to that "out of control" stage you have to weigh the cost of safety of the chemicals or safety of the fire ants. Scratching ant bites can cause horrilble infections. Better to keep the kids inside for a couple of days....
H. I helped!
M.
My guy at Do IT Yourself Pest gave me amazing stuff- I forget the name- never had the problem again. I'd check them out.
best, k
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is good safe stuff.
There is even food grade which you can feed to livestock and even take yourself.
http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth-Fire-Ant.html
I would have a professional come out to do the big job and get the DE to have around for the misc. bugs that are bound to be around!
I work for Turner Pest Control and we have green products. You might want to call or stop in Lowes or Home Depot too and see what they recommend.
Hi, I agree with the diatomaceous earth idea. We started using it and it WORKS! And it's a natural product... it's actually tiny little sea creatures ground up. I am not worried about my kids walking through it.
Ants are a constant battle! I am out there around 5 p.m. almost everyday sprinkling them wiith the Amdro Fire Ant Killer. They do move from mound to mound, but if you keep on them, eventually they will move away to your neighbor!
I found a product called Mitigator for use on the skin when bitten/stung. It is a scrub that you rub on the infected site to take the pain away. It works fast. I can no longer find it locally, so I order it online.
Good Luck!
I would hire a professional. Shop around your area for the best deal. Ask a lot of questions about what they cover and their guarantee. For example, one company might say they'll come back and retreat for free but have a higher price, and a "cheaper" company may just treat once--- if so, go with the company that will come back and retreat and haggle to get the same rate as the "cheaper" company. You can't have your kids on the lawn with those ants anyway, so whatever poison they put down you'll need to stay away for as long as they advise-- but at least they will be gone soon after!
