Large Ant Hills

[RFischer]

I have a problem with ant mounds. I live in Kentucky and have these large red ants that have built quite a few large mounds(2ft x2ft). There travel back and forth to the tulip poplar trees. I've put the granular ant killer stuff on the mounds and around the trees and that seems to kill them in that mound however, they seem to just migrate to another place and start building another mound. Any ideas how to completely get rid of them?

 

[stmiller2]

Red imported fire ants (RIFA) build large mounds. According to the latest data (see the URL below), the RIFA are not yet established in Kentucky, but you may have colonies. They are gradually moving north over time.

A quick and dirty way to tell if the ants are RIFA is to stomp your feet around the mounds. If the ants come pouring out, chances are good that they are RIFA. But don't get too close to the mounds while stomping, the RIFA stings are very painful.

If you do have RIFA, entomologists recommend that you use a "two-step" method -- broadcast a RIFA bait in the spring and fall, and treat individual mounds with an insectcide.



http://www.ceris.purdue.edu/napis/pests/ifa/imap/ifaall.html

 

[RFischer]

Thanks for the feedback. I had fire ants when I lived in Memphis, TN. However, they were much smaller than these critters. These are large ones almost as big as a carpenter ant. I ran over a mound with the tractor wheel and they came out all over the mound. I didn't think fire ants were this far North. I'll check out the site you gave me.

 

[RET]

I use a product called "AMDROSE" for fire ants. Kills workers and the queen very effectively. Don't know if it would work on other ants or not. But RIFA can only be "controlled" at best. They will ALWAYS come back. The best I can do is keep the mounds to a minimum near the house and in areas where me and the kids play. My 8 yr old son, who is an avid outdoorsboy, and Crocodile Hunter wannabe, stays chewed up with fire ants bites all summer long. There are many days that he can't even wear shoes (not that he does anyway) due to the swelling and sores.
I absolutley hate those things - and they're steadily moving northward. I read an article a while back that there is some evidence that they are becoming more cold tolerant (the one thing that historically limited their northern range) and are slowly but steadily adapting to cooler climates as they migrate northward.
BTW - fire ants are not native to the US... Came in on a ship many years ago...either Mobile Al. or New Orleans..can't remember which. They have no natural enemies here....but the biologists are looking hard for one.
RET

 

[Kodiak]

Might be time to introduce some of those African Anteaters.

 

[patrickg]

Sounds like your lack of finding "the final solultion" for ants is that some species (many, I believe) use a system where they essentially have "tasters" like in the old days with royalty or like with jerks like Sadam Hussein who are afraid of assasination. Anyway they "try" the food before it is shared around and you don't get a "good kill".

There are ant remedies being sold now that have a delayed action. It gets the food approved by the quality control dudes before it proves fatal so it get shared by everyone including the queen. You don't get immediate results but yo get better results.

Unfortunately my best source of info is out of pocket up in Montana just now. He is a good friend and a PhD entomologist. Let us know what you do and your results. If the problem persists until after his return, I will get better info for you.

Patrick

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Fire ants, darn, doggone, and crappola.

I was told by some of the hay farmers in the area that they were getting away from baling the square bales and going to almost exclusively big round ones. It seems the hazard of fire ants is becoming too great when handling the square bales.

They kill livestock. If a calf is birthed on a fire ant hill it's almost a done deal. They seem to go for the eyes first.

I do know they love the fence lines. That means removing old fence and putting in new is a treat. Especially when you've got to take the time to weld the puppy up.

They don't bother me much anymore. I can get a hand covered with stings and after a half an hour it's like I've never been stung. But most folks end up with a fever and are really sick with the same amount of stings. My wife will swell up with welts and have puss spots on each bite. My dad is allergic to them and just one bite will make him real sick.

They're almost a viable reason to move up north besides having all them nice folks up there. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Kodiak]

Harv.

You and your shop are welcome to move up here to Washington state anytime. Very few pest around here, especially those Fire Ants.

 

[cstocks]

The most effective way I know of to get rid of fire ants temporarily is Amdro. No permanent way to get rid of the little heathens though because sooner or later they will return on matter how hard you try to keep them away. If you have ever seen how they migrate then you know why they will come back.

I have seen the winged, migrating queens by the dozens on cars, asphalt, concrete and any other hard surface where they cannot blend in. Just last month I was at work and noticed a queen on the ground. I stomped her (with a smile on my face) and then I noticed another one. I stomped her, too. Then another, then another. Must have been about a dozen queens on the asphalt within a five square foot area. I guess that is why they spread so fast - they are hardy and oh, so prolific. I don't know if the queens surface and migrate on some sort of schdule but it seems when I find one I will always find several more in the immediate area if I look around.

Several years ago I found about twenty of the she devils on the hood of my car, which was sitting in the noonday sun. Apparently they, had flown/were blown by the wind and had the misfortune of landing on the hot, metal surface which was at least 100 degrees (mid-summer.) They got fried as soon as they landed. (Diabolical laughter appropriate at this time!)

Now the FUNNEST way to get rid of fire ants is whatever way I feel will inflict the most pain and damage. I have doused their nests with boiling water, gasoline, motor oil and bug spray. I have pushed my mower over their mound, chopping the top of the nest off w/ the blade and then left the mower sitting over the mound, hopefully sucking up, dispersing and chopping up as many of them as I can as they pour out of the ground. I have flooded them with the water hose just to get the satisfaction of watching their eggs surface and be washed away. I have ground their nests up with my garden tiller. I have burned them with the smoldering leftover coals my my b-b-que pit. Hmmm. Did I leave anything out?

Sound like too much enjoyment? Maybe so! I give them paybacks every chance I get for the stinging, burning blisters they inflict upon my ankles and legs.

I read somewhere that humans do not develop any immunity from fireant stings. Supposedly, quite the opposite happens. The more one gets stung/bit in a lifetime, the worse that person's reactions will be to the sting/bite. I say stung/bit because the miserable little beasts bite you with their mouth and then double up and sting you with the other end. That is why they appear to be balled up when you find one attacking your leg. Kinda of a double whammy. Is it any wonder I like to return the favor with as much pain and suffering as I can?

Fire ants. The insect you love to hate.

 

[DavidInNH]

If you have a brush hog, don't be tempted to mow through those ant hills. A friend of mine used to be in charge of the grounds at Johnson Space Center and they would tear up a mower periodically because the ant hill pushed up a rock or chunk of concrete.