Large Ant Hills

[DavidInNH]

I'm pretty sure it is Amdro. I couldn't find anything on Amdrose. Check out <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=amdro+ant+poison>this google search</A> for more information than you probably ever wanted.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=005lde>One of the links</A> claimed that "Most farm supply, Wal-Mart, and hardware stores carry Amdro". That may be very regional.

-david

 

[BB_TX]

Amdro is the only one I am familiar with. You can get Amdro at most any store that carries lawn and garden supplies. Walmart, Home Depot, etc. It is a food type poison, not a contact poison. You can broadcast it once or twice a year around you whole yard and the ants carry it down into the mound killing the queen. It may take a two or more days for all activity to stop but it does the job. Much easier than trying to locate and treat each mound. If you notice individual mounds later, you can sprinkle a little at those mounds. But again, I don't know if it works on the big red ones.

 

[RET]

Calling it Amdrose instead of Amdro was my boo-boo.
sorry 'bout that.
It does work well though, regardless of what I call it. The folks at Amdro must know that too....'cause it's expensive.....just like roundup.

 

[8NTX]

Hey Bird,
I think that the reason those red ants disappeared from your area is that they all picked up and moved to Athens. I've got several areas at my place where there are probably 2 or 3 dozen huge mounds grouped together. They laugh at diazanon and amdro. Seem to like it.

Seriously, I was raised in the Dallas area (Garland) and remember lots of red ants. That's all the horny toads would eat. Then the fire ants moved in some time during the '70's and chased off the red ants (to Athens). Result, no more horny toads. But we don't have any horny toads or fire ants in Athens either. I've heard that the fire ants can't build their nests in this sugar sand we have. But we do have every other kind of lizard and scorpion in existence.

We were laying in bed the other night reading, and I spotted a little reddish colored speck on the ceiling above us. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a scorpion. Less than a quarter of an inch long. My wife spent an hour looking for it's momma. She don't like 'em much since she got stung last year.

 

[Bird]

Steve, when I was a kid in southern Oklahoma, dad used to buy something called "High Life" at the drugstore, and when we found a mound of those big red ants, we'd go out there at noon (seemed they'd all be inside right about noon), open a bottle of that High Life and dump it down the hole, then throw a shovel full of dirt on top to plug the hole. That seemed to kill out the whole mound, but I have no idea whether High Life still exists or not. We also used the same stuff to run off stray cats, dogs, and even a horse once; just pour it on their back and watch'em take off. It was some kind of medication that didn't didn't hurt to get it on you, but felt very hot to furry or hairy animals without actually hurting them. They'd run, lie down, roll on their back, etc., and never came back.

 

[cisco]

Yeah, Amdro for coverage of large amounts of property, say once a year, when the infestation is high late in the summer so you get maximum kill before the mounds go dormant, and then spot apply one of the diazinon (e.g. spectracide) compounds to mounds near human habitation (say, a yard frequented by children) at other times. Note that the Amdro "bait" is encased in a soy compound, i.e. ant food, that spoils if left in high temps. for too long, or if allowed to age (over a year). Folks who have not had good results - remember, it takes a few weeks to work, rather than the day or two with diazinon, and if the Amdro is old or has been left in a hot garage for months - it's worthless (becomes rancid, and ants don't regard it as food). Best prices I've found are at SAMS (I have no connection to that company) in the spring of the year, when they feature gardening stuff. The consumer Amdro comes in jugs that can cover 5 acres (it's broadcast real sparsely, but it works), and the diazinon (5%) in bags that cover about 5000 sq. ft. Good luck - I hate fire ants.

 

[patrickg]

Bird, Thanks for the memory. I hadn't heard the product name "High Life" for decades. My uncle, long deceased (resident of Duncan OK), used to talk about it. Don't know what it was or if there is a product with the same ingredients still on the market but I recall lots of stories associated with that product. It also had the reputation of being very effective when administered with a squirt gun (water pistol). I recall asking how beer would have that effect and found out that Miller's High Life WAS NOT BEING DISCUSSED.

Patrick

 

[Bird]

Patrick, if my memory's right, High Life was a liniment used for sore aching muscles; just felt warm when rubbed on the skin, but apparently even warmer to hair or fur covered animals. I have no idea who came up with the idea of using it to kill red ants, but it worked.