Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
They do, but often it's hard to see the red.. Here's the best way to tell if they are fire ants.. Put 3 of them on your arm.. If you're waving your arm in pain 20 seconds later.. They're fire ants.
Damn things hurt.. Just slightly less than getting stung by a bee. I wind up with a big welt (Bigger than the ant) that comes to a head about a day after being bitten by them.
They tear the crap out of a yard as well. Around here(upstate SC), especially in a pasture, you can see some really large mounds.
I basically carry a thing of Andro around when I mow the lawn, and anywhere I see a mound.. Sprinkle it on. A day or so later, it's like a little nuclear bomb went off in it, with dead ant bodies littered around the outside.
I don't find it difficult to kill fire ants, but destroying the mound is horribly difficult.
It's so weird. When we first get home from work we don't see any ants....then as we start moving around (like going through mail, figuring out what we want for dinner etc....) the ants start coming out. I saw 3 just now, all in the same area near our coat closet and near our area rug in the living room (our place is small so it's all pretty much the same area)my. I put an ant trap in the closet just now. I wonder why these ants showed up last week the same say we got a swarm of tiny ants in our pantry? Is it related? Also can dog pee bring ants? We have a problem with our little dog marking....I bought an industrial cleaner for that so our house doesn't start to smell but I don't know if that or the cleaner can cause a problem.
They do, but often it's hard to see the red.. Here's the best way to tell if they are fire ants.. Put 3 of them on your arm.. If you're waving your arm in pain 20 seconds later.. They're fire ants.
Damn things hurt.. Just slightly less than getting stung by a bee. I wind up with a big welt (Bigger than the ant) that comes to a head about a day after being bitten by them.
They tear the crap out of a yard as well. Around here(upstate SC), especially in a pasture, you can see some really large mounds.
I basically carry a thing of Andro around when I mow the lawn, and anywhere I see a mound.. Sprinkle it on. A day or so later, it's like a little nuclear bomb went off in it, with dead ant bodies littered around the outside.
I don't find it difficult to kill fire ants, but destroying the mound is horribly difficult.
I use a propane weed burner for the mounds with great success. Turns that dirt/sand into glass and fries anything within at least a foot of the surface if not further down.
We keep seeing the little black ants in/around our kitchen sink. We can't find how they are getting in or where they are coming from. Sometimes we don't see many, other times there is a swarm. Even if there are no dishes/food in or around the sink and it's perfectly dry they still come in.
We've tried boiling water down the drains in case they were coming in that way. We've tried not using the sink to see if maybe the hot, dry weather was driving them in to get water, we've tried ant baits, sprayed a vinegar/water solution, sprayed a diluted clove oil.... nothing works.
Think we're going to try the Terro though and see if that helps. Since we don't know where they are coming from, hopefully that will be something they take back with them and kill their colony.
We had exactly the same thing. Two terro baits outside the kitchen (on our deck) and they never come back until next spring.
Call that exterminator back. You paid for him/her to deal with this and they are back. Likely needs another treatment. We live in an area with sandy soil and ants are a known problem. We had them about 20 years ago and had an exterminator out to take care of them. Never saw another until last week when a million turned up to feast on our dogs food. We moved the dog food andsprayed the entire area and they have not been back but I am still thinking of calling in the exterminator since they likely did not go far and will be back at some point. Jay
We have major ant problems every spring and fall. We just use those bait traps that they take back tot he nest and poison the queen. So far, they have worked on every kind of ant even carpenter ants. Now if they only made that stuff for carpenter bees.
Are fire ants large? I'm finding about 5 to 10 large ants a day.
Since you've asked that question, you get the 'You're the only person on the planet I know who hasn't seen a fire-ant' award...
No matter their size - and how does one measure an ant? Those little rascals are friends of Satan... once you've seen - worse yet, been bitten by one, you never forget them... they're horrible!
We don't have fire ants in the Pacific Northwest. Red ants yes, but those aren't the same. I first encountered fire ants in Orlando (and yes, they suck). If a person has never been to places that have them--and I think it's possible to travel half of the area of the USA without encountering fire ants--of course that person isn't familiar. It's like if I refer to geoducks; I should not be shocked if much of the country has no idea what I mean. They aren't found in the vast majority of the country.
Imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis richteri) originally came from South America. In the United States, imported fire ants currently inhabit all or parts of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. They are discovered sporadically in Kentucky, Missouri, and Maryland.
The red imported fire ant has also been accidentally introduced to other countries. Imported fire ants will likely continue to spread throughout much of the southern portion of the U.S, and other parts of the world where climate conditions are suitable.
It seems according to the USDA that it's certain fire ants will migrate as far north/west as Middle Oregon. Farther north is possible in some places. Weather is the key from what I've read.
Generally, the ants in your home are looking for food, or in extreme cases, climate relief. Heavy drought or flooding may bring them in, otherwise it is likely food. Eliminate any sources of food, and then bring out the Terro as others have advised.
Fire ants, on the other hand, are the actual spawn of Satan. They are reddish in color, appear to have little tiny horns, and bite like a microscopic venomous pit bull. Since moving to TX have been brutally and viciously attacked twice, with the most recent resulting in approximately 50 wildly irritating and unbelievably itchy welts all over my ankles and legs. At one point I contemplated carving out chunks of flesh with a grapefruit spoon for relief. I did discover, on a hunch, a good remedy (temporary) for the itching/pain: Vicks VapoRub. The menthol and camphor relieves the irritation and also help dry out the little pustule they leave behind.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Turns that dirt/sand into glass and fries anything within at least a foot of the surface if not further down.
Fire ants = Satan
