Ant hills suddenly taking over our yard in Scottsdale (house, buy)

[divaskychick]

And the little jerks bite!

Anyone have info / advice to share? We have a dog and child so need to avoid anything overly poisonous.

Thanks!

[AZgarden]

Yes, I know. Go to HD or Lowes and buy a bag of ant killer. Everytime you see a new hill, cover it with the granules and then water it well. Of course you know, they will just find a new spot to build.!!

[sablebaby]

LOL, had to laugh at this thread. I have a bunch of ant bites on my legs and ankles. Yes, they are little jerks!!

I've had so many ant issues at several of my homes in the valley. I've had two in particular that overran my house!! So, good luck to you. Oh and I always use windex with vinager to kill them on the carpet (won't hurt).

[divaskychick]

Well I guess I should be thankful they're staying outside then!

I just poured boiling water onto one of the mounds that was blocking our entrance to the pool. I feel slightly guilty about it and am afraid of retribution! lol I'm certain the damn things will be in my nightmares tonight.

[wit-nit]

Go to a Garden Center, Lowe's, Home Depot, or a Nursery and pick up some ANDROV. Use it as directed. It will tell you to NOT cover the hole, just sprinkle it around the hole and DO NOT USE Any WATER as that will defeat it's purpose. Watering only scares them and they will just come up in about 3 days in a new area.
The directions will say that in order to kill the queen you must sprinkle lightly around the area not to disturb the entry hole(s) and wait 1-3 days and they'll be wiped out. The Androv has a special attractant for ants. The worker ants outside the hole(s) will carry the Androv into the hole(s) and the queen will be attracted to it eat it and die, and without the queen the others die off. Watering will send the queen to another area and then you'll just have more to deal with later on. I've used it and my have neighbors also for years as needed and we've had 100% success.
As with any pesticide keep animals away from the product.

[SouthBound3]

While currently in a different area of the country - I've been doing battle with ants this summer (both indoors and out).

I have found TERRO liquid ant bait (2 oz. Liquid Ant Killer II-200 at The Home Depot) VERY effective.

Just a couple of notes I'll share with you:
1) the liquid ant bait you put out hardens/dries when expose to the air - so put fresh liquid out every day
2) depending on the species - ants tend to be most active just after sunset and just before sunrise - so I always refresh my liquid bait around dinner time
3) put the bait in the same place every time - some species of ants lay a trail of spray to the bait for their friends to follow
4) PATIENCE is the name of the game. The bait takes 4-5 days to kill those ants that have ingested it - this gives the worker ants plenty of time to take it back to the queen and share it. So it could talk several weeks to fully kill the colonies on your property.

I did try the ANDRO ant bait - but my ants walked right past it for the TERRO - so depending on the species of ant you are battling - you might want to hop between brands.

As with any chemical product - ALWAYS READ THE LABEL - takes just a minute - GOOD LUCK.

[124c41]

When we were living in Texas, the ant mounds were part of the landscape. I worked with machinery for over 20 years, and actually ran over ant hills with a 15' wide Rhino grass cutter, and the hills were big, and hard enough to almost stop the blades from turning, even down to the point of causing the clutches to slip. I discovered a product called " Demon", that works fantastic for fire ants, sometimes killing the mound within a half hour. But as PhxBarb said, they will move to another spot and start over. One just has to stay vigilant, and as soon as a new mound is seen, take action. As a sidenote, living rural like we did, everyone had stories at one time or another about the ants being attracted to electricity. There is probably a scientific explanation, but I am not aware of it. Many times I would have no water, and when I went to the pump house to check, I would find hundreds of ants crammed inside the relay box, completely covering the points inside, effectively shorting out the contacts. I also had several times when the tractor I drove wouldn't start, and after troubleshooting every possible explanation with no success, we would find that the ants had wedged themselves inside the ignition switch, shorting it out. And after a hard rain, when the mounds get flooded, the ants will form floating islands, traveling en mass down road ditches, streams, or rivers, looking for a place to land, be it land, a person, animal, tree, etc..., and immediately after they land somewhere, they begin to attack. They are relentless in their ferocity. Anyone that has ever been stung by them will understand the meaning of the nickname, " Fire ants." Their bite feels like a tiny flame on your skin. I always wondered why the folks at Texas A&M couldn't use the electricity angle to figure out a way to at least get fire ants under control, if not get rid of them. Maybe they are working on it as we speak.

[jimj]

I use a weed burner with decent results not to mention the satisfaction of turning 'em to toast. Sending a 1000 +/- degree flame down the hole tends to roast 'em pretty deep and turns the sand to glass.

[S. Chris Webb]

We bought a bag of Bug B Gone "Season Long Yard Control". It did NOT phase the ants in our yard when used as directed.

Speaking of ants, since the heavy rains flying ants (or some creature that looks like flying ants) have been invading, especially at dusk. Our over-full pool is full of them and their dislodged wings. Anybody know what these are?

[Steve Pickering]

Are they "Fire Ants"?