Re: RC: Re: Fire ants

[David LeBlanc <dleblanc@mindspring.com>]

I grew up in Florida, and they've had fire ants there since I was little (and probably before that).  We used to get mounds in our suburban yard.  The suckers also swim pretty well, and animals can sometimes get in trouble if too many mounds get flooded by a lot of rain - ants will try to climb them to get out of the water.  I've found that individual mounds can sometimes be harassed out of existance by watering them thoroughly twice a day - they don't like mud, and it tends to interfere with the larvae.  Takes a week or so, so be patient.  I like this approach, since it is cheap, easy and non-toxic.  Sometimes you just end up moving them, though.

Another non-poisonous approach is to build a good-sized fire over the mound - get the earth hot enough and it will kill them.  We sometimes would pour gasoline on a mound, stir it up and torch it, but that's not a bright thing to do for your environment.  

The poisons we used to use (chlordane) are effective, but are highly toxic to the rest of the planet, and I think persist in water.  They might not be available any more.  Probably ought not be, even if they are.  I'd look for a poison that degrades rapidly, since you'll be using it often.

My younger sister once sat on a mound as a toddler, and nearly ended up in the hospital.  The stings can take weeks to heal.

At 07:45 AM 10/23/99 -0500, Gretchen Patterson wrote: 
>>>>
> "We have aquired fire ants in the last 2 years and their huge mounds are everywhere." 
>
> Things learned after living with fire ants for 15 years: 
>
> 1)  You cannot get rid of them, but you can control their populations.  Use whatever poison fits your budget and keep the mounds small.  
<<<
[snip]



David LeBlanc
dleblanc@mindspring.com


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