Fire Ant invasion
- Thread starter fossis
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macadamia_man
Newbie
- Jan 2, 2008
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gnewt said:
Gasoline does leach off, it kills grass, it is illegal to use for pesticide, satelite queens are hard to locate. As for the gasoline leaching out and getting into the groundwater and streams probably so if you used several gallons.
What would it hurt, I think the tree huggers would say it would harmful to everybody, all the fish and animals. If that happened all of OK,TX, and the other oil producing states would be in big trouble. How much does the asphalt streets, highways and parking lots leach out.
How many tons of bait has been used over this country and what is the population of the fire ants? How many gallons of pesticide have been used, or tons of granules.
To be simple, fire ants swarm. That is how they travel, move from state to state.
If you kill all on your place and the neighbors place more will swarm in.
I don't have the answer, nothing stops them, all you can do is try to control them.
One thing I do know, all people who have them will not use bait,or pesticide. If you control them on your place you have to work at it or live with them. I like the probe because it is below the grass, nontoxic and water is cheaper. Takes a little work. No one had control with bait in our area, and it is a heck of a lot easier than
spraying or probing. I would try bait first, by the label.It is easy with a spreader.
What would it hurt, I think the tree huggers would say it would harmful to everybody, all the fish and animals. If that happened all of OK,TX, and the other oil producing states would be in big trouble. How much does the asphalt streets, highways and parking lots leach out.
How many tons of bait has been used over this country and what is the population of the fire ants? How many gallons of pesticide have been used, or tons of granules.
To be simple, fire ants swarm. That is how they travel, move from state to state.
If you kill all on your place and the neighbors place more will swarm in.
I don't have the answer, nothing stops them, all you can do is try to control them.
One thing I do know, all people who have them will not use bait,or pesticide. If you control them on your place you have to work at it or live with them. I like the probe because it is below the grass, nontoxic and water is cheaper. Takes a little work. No one had control with bait in our area, and it is a heck of a lot easier than
spraying or probing. I would try bait first, by the label.It is easy with a spreader.
Noodle
Bronze Member
gnewt, can you tell us the best bait to use? (Hope I didn't miss that in an earlier post...) Liquid or pellets? You said they don't process solids, so what good are the pellets? Do they just have to dissolve first? Sounds like liquids may be better, you think? I've tried several different brands of pellets, and the mounds do go away (probably just to appear somewhere else), but I was wondering if a liquid might be better. More work, I know. And I don't have a steam apparatus and hate to use gasoline in my yard and fields. Thanks for all your info!
The solid food is taken down in the hill, fed to the larva. If the larva get the poison and die the ants will starve. If the poison tranfers by oils or moisture to the ants, they die. There is some control with both granules and liquid spray.
For baits, granules, or liquids you want to buy the latest produced or developed. Ants keep building a tolerance for pesticides. What happens, a few will be immune, those few will reproduce more with immunities. If they didn't keep constant research going on, we would have chemicals that be about as effective as sand.
The easiest way to put the bait down is with a hand spreader. The best bait is from the busiest outlet you can find, the bait will be fresh and most likely they will have the latest out. Hope this helps, Gnewt
For baits, granules, or liquids you want to buy the latest produced or developed. Ants keep building a tolerance for pesticides. What happens, a few will be immune, those few will reproduce more with immunities. If they didn't keep constant research going on, we would have chemicals that be about as effective as sand.
The easiest way to put the bait down is with a hand spreader. The best bait is from the busiest outlet you can find, the bait will be fresh and most likely they will have the latest out. Hope this helps, Gnewt
siz3petite
Full Member
Let those nasty creatures fight it out.
Gosh, I hate fire ants. I've been bitten so many times, I can't count that high. There are mounds all over the lawn. Just when I get rid of one bunch, another one pops up a few feet away. My neighbor suggested we take a shovel full of ants from one mound and dump it in another one. That way, the miserable creatures can battle it out amongst each other.
Gosh, I hate fire ants. I've been bitten so many times, I can't count that high. There are mounds all over the lawn. Just when I get rid of one bunch, another one pops up a few feet away. My neighbor suggested we take a shovel full of ants from one mound and dump it in another one. That way, the miserable creatures can battle it out amongst each other.
macadamia_man
Newbie
- Jan 2, 2008
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gnewt said:
Can't tell you the population of RIFA in USA, gnewt, but I can tell you that your heavy infestations average a nest mound every few metres and that every nest will contain between 100,000 and 300,000 ants and larvae. And that this year the USDA estimates that RIFA infest more than 330 million acres of the South (that'd sure add up to a lot of unburnt gas being poured into the ground, eh?) , are spreading naturally at around 20km per year (with many huge jumps across uncolonised or unhospitable country (think Nevada) through human movement assistance - landscaping materials, pot plants, soils, mulches, uncleaned excavating machinery etc).
Your remark about asphalt is perceptive in regard to man-made pollution and its consequences but not really a reason to use this particular flammable and toxic product indiscriminately. Because a murderer kills is not really a good reason for me to do it too . . .
As far as tonnes of bait is concerned you should be talking multi-megatonnes and multiplying by 60 years (and don't forget that US and southern state govts dumped or sprayed both mirex and heptachlor from the air in the late Fifties and Sixties - both highly toxic to most forms of life including people, rather than just tailored for a particular class of insect that feeds in a specific way on a specific sort of food).
The profit connection between more spread and more sales is pretty clear however.
Besides, what do we do when the gas runs out and the fire ants are still here . . . ?
Noodle
Bronze Member
Mac_Man,
I'm confused about your post. Do you have any suggestions as to how we can exterminate/eliminate the fire ant from our properties, or were you just trying to put down someone else's posts? Please clarify for the rest of us. Thanks.
I'm confused about your post. Do you have any suggestions as to how we can exterminate/eliminate the fire ant from our properties, or were you just trying to put down someone else's posts? Please clarify for the rest of us. Thanks.
Gasoline is illegal to use as a pesticide, do I use it no, have I used it, yes I sprayed a little on three hills, I did not pour it then I put a piece of plastic over the hill . The fumes went down and the ants were killed. This was next to my pond and no fish died. Was there a leaching of the gas into the soil, gas vapors yes, raw gas no, the gas evaporates.
Now I would like to explain what happens on the lake south of my place when they have a Bass Masters Tournament. About a hundred boats 200+ HP are leaking raw gas, exhausting oil and fumes into the water. I get a surprise afterwards, theres no dead fish. This is one thing that bothers me, I personally think they need a HP limit on fresh water lakes. They are not going to do that because its fun. I may be wrong so I will keep my mouth shut about that.
Texas has lots of these tournaments because they have some of the best bass fishing in the country. I don't understand that, the lakes have salt, oil, and chemicals in the water, put some of it on the grass and sometimes it will die.
They have fire ants too, and lots of wide open spaces.
Believe me there will be very few Quail left after about four years. Armadillos will take down a few hills for the larva, that's not the answer. Chemicals, Bait or granules is not going to do it. It has not made a dent in them in the past with very powerful, hazardous stuff, even to us so they say . It would kill birds I guess because they have feathers and we don't, bird people would know.
Here's what I think, some animal or insect has got to do it for us, we can only have some control over the fire ants, not all of your neighbors are going to try.
Well I am tired of beating this dead horse. Gnewt
Now I would like to explain what happens on the lake south of my place when they have a Bass Masters Tournament. About a hundred boats 200+ HP are leaking raw gas, exhausting oil and fumes into the water. I get a surprise afterwards, theres no dead fish. This is one thing that bothers me, I personally think they need a HP limit on fresh water lakes. They are not going to do that because its fun. I may be wrong so I will keep my mouth shut about that.
Texas has lots of these tournaments because they have some of the best bass fishing in the country. I don't understand that, the lakes have salt, oil, and chemicals in the water, put some of it on the grass and sometimes it will die.
They have fire ants too, and lots of wide open spaces.
Believe me there will be very few Quail left after about four years. Armadillos will take down a few hills for the larva, that's not the answer. Chemicals, Bait or granules is not going to do it. It has not made a dent in them in the past with very powerful, hazardous stuff, even to us so they say . It would kill birds I guess because they have feathers and we don't, bird people would know.
Here's what I think, some animal or insect has got to do it for us, we can only have some control over the fire ants, not all of your neighbors are going to try.
Well I am tired of beating this dead horse. Gnewt
Mrs Bloom
Sr. Member
I've lived in Florida for 30 years and the best product I've found to kill fire ants is Amdro. If you are diligent, you can get them under control for the most part. It's impossible to completely eradicate them though.
Bigcypresshunter
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I hate the thought of eating bugs. Gross. But one time ants were all over my donuts and I ate them anyway ants and all. It wasnt that bad. Red fire ants however will probably be a different story.plehbah said:
siz3petite
Full Member
Speaking of Fire Ants... I posted this message on Craig's List in my area.
"I wish you a thousand fire ant bites all over your body. To the moron who stole my beautiful planter from the front of my house. The reason it was at the edge of my driveway was because it was LOADED with fire ants. I was trying to release the nasty critters before re-potting it. However, you foolishly swiped it. HA HA! The joke is on you because I have no doubt that YOUR car, house and body was undoubtedly infested with thousands of ill-natured fire ants. Poetic justice, you stinking thief." Yeah, I really did post this message and I feel much better now that I vented.
"I wish you a thousand fire ant bites all over your body. To the moron who stole my beautiful planter from the front of my house. The reason it was at the edge of my driveway was because it was LOADED with fire ants. I was trying to release the nasty critters before re-potting it. However, you foolishly swiped it. HA HA! The joke is on you because I have no doubt that YOUR car, house and body was undoubtedly infested with thousands of ill-natured fire ants. Poetic justice, you stinking thief." Yeah, I really did post this message and I feel much better now that I vented.
OP
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fossis
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Re: Speaking of Fire Ants... I posted this message on Craig's List in my area.
'You Go Girl', I hope they get stung too, I hate a theif.
Fossis..............
siz3petite said:
'You Go Girl', I hope they get stung too, I hate a theif.
Fossis..............
macadamia_man
Newbie
- Jan 2, 2008
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Noodle said:
Bit of both I guess if I am honest and trust your mods not to get oevr picky . . . although I think the page 1 post I made on this topic should have given you a good steer that I am trying to assist . . . (click the link below!)
I am indeed genuinely concerned about petrol being used in this way - it is personally dangerous to the user and fundamentally disastrous for the soil and water table (plenty of highly toxic residue persists even if the liquid petrol apparently "fumes" away, and how you can assert it does that when you are pouring it into a deepish hole in the ground beats me . . .).
Previous post:
"Use a combo IGR bait or indoxacarb according to the Texas Two Step method, and do get your neighbours to join in otherwise your time, money and effort are being way less efficiently used. And if you live in an area rated "fire ant free' make sure you observe plant quarantine regs when you buy or ship plants and high-risk materials and nag your councillors or reps to pull their fingers out. Fire ants are beatable, but not having them in the first place is infinitely preferable."
http://fireant.tamu.edu/
Any help?
macadamia_man
