Fire Ant invasion

NGE · Feb 3, 2009

So, you're saying that they can predict when the flood gates are going to be opened, you're giving them critters more credit than they're due

.....NGE

Noodle · Feb 3, 2009

It's true. When the rain begins and the ground gets saturated, they float to the surface and cling to one another. Here in the south, you can see blobs of them floating in flooded areas. Sick!

Question: How deep do they dig their lairs? Would it work to take a shovel and go around each mound making a circle say one foot deep, pour gasoline in that, in addition to the top of the mound? Would that cut off their escape route? I'm not concerned with polluting the ground; gas evaporates. Oil contaminates a little longer, but I'm not concerned about gasoline or farm diesel. I've seen oil spills (thousands of cars, trucks, busses, etc., in New Orleans after Katrina). No little dab on my acreage is going to go near to that.

Noodle

*Molly* · Feb 3, 2009

notgittinenny ( treasures ) said:
So, you're saying that they can predict when the flood gates are going to be opened, you're giving them critters more credit than they're due .....NGE

That's how the arrowhead hunters in Texas know when its going to rain. Its an old Indian sign..
Yeah ants are far smarter than ya'll think, thats why I said its a good job they aint bigger.

Molly.

NGE · Feb 3, 2009

If someone were to see a buncha these hot guys floatin' around, and not dousing 'em with something, then they deserve all the problems they have with them, heck I'd experiment with all kinds of stuff. If you squirt them with Dawn detergent while they're floating around, Mix some rubbing alcohol with the Dawn first, then spray 'em, Dawn breaks the surface tension they are riding on and the alcohol will penetrate their skins and kill 'em.........NGE

fossis · Feb 3, 2009

just-geese said:
notgittinenny ( treasures ) said:

That's It! I have a solution now. Flood yer fields and when they build their antly bridges, torch 'em with a flamethrower . I also have a solution for war in Afghanastan and Iraq. Put a ton of them hot lil buggers in bomblets and drop them in the Mts. and toss a few ant grenades into adobe hideouts, problem solved!

Click to expand...

NGE (T) Like the way you think. If we can get the gov to go for it we'll get rich trapping fire ants LOL. I've been manager for a couple air conditioning companys and you cannot believe the damage these things can do if the get into your outside unit and build
J-G

My son had heat pump problems, & the electrician knew right away the ants had shorted it out.

Fossis...............

fossis · Feb 3, 2009

notgittinenny ( treasures ) said:
If someone were to see a buncha these hot guys floatin' around, and not dousing 'em with something, then they deserve all the problems they have with them, heck I'd experiment with all kinds of stuff. If you squirt them with Dawn detergent while they're floating around, Mix some rubbing alcohol with the Dawn first, then spray 'em, Dawn breaks the surface tension they are riding on and the alcohol will penetrate their skins and kill 'em.........NGE

Lots of things kill them, but the problem here is Thousands & thousands of acres of ant hills, & no Government help,
They kill out the native ants, disrupt (ground nesting birds), I've even heard of them killing baby animals by getting into their noses.
There needs to be crews of people riding four wheelers with sprayers if they ever hope to control them.
In my opinion it's allready too late, & when we can't grow any food, what do we do?

NGE · Feb 4, 2009

Just take a 10 oz. spray bottle fill it one quarter with rubbing alcohol, a small squirt of Dawn, and the rest of the way with water, gently shake or swirl to mix. Kills just about everything that gets sprayed with this mixture, especially house flys, we get those big Ole B-52 flys around here in the summertime and believe me, it knocks them right out of the air, and when they hit the floor or counter, they crawl just a bit, then they roll on their back an DIE! the dawn breaks the surface tension on their bodies, the alcohol penetrates their exo-skeleton, and the water combined is like Dr. Death to them. Also leaves no residue if sprayed on glass. I have a bottle in each room of my house..........NGE

rmptr · Feb 4, 2009

That sounds like a good option nge.

This is just another example of how we are so poorly served by government.

They should have posters and handbills on every telephone pole and post office with the best possible information on getting rid of these critters... and perhaps an organized drive to get rid of them all at once in a concerted efort. Then go back again after a few weeks to get what's left.
Keep it going til the problem is not!

rmptr

NGE · Feb 4, 2009

I'm not knocking your method But, I don't think it kills them all. Try this, after they are gone, dig up their tunnels and check, I'll bet they just branched out away from the trouble area.......NGE

capt1989 · Feb 4, 2009

You can get a pot of boiling water and pour it on the disturbed nest and kill a bunch. As a kid I would entertain myself for hours on a sunny day with an ant hill and a magnifying glass, flaming death 1 ant at a time, or; anything plastic that will burn and melt. I used to use the 6 pack plastic holders. Set it on fire, hold it with a stick and it would start to drop extremely hot plastic fire balls with their own sound effects as they fall. Them little suckers would die then. Once I had been bitten I had no mercy on them. They were in louisiana 38 years ago.

john

rmptr · Feb 4, 2009

capt1989... Ha! Ha! Ha!

Death from the sky! Tora Tora Tora!

Ha! Ha!

Makes me think of Howard the Duck flying his ultralite over the duck hunters!

Can't exactly nuke 'em, can we?

Good luck to you folks.
I sure hope you win the battle.
rmptr

MrsFury · Feb 4, 2009

For ants we use Over & Out but you have to reapply every few months. My neighbors have ants

not me. For roaches Max Force is great. You can get rid of roaches for years, it's placed behind light switch plates so pets can't get to it and there's no mess. Sevin Dust is great for outside roaches or borers. It must be safe to animals because you can treat cats and dogs for fleas with it.

nova treasure · Feb 4, 2009

I hate those things.

Nova Treasure

River Rat · Feb 4, 2009

I hate those darn things >:(

See that blob in the pic?

Fire ants on the move

fossis · Feb 4, 2009

River Rat said:
I hate those darn things

See that blob in the pic?

Fire ants on the move

Can't drown them, can't freeze them, we're in a 'losing battle'.
I firmly believe that if the Government started a massive eradication program tomorrow in my area, they
can't cover every acre of land, & if one hill is left, you haven't succeded.

Fossis..............

whitt459 · Feb 5, 2009

the telephone company uses poison packs in all their connection boxes to keep them from shorting the phones out in this part of texas. whitt459

fossis · Feb 5, 2009

whitt459 said:
the telephone company uses poison packs in all their connection boxes to keep them from shorting the phones out in this part of texas. whitt459

You 'gotta do what you can' to fight them.

Fossis...........

DD-777 · Feb 11, 2009

We got 'em here in NC too. Unfortunately from personal experience, I could tell you those bites hurt like heck. I only got hit three times and that was enough. Burned like crazy for two days straight... >:(

fossis · Feb 11, 2009

DD-777 said:
We got 'em here in NC too. Unfortunately from personal experience, I could tell you those bites hurt like heck. I only got hit three times and that was enough. Burned like crazy for two days straight...

I'me afraid they will cover most of the country before long.
And they do hurt.

Fossis..............

sniffer · Feb 11, 2009

I use a liquid ant bait made by Terro, you just cut open the end and place it on the mound.
the ants will swarm over it and take the bait into the hive. In about three days hive and all ants are dead, the larvae will die too from lack of workers to feed them