I HATE fire ants! I hate them hate them hate them!!!!!!

[KristyHall]

Quote:
I agree. she is such a dutiful mama and carefully rolled each of the eggs away and continued to sit on them.

If this nest gets attacked i'm going to move her to a broody pen and slips some babies under her

You're a good mama too Kristen!

AWWW! That made my day! Thank you!

The health and safety of the animals is my first concern (besides my family) and it breaks my heart when anything happens to any of them. btw, that is an adorable picture you have on your avatar.

 

[3goodeggs]

mom'sfolly :

Nasty little bugs wait until you're covered, and then they all bite. HATE HATE HATE them!!!!

A friend's kid didn't say "ouch" when he was little he said "ant". I've seen one poor toddler who sat down on a step that had an ant's nest. She ended up with something like 150 bites on her tiny body. If you don't know what the bites are like, they hurt and itch, and last a long time. They also don't make much of a mound when it is dry, so it is hard find them to get rid of.

Google fire ant bite images....but beware, it's not for the faint of heart.

That's so true. poor thing. I had a small tube of camphor that I Carried with me when I was a kid. They were so bad when they first hit our county that every pine tree had a huge mound all the way around it, at least two feet high. We'd get pine cones and slam them into the mounds to watch the ants pour out of the hole like liquid. Thus the need for the camphor... Because, really, we deserved to get stung.

Fire ants bite and sting. They carry around bacteria in their mouths, so when they latch on you will get a blister that quickly is infected. While they are latched on, they swing their abdomens in a semi circle to get as many stings in as possible. That's why they are so much worse than just a garden variety ant.

I try very hard to only kill the fire ant mounds. If you can get the other ants to thrive, then the competition will slow down the fire ants.
I wish we could find a biological control to eradicate them, but it might also kill the native ants, who are just variants, I think. Ento was a long time ago. I may be wrong on that.​

 

[Keltara]

Quote:
You're a good mama too Kristen!

AWWW! That made my day! Thank you!

The health and safety of the animals is my first concern (besides my family) and it breaks my heart when anything happens to any of them. btw, that is an adorable picture you have on your avatar.

I feel the same way about my chicken and human family. ❤

❤

I have lots more pictures on my new blog Kristen. Please feel free to check it out! ✿My Country Chronicles Blog✿ Feel free to sign up to follow me by email if you like it!

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
AWWW! That made my day! Thank you!

The health and safety of the animals is my first concern (besides my family) and it breaks my heart when anything happens to any of them. btw, that is an adorable picture you have on your avatar.

I feel the same way about my chicken and human family. ❤

❤

I have lots more pictures on my new blog Kristen. Please feel free to check it out! ✿My Country Chronicles Blog✿ Feel free to sign up to follow me by email if you like it!

 

[redhen]

mom'sfolly :

Nasty little bugs wait until you're covered, and then they all bite. HATE HATE HATE them!!!!

A friend's kid didn't say "ouch" when he was little he said "ant". I've seen one poor toddler who sat down on a step that had an ant's nest. She ended up with something like 150 bites on her tiny body. If you don't know what the bites are like, they hurt and itch, and last a long time. They also don't make much of a mound when it is dry, so it is hard find them to get rid of.

Google fire ant bite images....but beware, it's not for the faint of heart.

I did that as a toddler in Florida...
I dont remember it, but my parents do. Guess it was pretty bad...​

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
i had to go visit the mound of fire ants that got me earlier .. took the bottle of Tide with me so I could give them a bath... they smell so nice now...

 

[mulewagon]

One non-chemical way to kill them is just to shoot a pistol straight down into the mound - the concussion kills the queen. But be careful to stand far enough away that you don't get ants blown onto you!

 

[HHandbasket]

We don't have them much in California, but we had them BAD when we lived in Louisiana. I used to pour hot grease down the hole when I was done cooking dinner. That seemed to make a big difference.

 

[bluesub]

I used to pour boiling water on them.

 

[rjlanger2]

For being such small creatures, fire ants pack a super nasty bite!! There aren't many organic choices available that I am aware of. Dumping a huge pot of boiling water on the mound is somewhat effective. I'm not familiar with using "detergent".

Amdro is a bait. It is VERY effective but can take about a week to work. It is not really recommended for use around animals. It is a small yellowish material the size of pepper flakes and chickens will probably eat it. The other solution I know of is Orthene powder. It is sold as a fire ant killer in Lowes and Home Depot. *** It is VERY toxic. *** It is the consistency of talc powder. You sprinkle about a tablespoon of powder around the mound. It is extremely effective at killing the fire ants immediately!

Pyrethrin based insecticides (natural or man-made) kind of work and are probably the least harmful to animals but are more harmful to fish.

I have been told gasoline is an effective method but you are creating a groundwater pollution issue. I highly recommend NOT using gasoline. If you get caught pouring a petroleum based product into the ground there can be a serious fine involved.

There is no known cure for fire ants. You don't ever kill them all... You control them.