Need suggestions for battling ants

Going Bhonkers

Songster
7 Years
Apr 12, 2012
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SW Florida
I was going to post this in the pests/predators forum, but I find that its mostly geared for chickens. I think having geese requires using something different than traditional pesticides given the fact that geese eat the vegetation on/ near the area.

Obviously I can't get rid of all the (red) ants in my backyard, but I want to get rid of the ones that are near the areas where my geese are most. I hate seeing when they pick up their foot & scratch it with their bills because I know they just got bitten by one. The ants have gotten real bold too, there are 2 little mounds right next to one of my geese' pools!

I tried using Sevin dust "5%" by pouring a little right on the mound/nest, which caused the ants to run around like crazy... I thought it was working (especially since I read Sevin kills on contact), but the next day, I saw that they just opened another entrance to the mound right next to where the dust was. And the mound was just as active with ants as before
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I should also note that I put a little wire barrier around the mound after I sprinkled it with sevin dust to keep my geese from getting too close to any grass in that spot.

Kind of like these ^

What can I use to kill these ants? And how long should I keep my geese away from that particular area?
 
I would try something natural first. Try searching for natural way to kill ants, so the chemicals don't harm your geese. I hope you can find a way to get rid of the ants :)
 
The sevin dust should do the trick, just keep the geese off it until the rain washes it away. The compounds in Sevin that kill insects are not absorbed by plants, so the grass will be safe to eat again.
 
The sevin dust should do the trick, just keep the geese off it until the rain washes it away. The compounds in Sevin that kill insects are not absorbed by plants, so the grass will be safe to eat again.

I tried Sevin dust, but it didnt seem to kill any of the ants
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Natural ways to get rid of ants:

1. Sprinkle baby powder over the nest, although not harmful try to keep geese away
2. Mix white vinegar and water and spray over where all the ants are, mounds and tracks
3. Place cloves or bay leaves around the mounds as this will deter the ants

Hope this helps and it won't hurt your geese :)
 
Thank you for the tips, Birdlife, I hadn't heard of any of them before!

And yes, HappyMtn, they are the biting ones. Thats why I want to get rid of them so much, for the sake of my poor little geese' feet.

I wonder if anyone else has had any success using some kind of product on the market for getting rid of fire ants...
 
I have seen stuff specifically for fire ants. I wound't expect it to be too eco-friendly though.
We had a few piles of them that would start in my raised beds and I would get bit while gardening. I just used sevin and they haven't been back....Gosh, I hope you find something quick- they are so nasty!
 
I got an organic pesticide at home depot but it didn't seem to affect the fire ants. I have read something online (while searching how to get rid of them) about using DE. I read a bit of a study that used straght DE and then another product that was DE with something added (sorry I can't remember the product) The study was done by a university and it found that the product with the additive killed fire ants quickly (overnight) while straight DE took 25 days. I have put DE on several of the mounds in the runs and they seem to be less. I don't know if they are dying or relocating.

You can get food grade DE at TSC. Here, 20 lbs is $12 so economical. I add it to the feed of the birds on occassion and to my dog's food daily.

I'll try to find the site with the product/study.
 

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