Non- poisonous way to get rid of fire ants?

[Imaginethat!]

They are very active in my yard all of a sudden. I want to get rid of them, but since I want to graze my goats in the yard, I don't want to use poison. Any ideas? My dh is really ready to use the poison because the hills are getting so big and we have children.

Thanks!

Imaginethat!

 

[nanna]

http://www.vibrationdata.com/anteaters.htm




nanna

 

[Deemy]

On a dry day spread abit of cream of wheat around the nest. They eat and then poof! they explode

 

[theoutlands]

Diatomaceous Earth has been effective for us. We've yet to try the use of instant grits, rumored to behave like the aforementioned cream of wheat!

 

[FireDance]

I have a 14 year old boy mowing my lawn. Every week we all gather for the "Mowing of the Hills". It's fantastic. Dust cloud, tens of thousands of angry ants, laughing children... They're moving slowly to my neighbor's yard. It's only a matter of time. But unless you're sadistic like we are, you might want to try another method. I've tried grits and I've tried poison, but this truly is the most satisfying.

 

[rhughe13]

Ok, I hope I don't get slammed for being disgusting. I actually told someone at work today that I have fun going to the farm, grabbing a few beers and wizzing on fire ant hills. They gotta be getting tired of that by now.

 

[rockywhy]

Hose them down

We just go out and hose them down. This is where they put their eggs to hatch to keep them a certain temperature and a certain humidity. So we go out and hose them down. You can see the eggs go all over. Little white things in pile. Next day we go back and hose them again. After about the third day no ants. They can't procreate without the hills. We now have chickens too. They love the white things. They'll either move or die off cause they can't hatch the eggs. Try it it works.

 

[AngieM2]

Noat told me that if you take cheap dishwashing liquid and drown the hill, the ants move away.

Might try that.

AngieM2

 

[Walrus Whisperer]

"wizzing on fire ant hills"

ONLY if you're male.

 

[It'sJustMe]

Fight fire with fire? Just a suggestion, as that's what we do with mound ants here in the PNW. They build nests 5-10 feet tall, ours were only 5' though. Otherwise, we read to mix some syrup with the grits, and that really drives them crazy! It's Just Me

 

[nannygoat]

A mixture of boric acid and powdered sugar or boric acid and peanut butter or put cream of wheat with the first - do not know if it will work with fire ants but it sure works with our ants and we have a nasty biting one that makes me get nasty lumps and also gives the goats lumps - good luck with them - I have heard from people with lots of fire ants that they have killed calves and baby goats and lambs in pastures with hills - there had been report of some of them in SW AZ in some nursery plants and suppose to be destoryed - I understand we are suppose to be to dry and maybe too hot - hope that is true - bad enough we have "killer bees"

 

[DustMusher]

Live Nematodes (sp?) I put some out this spring and have NO fire ants. For South TX that is a miracle. Also, you can try 2 oz Citrus Oil to 1 gallon liquid (water or even better a compost tea)

DM

 

[Imaginethat!]

Thank-you all soo much!!!! I'm going to try all the ideas (except the anteater, dh says no more pets! LOL!! )

We have enough mounds to try them all!

Imaginethat!

 

[Imaginethat!]

Dh bought home a bottle of boric acid. Used it all.
Used a whole bottle of citric oil.
Used a few envelopes of instant grits.
Washed away a few more. They reappeared by the next day.

It seems like one whole section of my yard is nothing but these ants. You can't even walk over it anymore.

I also saw a few of them with wings.

What is going on? Why are there so many all of a sudden?

I told my husband I was going to make him pot after pot of coffee, but he wasn't allowed to p until after dark. Don't know why? Read above in the thread!

Imaginethat!

 

[Rachel75]

Orange oil you can get it at wal mart. Mix about a gallon of water to a cup of orange oil and pour it on the mound, make sure you soak the mound, and they will die you can see them dying (lol my favorite part) and they will not re nest in that area again, well atleast until you get a good rain and it smells better and its safer than the chemicals.
Rachel

 

[Beetree]

A landscaper friend of mine swears by the grits. He said you have to use quite a lot of them but only when it is "not" going to rain. They swell up and explode the ants' belly, so if you use it when it is going to rain, obviously it swells before the ants can get it, so you do not want to use it unless it is dry weather. Lately I have been putting a three gallon pot of water to boil and pouring it on the bed. Ouch!
Also if you poop scoop; the poop into a hole in the ant bed drives them away (of course dig into and cover up). Poop scooping, and putting poop around doggie dig holes keeps the doggie digging away. Though, you only want to do that around the fence lines! Not close to the kiddie play areas or house! Does that sound gross? Sorry!

 

[Caplock50]

I was told used coffee grounds would get rid of fire ants. I have used baby powder. All that did was to make them move the hill. Where I'm living now, I had a huge hill right next to the house. I stirred it up good and poured a gallon of old gasoline into it. It is now dead and gone.

 

[cipher]

Boiling water. Nice, effective, non-toxic. Repeat as necessary.

 

[Imaginethat!]

Thank-you everyone. I haven't tried the dish soap yet, or the boiling water 'cause I'd have to carry it too far, but when I get the right container.....

Imaginethat!

 

[Ought Six]

One guy I knew said he just dumped about a half a gallon of gasoline on the nest (*without* lighting it), and that killed them off instantly. You might try that if the other remedies do not work.

The ones with wings are male drones. In the mating season, ants of all species develop extra queens. These queens fly away to establish new nests, while lots and lots of male drones fly after them to inseminate the queen. The queen emits a pheremone scent to attract the drones, which is how they find her.

 

[AnniePutin]

Last weekend, I needed to treat a yellow jacket nest in the ground next to an oriental tree that I didn't want to damage. I was told to wait until after dark and then fill the hole with sevin dust (like you would use in your garden). He said this would kill one and all of the yellow jackets. A friend did that for me and 'nary a yellow-jacket has emerged since. I don't know if it would work on an ant hill or not, but seems likely that it would. If not, it's still a good tip for yellow-jacket nests! Mean little critters, they are!