My ant problem

I am hoping to get some advice from some of our seasoned members here that have dealt with this before.
So I just sold my house and moved into another and completely missed this when I went to look at my new one. There is a huge red ant colony in my back yard. I have a Great Pyrenees and he is kinda dumb. These ants were out in full force the first morning of me being here. They got all over him and I had to take him to the vet after he decided to lay right over the hidden mound.
So after I got home I sprayed some ant killer hoping that they would come out and I could find all the entrances. I think I found all them. So I tilled the ground and sprayed the crap on those entrances to the point I made a puddle.
Now my question is do you guys think that will kill the queen or should I get a professional to do the job?
Thanks in advance.

:edit: Mods if this is the wrong forum please correct my mistake

a reply to: Allaroundyou
Borax. Or any ant baits that have borax in them. They eat it, carry it back to the nests and they all die out eventually. Every summer up here in Washington my house is under siege from ants, and that’s the only thing I’ve found that works.

A lot of sprays can also be bad for pets if they are in the same area.

There are ant baits that poison the entire colony to death. I don't know if that would work for you but it's certainly less expensive than an exterminator. You can get packs of them for like $5.

a reply to: Allaroundyou


A thermonuclear device delivered from orbit is the only way to be sure.

Gallon of gas. Match.
Problem solved.

[ I have a Great Pyrenees too! ]

a reply to: Allaroundyou

If it didn't do the trick, try Amdro. It's small yellow grains that you throw down and the ants will carry it back to the nest and kill the entire colony. We get some pretty nasty fire ants every so often, and it works like a charm.

And I'd turn that soil over again... or just get rid of the topsoil altogether with the pesticides you previously sprayed. Especially if your dog likes to roll around in the soil -- but even if he just likes to lay in it. You don't want him breathing that and licking it off himself

Good luck!

And since I just can't resist.

a reply to: underwerks

I have my dog a few cats and a Desert tortoise, but they all are staying inside for at least 24 hours. I am not married and have no children so these guys are my family. Can’t risk them.
What I did was till the a line from each entrance to the main one. Then made said puddle.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Allaroundyou


A thermonuclear device delivered from orbit is the only way to be sure.

I have my doubts. The ants I battle against would probably just turn radioactive and grow larger. I really don’t need glowing cancer ants scurrying around the house.

originally posted by: DAVID64
Gallon of gas. Match.
Problem solved.

[ I have a Great Pyrenees too! ]

Mine is fully trained but dumb as hell. Is yours?
Not the trained part but the dumb part lol. I think mine is simple minded....

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
Mine is fully trained but dumb as hell. Is yours?

Wouldn't that make him a So-So Pyrenees?

a reply to: Allaroundyou

She's actually pretty smart. GPs are very stubborn and independent, so sometimes they don't follow commands like others.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

I live in Montana and on the property we get colonies of red and carpenter ants. My best solution so far is Splenda. We use it because it doesn't wipe out the small furry pets too.

Works every time.

Oddly enough, Splenda (Sucralose) was originally "discovered" in 1975 when they were trying to create a new insecticide.

SoOo... great on ants, but we stay away from it in the kitchen.

Hope that helps...

a reply to: DAVID64

I definitely agree with the stubbornness of GP. The whole independent part I think mine falls short of. Maybe I babied him too much. I can take him on a walk without a leash if I wish but that kinda scares people. Hell it even scares them with one. So I take him to a mountain trail that has less people on it.

a reply to: Lumenari

Huh...I will give that a try if they seem to not have disappeared tomorrow. How did you use it though? With water I assume.

link to fire ant killer.

If these are the bastards you speak of, this will get them. You need to follow the instructions, but it works. I don't like them either. I tried to do a thread about them, but the moderators all had bugs up their asses that day, and didn't appreciate my humor.

100% guaranteed way to rid yourself of them...

Go to Ace Hardware (or a lawn & garden place) and get a product called AMDRO. It's this dry granular stuff (and it's non-toxic I believe...but I keep our dogs off it anyway).

Pour an unbroken circle of the stuff around an ant mound. Be generous with this stuff too, I get about 2-2.5 mounds with one container. In two days the ants will be gone, not dead, but gone.

They can't resist this stuff, and the unbroken circle means the worker ants will carry it back to the queen and kill her with it. The ants just leave then. And here's the best part (and if you ever actually get to witness this it's cool as hell to watch); when the surviving ants leave they take off like an army and they go start a war with another ant mound...so you get double bang for your buck!

We had red ants everywhere (and I mean EVERYWHERE). Now we don't have any mounds within a half mile of the house.

Oh, and NO, I don't work for the company, the stuff just works...and like RIGHT NOW!

ETA...When I say there are survivors, I mean only about 5% survivors. The rest are killed by it.

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: Lumenari

Huh...I will give that a try if they seem to not have disappeared tomorrow. How did you use it though? With water I assume.

You take a bag of it and dump it on the nest. Alternately, pour a trail of it around your house or lawn perimeter.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I am going try Lumenari’s thing first. Seeing as I have neighbors it may be kinda weird if I ask them to watch that awesome event. I really just want them dead and to not spread to my neighbors as they have kids and all.
These ants must die!!!

Oh, and if you want to see something really, REALLY, cool...

If you don't disturb the mound after you kill the ants, and you're kind of handy, you can melt 4-5 lbs of aluminum and pour the molten aluminum down the hole. When the aluminum solidifies you can dig it out and wash it off. The resultant structure is a stunning work of art. There are guys who sell these things for 10's of thousands of dollars...each!