My ant problem

Call this guy

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

a reply to: Allaroundyou

Well, I hate break this news to you, but if you truly want them "ALL" dead then you'll have to resort to Augustus's solution and call in a nuclear strike.

You see, you really can't ever truly get rid of them all...nothing can. Many people 'think' they're gone, but they aren't and this is one of the reasons they are so difficult to get rid of. They are surprisingly resourceful creatures at preserving their kind.

You'll kill lots (and lots) of them, but you won't kill them all. No matter what anyone says. I've seen and heard every imaginable solution, and none of them are absolute.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I called Nellis to see what they can do in regards to a nuclear strike.... Now I have some people knocking on my door I hope to reason with them and I have all my taxes in order from the past ten years to use as my weapon to defend myself.
If you guys don’t here from me then now you know why.
Damn red ants!!!!!

I'm in southern CO we've battled fire ants for years. I don't like using chemical pesticides but I've used them in the past. I've poured everything known to man into red ant mounds. It all seems to work for awhile but as soon as I stop treating them, new ants move in, quickly repopulate the nest.

We've had good luck moving them. We completely destroy the mound, dig down deep and put the whole mess in a wheelbarrow, soil/ants/eggs and cart it off our property. We've had good luck with this method. We moved 3 mounds and after 5 years they still haven't returned.

We flood the hole with water and leave it open for awhile. After we're sure all the ants are gone, we fill the hole with dirt, throw down some grass seed and you can't tell the mound was ever there.

We're surrounded by wilderness so finding a place to dump them isn't a problem. In cities maybe you could transfer them to an alley or empty lot.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

When I lived in Florida we had an infestation of nightmarish proportions. The Hoa sprayed a field which in turn forced ants into all the houses. People would not have believed the horror if not seen in person. It was so sick.

Anyways, here is what worked, terro bait stations. The ants eat the bait die, and then the other ants eat them and die. The thing is you have to let them eat it and the problem will be much worse before it gets better. Use lots of baits. I've made my own with borax, but it isn't as good as the Terro ones. Please trust me on this and run out and get those baits. You'll know they work because as soon as it is ant season a lot of stores sell out. Whatever you do, do not spray poison on them, it will actually only increase the colony. Baits are the only way to go.

a reply to: Morningglory

I tilled the mound so putting the dirt in a container would be easy. My only problem would be dumping them. I live just outside Vegas in Henderson so I don’t really know where I would put the dirt. I imagine if I keep tilling the area killing them I may be able to kill the queen.
The idea of a massive water puddle without pesticides sounds like a safe idea given I have animals.
On a side note I had to give me chickens up But they went to a petting zoo and my chickens loved to be held! Still sad though.....

baking powder and chalk on the trails, baking powder + vinegar into every opening (outside) they come out from if you can´t find the nest directly.

a reply to: Lumenari

What about Splenda mixed with borax? We are often under seige from carpenter ants and they can ignore the Amdro.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Lumenari

What about Splenda mixed with borax? We are often under seige from carpenter ants and they can ignore the Amdro.

Borax didn't work for us because we host a few families of Rocky Mountain flying squirrels and we didn't want to chance a die off. They're cute and are so fun to watch glide!!!

However, if you are not worried about furried thingeys I see no harm in that.

It does work wonders just by itself though... we've gotten the ants to 1/4 mile from the house now.

Hope that helped!

Edited to Add... Spenda works because it is sweet but isn't actually a sugar. Ants have a VERY high metabolism. So they eat the Splenda, it doesn't metabolize and they starve to death while eating it. Slightly gruesome, but it works. It also doesn't appear to kill off any animals that we have if they get into it, but again, I don't use it in the kitchen...lol.

LMAO at all these complicated responses to a simple solution. The Earth has already provided the solution to your fire ant problems. WATER

My father taught me the best way to kill an ant hill, is a technique he used in the mountains of Colombia where he grew up as a kid. Learned it from his parents. Take a large pot of water, boil it to high hell. You want it to be scalding hot. Then just slowly pour it over the hill. Just like most life on Earth, drowning in scalding hot water tend to kill swiftly.

You will notice over the next few hours the bodies of thousands of dead ants piling up around it by the survivors. Since the queen is kind of big and fat and trapped in her chamber, she is guaranteed to boil into a watery grave, thus ending that colony.

I have used this method on only a handful of ant colonies at my own property, as they have never come back afterwards. 100% chemical pollution free, no threat of poisoning innocent bystanders, no toxifying the soil, no endless dollar spent on worthless non-working chemical ant killers.

Just mother nature in a two step process. Boil, and pour. I promise you this will solve any ant colony you come across, however the ones inside of trees are typically immune. The queen can be anywhere on the vertical trunk.

a reply to: worldstarcountry

Ah, we have no idea where the carpenter ants hail from, and even if we did, it is unlikely to work as they are as likely to live in a tree as they are underground.

I'm going to look into Splenda myself.

My method of dealing with ants won't work, but the method to make them leave your dog alone just *might*. Turns out, peppermint oil will make ants run for their lives. A peppermint *plant*, won't, as the little bastards will march right by it and give it the middle finger on the way by, but the oil does. If you keep him smelling like a starlight mint, they should leave him alone.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
Well, I hate break this news to you, but if you truly want them "ALL" dead then you'll have to resort to Augustus's solution and call in a nuclear strike.

You'd think people would listen to me by now considering my NSA IP address and all.

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
I tilled the mound so putting the dirt in a container would be easy. My only problem would be dumping them. I live just outside Vegas in Henderson so I don’t really know where I would put the dirt.

Don't put it near the Strip!!! I'm there now.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

Are they red ants or fire ants? Difference.

That said, I usually use Amdro or similar ant poisons, which usually work. The workers take the poison granules to the queens, and the mound dies. But then others move in.

For something more organic and safe (even for doggie), try food grade diatomaceous earth. It's not a poison, but it will pretty much kill any insect that comes in contact with it.

a reply to: Allaroundyou

... I imagine if I keep tilling the area killing them I may be able to kill the queen.

No, no you won't. The queen is impossible to kill, her workers protect her like nobody's business The only way you can kill the queen is by having her workers take poison to her to eat (and she will). Once the queen is dead the ants have no leader (even though the queen just hatches more ants).

But the queen dies, and with her thousands, possibly even millions, of ants die...again, but not ALL of them. The remaining few will migrate. You have to understand, not all ants are workers for the queen, many are warrior ants...this is why fire ants are such a problem. The ones who leave are on a mission to take over another mound, capture and kill the workers and save the queen to work for them. Ants are amazing creatures.

Like I said, you will never get rid of "ALL" of them, despite what people might suggest...you will only move them. (further away from your house).

You litery have. NOthing to lose with scalding hot boiling water other than about twelve minutes waiting g for it to boil.

Pour it slowly, the warriors can try in vain, but will not stop the flow. The ones that pile aLl the dead bodies are typically the ones who were out scavenging and returned to Armageddon.