How do you keep fire ants OUT of your colonies?

Rabbit Talk  Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
When I was in Florida, some people used the boiling water method, and they swear by it, I tried it and was not happy with the work to/ success ratio. but I had a bunch of old, stale, quick grits someone had given us, so I opened all the little packages and sprinkled those around the yard, and animal areas , and it worked well, [except for those the peacocks found] [one of the few redeeming qualities Peacocks have, is, they eat Lovebugs]
I think that was the best use for "quick grits" I have ever found.
 
Ah, the things one can learn here. I am agog.

Poking me with a stick eh? I will have you know that properly prepared poutine is not at all greasy! I was, however, quoting a previous comment about greasy grits. Are they indeed greasy? After all, I have never tried them, but if they taste like creamed wheat I am all in.

Now back to the ants. I would think that if you could dig into the hole a bit and then try the boiling water you may still have water hot enough to kill the evil queen as well as her stinging minions.

One year the hubs emptied the hot tub. Not knowing where to drain the highly chlorinated water, he shoved the drain tube into the nearest pocket gopher hole. All of the many gallons of water disappeared without a trace. We were without gophers for a couple years after that. Eventually they slowly returned.
I still cannot believe he participated is such an environmental nightmare.
 
Schipperkesue":3he4l018 said:
Ah, the things one can learn here. I am agog.

Poking me with a stick eh? I will have you know that properly prepared poutine is not at all greasy! I was, however, quoting a previous comment about greasy grits. Are they indeed greasy? After all, I have never tried them, but if they taste like creamed wheat I am all in.

.

grits are not greasy, - they are good prepared and served any way cream of Wheat is, -- but-- with butter, they are divine...
 
I have used boiling water to great effect in heavy clay soil. The boiling water has nowhere else to go other than what the ants have dug out but in sandy soil the water drains away in other directions so it take MUCH more water and digging out the nest to get deep enough to get the queen.

I used a shop vac once to vac up a nest, thinking the bashing of being sucked up would kill them like it does wasps.

It doesnt! :x

Good thing it was a wet dry vac, I could suck up hot soapy water with it and that killed most of them.

Next thing to try is sucking up TWO different mounds and letting the ants kill eachother.

But nothing I have found will deter them from an area they want to go, even pure manure, which ants are supposed to NOT like, is moved into here.

Have I mentioned how much I hate fireants?

Forgot to get grits today, despite putting them on my list! :oops:
 
Schipperkesue":ig5a8uss said:
I was, however, quoting a previous comment about greasy grits. Are they indeed greasy? After all, I have never tried them, but if they taste like creamed wheat I am in.

No, grits all alone aren't greasy. Cooked the right way, they are creamy yet fluffy at the same time and taste...let's see, how does one describe the taste of grits? Ok, fasten your seat belts--this is gonna be a long drive...
Well, let's start with texture. If they are cooked well (at least, the way I like them) they sort of resemble a pile of mashed potatoes on a plate. Creamy, like cream of wheat or farina, but you can still eat them with a fork. They are cooked all the way through so each "bead" of corn is soft and tender but with a thin gel around the outside from having been cooked long enough. Overcooked grits can get like wallpaper paste; grits that have too much water are soupy and run all over. Undercooked grits are...gritty. Like eating waxy cornmeal. Undercooked or soupy, they don't soak up any butter or gravy or pot likker (the liquid left in the pot when you cook your vegetables for so long that they finally surrender) or other yummy liquids/fats, which is another purpose for grits. They are your starch on the plate that gives you quick energy and nutrients, helps stretch the meat, and captures every last nutrient and flavour of the more expensive foods.. The taste is very mild, in my opinion, but with a hint of earthiness and of course cornishness.
Southern foods usually have an interesting story, like just about everything else in the south. I have a fondness and admiration for traditional southern foods because they say so much about the people and history. Many traditional southern foods were items that were easy to grow or harvest, and were easy to preserve in some form during an era before canning or refrigeration was practical. A lot of methods of cooking came from ways of putting the most nutrition , calories and flavour into whatever you could get your hands on so you could keep your family's bodies and souls together while still showing a little love and flair. Many iconic foods were just practical: biscuits use simple ingredients, and could rise and be baked quickly in our hot summers, where yeast breads required yeast and more babying (and a hotter oven for a longer time.). And you don't want to waste those leftover cold biscuits. so you can fry up a little bit of sausage, mix it up with some milk gravy, season with salt and herbs you had growing around your house and pour some over each buiscuit. That way, you take sausage that would have fed one person and stretch it to feed four without making the portions or calories smaller. And with the amount of hard physical labor people were doing you needed every calorie you could get , so fat and lard were good. A lot of what has become known as Southern food comes from the slaves and peoples who worked the lands instead of those who "owned" them. They found ways to take the offal and less desirable meat scraps allowed them as well as garden items and food they could gather and turn them into the most flavorful and imaginative dishes out of necessity. So with all that said, I say long live grits! Long live pecan pie, cornbread and biscuits with gravy! All hail okra, sweet potaoes and turnip greens! And give a reverant "huzza!" to collards with fat back, country ham and black eyed peas!

Now, with all that said, when it comes to red velvet cake and boiled peanuts, the rest of you folks living in the south better step up to the plate 'cause I got nuthin'. Cake that has so much food coloring you probably spit pink for a week and mushy goobers that taste like burlap are getting no help from me...
 
Frosty Alberta has nothing on toasty Georgia for growing corn, the basis of these agreeable grits. RF, you make them sound almost ambrosia like! I guess we eat what we grow.

Now, though I may sound like a picky eater I actually am not, and love to try new and unusual foods. Okra, buttermilk biscuits, sweet potatoes and turnip greens have all graced my plate at one time or another. In fact, imagine my surprise when I saw FRESH okra in the Drayton Valley grocery last week. I couldn't buy a bag fast enough! And when I took it to the till, none of the cashiers could identify it, nor did they even know what it was! For lunch today I ate the last of my version of Chili Verde made with the unusual combination of green peppers, rabbit and okra. It was delicious. If i ever see tomatillos I will be all over them like white on rice.

And for those who don't know, Google Drayton Valley and see how out of the way my nearest small city is!





Now we have done it. A full on hijack. I am so ashamed.
 
Schipperkesue":20a8vu9b said:
Now we have done it. A full on hijack. I am so ashamed.

As well you should be! :nono: TSK!

:ban:

Drat! :evil: There are way too many of you involved (including- *GASP!*- a MODERATOR!) to bother. :? I'd be banning about half of the active population. :|

Now, back to our regularly scheduled topic on ant annihilation... or was it grits? I can't seem to remember...
 
Something that I have used to combat these stupid little sugar/piss ants is a combination of: water, rubbing alcohol, dish soap, and vinegar.

How you mix it is equal parts vinegar and water (about half the container, I use a large used Lysol spray bottle), 1 tablespoon of dish soap, and 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol. Mix well and spray along cracks and crevices to deter ants, will kill others on contact.
 
mushy goobers that taste like burlap

:roll: You've got to be kidding me, warm, salty boiled peanuts from the roadside stands are wonderful :love:. I've purchased the canned ones in an attempt to share the treat with my more northern family, but no...nothing sort of a trip south could re-create the experience.

I suppose all that leftover heavily salted boiling water could be disposed of down the nearest fire ant nest. :twisted:

Red velvet cake though...I dunno, I've never seen it without artificial colors. I don't eat those. I wonder if there is a traditional variant maybe colored with...beet juice? That might be good, or least fun to try and make :)
 
My apologies, GBov, MSD, and everybody. I won't mention gr-- the Food that Shall Not be Named again. By way of atonement, I offer this, from peteducation.com. I don't think we'd mentioned pine oil or d-limonene.


Two-step method:

The two-step method can effectively control fire ants in heavily infested areas:
Zass, canned boiled p-nuts are worse than roadside ones! Maybe they'd kill fire ants
Broadcast Applied Baits: Begin the two-step method by broadcasting a fire ant bait (such as Amdro®, Award®, Ascend®, Distance®, ExtinguishTM, or Eliminator®) over the entire yard. When applied properly, broadcast-applied bait products are unlikely to harm pets. This is due to the relative low toxicity of the insecticides used, the small percentage of active ingredient used in baits, and low application rates. When applied at the recommended rate (usually 1 to 1½ pounds per acre), baits should be thoroughly scattered so they are barely visible on the ground, and essentially unavailable to contact pets. If the fire ants are active, baits will be rapidly picked up by worker ants and removed to underground nests, away from people, birds, and pets. no, beet juice would look too faded for a Red Velvet. Faded velvet ain't fancy. Although since I don't like them, why am I even saying anything?

Organic methods:
Several organic methods of controlling fire ants can be safe to use around your pets. For recently produced mounds, pouring 2 to 3 gallons of very hot or boiling water over the mound will provide 50% to 60% control. Insecticide products containing pyrethrins (or a combination pyrethrin plus diatomaceous earth or silica dioxide), rotenone, pine oil, or d-limonene, can also provide adequate control of individual fire ant mounds.
 
I LOVE hijacked threads, they are sooooo much more interesting than single topic ones! :twisted:

The fireants are STILL in my flowerpots, despite baby powder, DE and many many soakings.

NO IDEA why those three pots are super ant homes, they look just like all the rest and have the same kinds of plants and dirt in.

Almost lost a doe to heat stroke today, have to come up with SOMETHING to keep the blighters out of the still to be built underground nest boxes.

And good boiled peanuts are sublime.
 
michaels4gardens":3h7nmlxb said:
[one of the few redeeming qualities Peacocks have, is, they eat Lovebugs]
You are KIDDING me!!! I thought NOTHING would eat those things! Now to get some peacocks...

Schipperkesue":3h7nmlxb said:
Poking me with a stick eh? I will have you know that properly prepared poutine is not at all greasy! I was, however, quoting a previous comment about greasy grits. Are they indeed greasy?
We're well-equipped. If you prefer frying pans, zap rays, UFOs, or folding chairs, I'm flexible. :)

Now, I looked up poutine, and it sure did sound greasy! But grits are only as greasy as what you put with them. :p

Schipperkesue":3h7nmlxb said:
I would think that if you could dig into the hole a bit and then try the boiling water you may still have water hot enough to kill the evil queen as well as her stinging minions.
Um... fire ants are... really fast... and you barely breathe on the mound, and they come flooding out looking for someone to blame! :x

GBov":3h7nmlxb said:
Next thing to try is sucking up TWO different mounds and letting the ants kill eachother.
:rotfl: Now you could sell tickets to that! :lol: My dad would swap shovelfuls between two nests, and watch the carnage. He had to have been stung doing this. They'd be up that shovel like :x .

the reluctant farmer":3h7nmlxb said:
mushy goobers that taste like burlap are getting no help from me...
Now leave my boiled peanuts alone! :angry: You obviously haven't had ones done right!

(The rest of what you said... you nailed it! :hooray: )

MamaSheepdog":3h7nmlxb said:
:ban:

Drat! :evil: There are way too many of you involved (including- *GASP!*- a MODERATOR!) to bother. :? I'd be banning about half of the active population. :|
:p :p :p You mean I get off scott free? :mbounce:

the reluctant farmer":3h7nmlxb said:
Zass, canned boiled p-nuts are worse than roadside ones! Maybe they'd kill fire ants
HEY! I saw you sneak that in there! :angry:

And the bit about red velvet cake. But I didn't say anything, because I don't like red velvet cake.

I will have to look into the pine oil. I just found (after realizing Pine Sol is no longer Pine Sol) a pine cleaner that is 60% pine oil. :D

GBov":3h7nmlxb said:
I LOVE hijacked threads, they are sooooo much more interesting than single topic ones! :twisted:
Glad to be of help. :twisted:
 
We bake a black velvet cake here, its really good and no food coloring at all! :cool:

If you put socks on and pull them up OVER your pants legs, its much easier to NOT get stung when working in the garden but this time of year it seems every weed has a just started fire ant nest under it, sometimes only a queen and a handful of workers. I get more stings weeding :evil: but the fur cuffed rubber gloves that foil the ants attack look sooooo hot, I just cant go there.

Peacocks eat stink bugs??? Their down side must be HUGE with that as a positive about them!

Oh, anyone run into stinging caterpillers yet? As we are talking about gardening and things Deep South, they are sooooo special! :roll:
 
GBov":oygk21k0 said:
We bake a black velvet cake here, its really good and no food coloring at all! :cool:

If you put socks on and pull them up OVER your pants legs, its much easier to NOT get stung when working in the garden but this time of year it seems every weed has a just started fire ant nest under it, sometimes only a queen and a handful of workers. I get more stings weeding :evil: but the fur cuffed rubber gloves that foil the ants attack look sooooo hot, I just cant go there.

Peacocks eat stink bugs??? Their down side must be mt be HUGE ,with that as a positive about them!

Oh, anyone run into stinging caterpillers yet? As we are talking about gardening and things Deep South, they are sooooo special! :roll:

Peacocks eat all of the nasty bugs no self respecting chicken or duck would touch [except Fire ants, but will eat the eggs if you stir up the colony] they are also death on palmetto bugs, roaches, stinging caterpillars, lovebugs, Japanese beetles, and a bunch of other things, but they can fly straight up in the air and chase a Red tailed hawk, across the sky when it starts hanging around a female with bitties, so -a fence around your garden is only a small deterrent , they scream at night when something moves near them, [and sometimes for no apparent reason] it sounds like a woman screaming and will wake you from a dead sleep. [not as bad as a cougar though] and peacocks don't just graze on your plants, they will ignore them until one day they decide to eat them all the way into the ground, so you come home and the plant you thought was "OK" is just gone, or so completely eaten, it is hopeless to try to salvage it. [including elephant ears]
but they are also yummy when young, and the feathers from the males are salable when they moult in late summer after breeding season is over.
 
Back
Top