YABT: I found some ants by my porch.

[Ferzerp]

Yet another bug thread.

Borax, sweetened, did nothing. You can see the remains there in the video. Hopefully the bait/poison stakes work. Anyone have any ideas that don't involve torching my house since they're less than a foot from the porch?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F15MpxwAGZI

 

[lxskllr]

Leave them alone? Outside is outside, and of no concern to you til they go inside. They may or may not, but probably won't.

 

[BxgJ]

What kind of ants? Couldn't quite tell from the video.

 

[Ferzerp]

The problem is that they're in the corner where my sidewalk meets my porch. Anyone walking up that doesn't notice the nest and takes a step off the sidewalk will get swarmed.

 

[Ferzerp]

What kind of ants? Couldn't quite tell from the video.

Judging by the extreme reaction, I can only assume they're fire ants. I'm along the band where they're currently slowly spreading north. Since they swarm so quickly with any stimulus, I am not really going to take the time to catch one and see if it has a stinger or just bites to be completely sure.

 

[Ruptga]

Put a glass container over the entrance? It works for bigger bugs, not sure about ants. For inside I just put out a liquid bait trap whenever I notice them, then they disappear after a day.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

There are two kinds of food ants go for and it varies depending on mood and even species: 1) Sweet 2) Protein. If the sweet stuff isn't working, you'll need to use the protein baits. I use the granular Terro stuff (the kind carpenter ants will eat) and also have some of the sweet Terro borax traps out. It wipes them out pretty fast.

 

[pcgeek11]

Judging by the extreme reaction, I can only assume they're fire ants. I'm along the band where they're currently slowly spreading north. Since they swarm so quickly with any stimulus, I am not really going to take the time to catch one and see if it has a stinger or just bites to be completely sure.

Those are Fire Ants.
The best way I have found to get rid of them is Amdro:

http://www.amdro.com/solution-finder/fire-ants/lawn-and-landscaped-areas/granules

 

[highland145]

I know amdro kills them because I've seen hundreds of their dead ant bodies on a mound but I'm pretty sure the rest of the mound moves to the neighbors....he's an asshole anyway. :biggrin:

 

[MongGrel]

Fire Ants are pretty resistant to a lot of things, they are pretty common around here.

I'd agree with the Amdro, at least some kind of bait made to take them out specifically.

When we first bought our house I did not know we had a bunch under the concrete slabs in the driveway, first time I washed the car I felt something, looked down, and had about 100 on my right leg. Squirted em with the hose and they all nailed me at once. Leg was swollen awhile.

I was so ticked at the time I dumped about a gallon of gas in the driveway crack and lit em up

 

[pcgeek11]

I know amdro kills them because I've seen hundreds of their dead ant bodies on a mound but I'm pretty sure the rest of the mound moves to the neighbors....he's an asshole anyway. :biggrin:

So that is why my neighbors yard is full of fire ants!

 

[highland145]

I know not of what you speak.

 

[Ferzerp]

Thanks for the info. I was pretty sure they're fire ants. They've just shown up in my area in the last couple of years. I'll see if I can get any of that locally.

edit: looks like amazon will have some for me Sunday.

 

[BxgJ]

Yeah fire ants are evil incarnate. And like MongGrel said, If you don't notice a bunch of 'em will get on you before biting all at once. A real horrible feeling. Happened to me as a kid once, and I'll never forget it. Playing in my grandma's yard, I was messing with a water puddle that had some tadpoles in it. Didn't notice the ants that got all the way up my pants till I moved, and they all bit at once.

To this day nothing, including no woman, has made me get out of my pants faster than those ants did.

I'll also agree with the others that mentioned amdro, that's what I use.

 

[Miramonti]

I hate Terro ant bait traps and don't know why they are so highly rated. Ants don't disappear for me and often they die in the traps and never make it back to the nest, which is the goal (to feed/kill the nest, not just kill the ant that grabs some.) Terro baits also dry out quickly imo. I'd recommend sweet gel bait tubes instead (if they are sweet ants), something that doesn't dry out quickly and they can indulge now or months later. Place it close to where you see them most active, but wherever you put it, they will likely find it. So don't put the bait any closer to the house than you need to, thinking it will be a last line of defense. That will just draw them closer and encouraging the scouts to going inside, which could be like opening the dam.

 

[highland145]

To this day nothing, including no woman, has made me get out of my pants faster than those ants did..

When I was a wee kid, 12 years ago, ...O.K. 45 years ago, my gramps had mice under the house. A lot of them. He crawls under to see what's going on...then he flies back out of the crawl space shedding his clothes. Some of the babies had crawled up his pant legs.

Pretty hilarious for me. Not so much for him.