# Lifestyles & Discussion > Personal Health & Well-Being >  Fire Ants

## Suzanimal

I spent most of the day Thursday and Friday morning planting junipers (50 of them!) on a bank. Anyway, I moved a rock and million angry fire ants attacked me, somehow I managed to only get 8 bites (I was barefoot) but dang, they hurt. I looked online for info on ant bites and found out vinegar is suppose to help and they also recommended ice packs. I ended up soaking a washcloth in white vinegar and laying an ice pack on top of it, worked like a charm.

My husband swears by bleach. I've tried that before and it just irritated my skin making me itch worse.

Anyone else have a good homemade bug bite/ bee sting treatment that works?

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## CaseyJones

just pop em and wash em try to avoid em

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## Suzanimal

> just pop em and wash em try to avoid em


That's what I've done in the past, the vinegar/ice pack treatment made them quit itching.

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## CaseyJones

vinegar works on sunburns to
but I just wanted people to know about the popping part, its formic acid and if you do not get it out it just burns in deeper

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## Carson

It sounds like you had a couple days of some really nice work. I hope the trees take.

My Grandmother used to have trees that needed planting when her Kids and Grandchildren came to visit. It is a shame we don't have the land anymore.

I used to try and make a point of planting stuff while I was out camping and hiking. I probably shouldn't have some times. I was on a Golden Poppy kick for a while. One area I would visit an acorn tree and then take the acorns deer hunting with me. Most of the times I never really got back to the places to see what kind of damage I did. 

What could a poor boy do? It was in my nature.

I don't know about fire ants. Poison Oak I could tell you about.

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## Suzanimal

> *vinegar works on sunburns to*
> but I just wanted people to know about the popping part, its formic acid and if you do not get it out it just burns in deeper


I didn't know that! I normally use aloe but it's nice to have options. Also, aloe's kinda gross and sticky.




> It sounds like you had a couple days of some really nice work. I hope the trees take.
> 
> My Grandmother used to have trees that needed planting when her Kids and Grandchildren came to visit. It is a shame we don't have the land anymore.
> 
> I used to try and make a point of planting stuff while I was out camping and hiking. I probably shouldn't have some times. I was on a Golden Poppy kick for a while. One area I would visit an acorn tree and then take the acorns deer hunting with me. Most of the times I never really got back to the places to see what kind of damage I did. 
> 
> What could a poor boy do? It was in my nature.
> 
> I don't know about fire ants. Poison Oak I could tell you about.


They're not trees, they're blue star junipers (ground cover).

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## Natural Citizen

> Anyone else have a good homemade bug bite/ bee sting treatment that works?


Heh. Don't plant $#@! where a bunch of fire ants live like a right proper redneck? Heh. That'll work, Suzanimal. 


I'm just messing with you. I don't know any remedies, though.

Did you run away smacking yourself and whatnot?

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## Natural Citizen

Spiders like to live in those junipers, though. Like in the late summer and fall you'll see them everywhere. Like the whole plant is one big web with a bunch of tunnels that have spiders in the middle of each one. They won't hurt you, though. They just eat bugs.

It's beautiful in the morning at first dawn when they're full of dew, really.

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## Suzanimal

> Heh. *Don't plant $#@! where a bunch of fire ants live like a right proper redneck*? Heh. That'll work, Suzanimal. 
> 
> 
> I'm just messing with you. I don't know any remedies, though.
> 
> Did you run away smacking yourself and whatnot?


Impossible, fire ants are everywhere.





> Did you run away smacking yourself and whatnot?


Hell yeah! Running, screaming, smacking myself...they're nasty little boggers, I hate 'em.

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## Natural Citizen

> Impossible, fire ants are everywhere.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hell yeah! Running, screaming, smacking myself...they're nasty little boggers, I hate 'em.


Probably too late to treat the soil if you already have everything planted. Could have maybe scoooped out the old (sandy?) stuff with a tractor bucket and replaced it with something else. Is this where you built the retainer walls?

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## specsaregood

> My husband swears by bleach. I've tried that before and it just irritated my skin making me itch worse.


Pee.  Did he offer to urinate on your foot first and bleach was his 2nd suggestion?

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## Natural Citizen

> Pee.  Did he offer to urinate on your foot first and bleach was his 2nd suggestion?


I thought that was for jellyfish.

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## specsaregood

//

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## Suzanimal

> Pee.  Did he offer to urinate on your foot first and bleach was his 2nd suggestion?

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## Suzanimal

> Probably too late to treat the soil if you already have everything planted. Could have maybe scoooped out the old (sandy?) stuff with a tractor bucket and replaced it with something else. Is this where you built the retainer walls?


I'm in Ga, we don't have sandy stuff, we have red clay. I'm tellin' ya it's hard work digging holes in it on a steep slope.

It's off to the right of the retaining walls, right at the edge of the woods.

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## CaseyJones

just sprinkle some fire ant killer down there

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## Natural Citizen

> I'm in Ga, we don't have sandy stuff, we have red clay. I'm tellin' ya it's hard word digging holes in it on a steep slope.
> 
> It's off to the right of the retaining walls, right at the edge of the woods.


Yeah, that sucks. It is hard digging on slopes. My dad used make me do that with fence posts.

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## acptulsa

Those damned things just about got me arrested for indecent exposure once.

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## Suzanimal

> Those damned things just about got me arrested for indecent exposure once.


Pics or it didn't happen.

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## green73

> Heh. Don't plant $#@! where a bunch of fire ants live like a right proper redneck?


The proper redneck solution



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

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## Suzanimal

> The proper redneck solution


Pfft, he's not a proper redneck. 

1. He didn't say, "Y'all ain't gonna believe this $#@!." All proper redneck stories start this way.
2. He was sober.
3. His method didn't require a trip to the ER...
4. or a visit from the Fire Department
5. He was fully clothed - a proper redneck would've done that $#@! in his tighty whities and a stained wife beater.
6. He was alone, a proper redneck would've had his friends over to watch and at least one of them would've had a hot dog on a stick cooking it over the fire. 
7. A proper redneck would've lit the gas with the cigarette he was smoking while he was pouring the gas.

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## Suzanimal

That video reminds me, I use gas on yellow jackets.

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## William Tell

> just pop em and wash em try to avoid em


This. But as far as getting rid of the actual critters goes. If you have mounds, pour a ring of boiling water around the outer circle of the mound. And a bunch more of it in the center.  Cheap, and it works But I do realize they are everywhere some times. A feller I knew told me urine kills them, but I don't bother to save it. Since hot water works.

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## William Tell

> That video reminds me, I use gas on yellow jackets.


I use a salt gun. The *Bug-A-Salt*. Although it is designed for fly killing.

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## luctor-et-emergo

Try water with soda or baking soda. Pour that bleach over the ants, formic acid will make chlorine with the bleach helping their demise. Apart from a little bit of chlorine bleach is pretty environmentally friendly.

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## acptulsa

> 4. or a visit from the Fire Department


Proper rednecks never call the fire department.

Any redneck worth his salt...

*has enough beer in his bladder to put 'most any fire out, and

*has more beer.

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## Suzanimal

> Pee.  Did he offer to urinate on your foot first and bleach was his 2nd suggestion?





> I dunno, anytime my wife complains about a bugbite or sting or what not the first thing I do is offer to urinate on it.





> This. But as far as getting rid of the actual critters goes. If you have mounds, pour a ring of boiling water around the outer circle of the mound. And a bunch more of it in the center.  Cheap, and it works But I do realize they are everywhere some times.* A feller I knew told me urine kills them, but I don't bother to save it.* Since hot water works.


specs?

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## William Tell

> specs?


No, a neighbor of mine who recently passed away, he was 90.

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## green73

> Pfft, he's not a proper redneck. 
> 
> 1. He didn't say, "Y'all ain't gonna believe this $#@!." All proper redneck stories start this way.
> 2. He was sober.
> 3. His method didn't require a trip to the ER...
> 4. or a visit from the Fire Department
> 5. He was fully clothed - a proper redneck would've done that $#@! in his tighty whities and a stained wife beater.
> 6. He was alone, a proper redneck would've had his friends over to watch and at least one of them would've had a hot dog on a stick cooking it over the fire. 
> 7. A proper redneck would've lit the gas with the cigarette he was smoking while he was pouring the gas.


haha

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## Suzanimal

I stand corrected.





> Proper rednecks never call the fire department.
> 
> Any redneck worth his salt...
> 
> *has enough beer in his bladder to put 'most any fire out, and
> 
> *has more beer.

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## Ronin Truth

FWIW, my pediatric nurse wife swears by Noxzema stored in the fridge, for sunburns.

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## donnay

I always used witch hazel for the bites.  Then I apply essential peppermint oil to cool the bite area down.  Fire ants are nasty--get some diatomaceous earth and sprinkle it around the mounds.  It will eventually kill them deader than a hammer.

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## Working Poor

I use vinegar for many skin irritations. 

I get rid of fire ant nest by setting out a can of diet soda in the sun for a day or two and then pour it on the nest it is cheap and it really works.   Also I use ants to help turn over the garden. When they have thoroughly turned over the ground I put a little diatomaceous earth on them an they move over. I do have to watch them though cause they will set their aphids on my vegetables. Aphids are like cows to ants they set them on vegetables and come and milk them they will bring them into their nest in the winter to protect them and to take care of their eggs. Ants are very interesting creatures. I try not to kill them unless they are where people have to walk.

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## Lucille

Fire ant bites hurt real bad.  I hate them.




> for ants and cockroaches boric acid is an environmentally benign go to solution, you can buy it at the drug store otc and cut it with sugar to bait the ants, even works with carpenter ants


Just put it out.  They are chowing down. 

http://boraxantkiller.com/




> The recipe for homemade ant killer is three parts sugar to one part borax. This means that one cup of sugar can be used with ⅓ cup of borax. Mix these ingredients in a bowl to be sure all lumps are crushed and loosened. Add enough tap water to make the mixture thick and pasty, without being runny. Around ¼ to ⅓ cup of water should be sufficient to attain this consistency. Using a fork or whisk, stir the water into the mix and then add approximately ¼ cup of syrup to the mix. This should create a thick goo which will be irresistible to any household ant.

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## Lucille

The red ants are dead.  Now it's the others' turn.

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## opal

try bentonite clay.. make a paste.. spread it on.. put your feet up and have a glass of wine while it drys

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## HVACTech

Ant's are a real problem with residential A/C units.  they like to get up inside the contactor. and stop it from making contact. 

it is best to keep weeds and grass away from the outdoor unit.  and spray poison where the electric enters.

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## tod evans



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## CaseyJones

my brother told me coffee grounds kill the mounds, I assume used ones cause why waste coffee

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## donnay

> Fire ant bites hurt real bad.  I hate them.


Plantain leaf will help relieve the sting.



Pick off a leaf and chew it a bit to get your DNA, (make sure it is from an area where no pesticides were sprayed).  Then apply it to the bites--either by holding it or with a bandage.




> From Mountain Rose Herbs:
> 
>     Plantain has been used as a panacea in some Native American cultures and with some very good reasons. Many of its active constituents show antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, as well as being anti-inflammatory and antitoxic. The leaves, shredded or chewed, are a traditional treatment for insect and animal bites and the antibacterial action helps prevent infection and the anti-inflammatory helps to relieve pain, burning, and itching. There is some investigation ongoing to study its affects on lowering blood sugar.


It grows wild all across North America.  
https://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onli...S/BROADLEF.HTM

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## opal

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to donnay again.

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## euphemia

I think the amonia in urine neutralizes the venom from the ants.  People who are highly allergic to fire ants should do immunotherapy.

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## Suzanimal

> I think the amonia in urine neutralizes the venom from the ants.  People who are highly allergic to fire ants should do immunotherapy.


So next time I get bit, I should have someone pee on me?

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## tod evans

> So next time I get bit, I should have someone pee on me?


Or jump in your pool after the boys........

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## FunkBuddha

I'm normally an insect friendly person... I don't mind spiders, hornets or wasps because so long as I don't mess with them, they don't mess with me. But fire ants and yellow jackets, #$%^ those dudes. I use my propane torch on the nest for a minute, then rake it around and torch it over and over again until NOTHING moves.

Oh, and I'm kindof a dick to carpenter bees too.

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## opal

> I'm normally an insect friendly person... I don't mind spiders, hornets or wasps because so long as I don't mess with them, they don't mess with me. But fire ants and yellow jackets, #$%^ those dudes. I use my propane torch on the nest for a minute, then rake it around and torch it over and over again until NOTHING moves.
> 
> Oh, and I'm kindof a dick to carpenter bees too.


long explanation of kill it with fire.. but yep.. good plan

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## Todd

> I'm normally an insect friendly person... I don't mind spiders, hornets or wasps because so long as I don't mess with them, they don't mess with me. But fire ants and yellow jackets, #$%^ those dudes. I use my propane torch on the nest for a minute, then rake it around and torch it over and over again until NOTHING moves.
> 
> Oh, and I'm kindof a dick to carpenter bees too.


thing about carpenter bees is they don't sting and are just curious.   Stupid creatures actually.  Once I found this out I stopped bothering them unless they were ruining my wood deck.

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## Intoxiklown

Only thing I know to help fire ant bites is to avoid getting bitten.

But killing them? That's easy. If you use gas, DON'T light it. The gas works by smothering the hive, and if you ignite it, you just let them breathe. A fire ant bed can be an easy 6 feet deep. The best way to deal with them (and most entertaining), is to take a shovel full of one fire ant bed, and put it on another fire ant bed. Fire ants are seriously territorial, and by doing this, you've just started a war between both hives. You'll literally see lines of ants going back and forth between the beds in a couple of days. It won't stop until one queen is dead, and the surviving hive won't be nearly as hard to deal with. Do this with all beds you find, until only one remains. Then pour gasoline on that hive, and smother them.

No more fire ants. Until a rain comes, that is...

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## Suzanimal

> Only thing I know to help fire ant bites is to avoid getting bitten.
> 
> But killing them? That's easy. If you use gas, DON'T light it. The gas works by smothering the hive, and if you ignite it, you just let them breathe. A fire ant bed can be an easy 6 feet deep. The best way to deal with them (and most entertaining), is to take a shovel full of one fire ant bed, and put it on another fire ant bed. Fire ants are seriously territorial, and by doing this, you've just started a war between both hives. You'll literally see lines of ants going back and forth between the beds in a couple of days. It won't stop until one queen is dead, and the surviving hive won't be nearly as hard to deal with. Do this with all beds you find, until only one remains. Then pour gasoline on that hive, and smother them.
> 
> No more fire ants. Until a rain comes, that is...


I pour gas in yellow jacket holes.

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## donnay

*How To Get Rid Of Ants*
http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/ho...OB-_-ROL-_-ABP

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## Natural Citizen

I just step on em.

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## Lucille

> 


The exterminator mentioned that yesterday, along with Amdro.  I'll be getting both.  We had him here to treat the pool house for termites, and take a look at our hard to kill ants.  They're red harvester ants, and don't really care about the borax treat.  I've tried boiling water, corn meal, diatomaceous earth, and the borax mix.  All they do is move their entrance to another area of the patio.  What a mess.  Sand all over the place!

Look at that mandible.  Just look at it!  They really hurt.  I literally yelled "OW!" when I was bitten by one of those $#@!ers.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/slid...insect-bites/5




> However, they can be downright aggressive when defending their stash. Their sting ranks alongside paper wasps in intensity and is “bold and unrelenting..."


http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectac...x-which-sting/




> 3.0 Red harvester ant: Bold and unrelenting. Somebody is using a drill to excavate your ingrown toenail.

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## tod evans

I mix something sweet with the Terro, corn syrup, pancake surup, sugar, it all helps 'em find it...

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## Lucille

I'll do that, thanks.

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## Intoxiklown

Anyone remember diazinon? 

You can still get it for agri use,and if you can secure some.....LOL. Spray your yard with that, and it is an insect wasteland. Nothing will crawl there for months.

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## tod evans

> Anyone remember diazinon? 
> 
> You can still get it for agri use,and if you can secure some.....LOL. Spray your yard with that, and it is an insect wasteland. Nothing will crawl there for months.


Yup, 2-4-D too for fencerows and Clorodane for termites....

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## opal

*sigh*  I remember chlordane... good product.. and phospates too but I am going off topic

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## Lucille

> 


The red ants _love_ that stuff!  The harvester, not so much.  Before I got supplies (terro and amdro), I decided to try the borax mix again, but dry this time. I used brown sugar, cornmeal, and borax, and I worked it with my fingertips to get the borax in the sugar and cornmeal.  I found the main colony of harvester ants, spread it around and they went wild for it!  There are fewer of both every day.

I am waging biological warfare, and I will kill those whore queens if it's the last thing I ever do.

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## tod evans

> The red ants _love_ that stuff!  The harvester, not so much.  Before I got supplies (terro and amdro), I decided to try the borax mix again, but dry this time. I used brown sugar, cornmeal, and borax, and I worked it with my fingertips to get the borax in the sugar and cornmeal.  I found the main colony of harvester ants, spread it around and they went wild for it!  There are fewer of both every day.
> 
> I am waging biological warfare, and I will kill those whore queens if it's the last thing I ever do.


Karo syrup is an ant favorite and it sticks to stuff.........

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## Lucille

I'll just put this here.




> Another reason to miss WV.

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## Suzanimal

I just buy the cheapest poison granules at Lowes and dump those on the mound. They die pretty quickly. I have noticed that it works best if you get right on them. If I have more than one hill, I treat them all at the same time and dump a ton of that $#@! on 'em.

The only ants I ever see around here are fire ants (I hate those miserable little SOB's) and those flying ants seem to like to commit suicide in the pool when they're swarming. They're nasty boogers, too. One was on my float and bit my ass, hurt like hell but I made sure he died a miserable death.

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## Suzanimal

I've had three frickin run-ins with ants today. This morning I found two ant hills when I was weeding and when I went for a swim, I noticed flying ants in the pool. We had problems with them a few weeks ago but I haven't seen anymore until today. I go all around the pool with my net and get it completely clean before I get on my float and then I feel something crawling on my leg - an ant. I look around and notice a bunch more in the pool and they're still alive. The damn things were landing in the pool as fast as I could fish them out.

Ants and snake skins...nature is not my friend today.

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## Lucille

> I just buy the cheapest poison granules at Lowes and dump those on the mound. They die pretty quickly. I have noticed that it works best if you get right on them. If I have more than one hill, I treat them all at the same time and dump a ton of that $#@! on 'em.
> 
> The only ants I ever see around here are fire ants (I hate those miserable little SOB's) and those flying ants seem to like to commit suicide in the pool when they're swarming. They're nasty boogers, too. One was on my float and bit my ass, hurt like hell but I made sure he died a miserable death.





> I've had three frickin run-ins with ants today. This morning I found two ant hills when I was weeding and when I went for a swim, I noticed flying ants in the pool. We had problems with them a few weeks ago but I haven't seen anymore until today. I go all around the pool with my net and get it completely clean before I get on my float and then I feel something crawling on my leg - an ant. I look around and notice a bunch more in the pool and they're still alive. The damn things were landing in the pool as fast as I could fish them out.
> 
> Ants and snake skins...nature is not my friend today.


Bad news.  They just had a big orgy and now thousands more are coming.  If they're termites (they look similar), or moisture ants, you might want to call someone in.

I wiped out the fire ants with the liquid Terro, but the harvester are harder to kill.  For them, I've started making a crumble topping (like on dutch apple pie) with cornmeal, brown sugar, borax, and liquid Terro, and sprinkle it about a foot out around their mound.  The exterminator said not to drop it directly on the mounds since many times they'll just move.

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## Suzanimal

> Bad news.  They just had a big orgy and now thousands more are coming.  If they're termites (they look similar), or moisture ants, you might want to call someone in.
> 
> I wiped out the fire ants with the liquid Terro, but the harvester are harder to kill.  For them, I've started making a crumble topping (like on dutch apple pie) with cornmeal, brown sugar, borax, and liquid Terro, and sprinkle it about a foot out around their mound.  The exterminator said not to drop it directly on the mounds since many times they'll just move.


Definitely not termites. I have no idea how to find their mound. There's no trail to follow, I only ever see them in the pool.

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## Lucille

Dead!  I see a few now and again, which could be survivors or new colonies moving into the old nests, but I lay poison out immediately.

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## MelissaWV

Not looking forward to dealing with the fallout from this storm, which tends to be those islands of fire ants showing up to start new homes.

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## Lucille



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## Lucille



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