06/25/2021
I'm putting this here and over my personal page too.
Share freely if you find it useful:
Another VERY, Long Essay Department Essay
If you haven't encountered them yet, you probably live in a 5th floor apartment, breathe inside a full biohazard suit, and never, ever go outside. Ever.
I'm talking... FIRE ANTS!!!
Last thing first.
When you are bitten & stung, wash thoroughly, use an after bite/sting (ammonia works!)topical, and take a benadryl if you think you should.
If you are allergic, you already know what to do.
Lots of good (expert) info on the UF IFAS Entomology page. GO THERE! Seriously, that's the best resource for us. Here, where we are. Where our fire ants are.
If I get motivated I'll post links in the comments, but, heck, y'all know how to use the Google.
*Skip to the bottom for what works and doesn't work to control them* Not good news, sorry.
So, now that we're into our summer weather pattern, cool misty mornings, blazing hot noon, and 3:00 +/- thunderstorms the fire ants get fierce.
After the rain and overnight, come morning they are HUNGRY! And that makes them angry.
It seems on my place there's also a lot of larval eggs and some ants are getting wings! ¿do they swarm? Dunnoh gotta look.
The nests aren't pale hills yet so they are easy to miss. As vigilant as I am (very)yesterday I set up my weeding yoga mat on the outer edge of a darkened soil nest hidden in the 2" grass.
Today I went to lay out some black plastic row cover and disturbed a 3 foot wide fire ant nursery. My cow hide gloves couldn't protect me from the 'soldiers' that climbed inside.
There were even some that had bitten into the leather!
What they do is crawl up ya tippy toe like. Then at some pheromone signal BITE and HOLD on as they spin around and sting, sting, sting.
Y'all know what comes next...
IMPORTANT!
Fire ant poison is accumulative. Rather than building a resistance your body becomes ever more sensitive.
One deep sting can radiate poison to multiple locations without additional stings.
Pop or not? I'ma gonna leave that up to you. I, personally, can not stand those little blisters. I'll tear them off in my sleep. For me, it's best to disinfect, pop, disenfect, antibacterial ointment and small 'spot' bandaids.
Things that DO NOT WORK but are, ahem, natural, cough, choking laughter.
Grits, cornmeal, boiling water. Anything you read about, heard about, thought about that science has already rigorously tested.
Seriously, they have!
UF researchers hauled propane burners to boil water poured directly on mounds. Nope. Never got the Queen.
Melted & molten aluminum? Nope, but it made really cool sand art.
Seasonal, one time pesticide treatment? Nope, it's a process. Complicated, expensive, and labor intensive.
There are a lot of VERY BAD things that do work. Gasoline for instance. But even that is temporary.
The mound you can see is part of a huge network of multiple Queens, nurseries, and underground habitat. That can cover acres, ACRES, of territory.
In the end it basically comes down to getting them to move from where you don't want them to where you don't care if they are.
Disturbing the mound is the key.
Finally, and this has made me very unpopular, I use Asphate. Carefully. Judiciously. Rarely. And every time, every damn time. I read the label.
Ok... lecture over, there won't be a quiz but comments are welcome. Just don't be too upset if my only reply is "Snort!"
Claaasss... Dismissed!
