Help...I've got Fire Ants

[Liz Birdlover]

The European fire ants are different than the ones invading southern states, these are cold hardy, do not make mounds, they love moisture, mulch areas, etc. & I've already seen them crawling around lately in this nice weather, in areas that had flooded heavily over fall & winter. This ant digs 15 feet deep with horizontal tunnels running hundreds of feet. I bought a granular spinosad product called Antixx that they will carry down into the tunnels. It is rated for organic but the idea is to only sprinkle some when you see active foraging as they eagerly grab it & carry it down, usually within minutes. When it gets warmer consistently I will use it more, still a little early now, only saw a few ants emerge, they aren't all out in full force yet. I did sprinkle a couple of granules & those few ants did immediately carry them off, so that's a good sign. I hope it will reduce their numbers.

 

[cmom]

I do the same with the permethrin and it has worked. The ants do bite and I hate them.

 

[parvani]

The European fire ants are different than the ones invading southern states, these are cold hardy, do not make mounds, they love moisture, mulch areas, etc. & I've already seen them crawling around lately in this nice weather, in areas that had flooded heavily over fall & winter. This ant digs 15 feet deep with horizontal tunnels running hundreds of feet. I bought a granular spinosad product called Antixx that they will carry down into the tunnels. It is rated for organic but the idea is to only sprinkle some when you see active foraging as they eagerly grab it & carry it down, usually within minutes. When it gets warmer consistently I will use it more, still a little early now, only saw a few ants emerge, they aren't all out in full force yet. I did sprinkle a couple of granules & those few ants did immediately carry them off, so that's a good sign. I hope it will reduce their numbers.

I value organic solutions whenever possible, but if you really want to get rid of these ants you will need to apply a pesticide like Permethrin, which is effective against many types of ants.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I value organic solutions whenever possible, but if you really want to get rid of these ants you will need to apply a pesticide like Permethrin, which is effective against many types of ants.

I'm just listening to an expert in Maine, Eleanor Groden, they have been battling this type ant for decades. Spinosad is what she recommended, so I will find out soon enough how it works against them.

 

[azygous]

The beauty of using spinosad is it's safe to use where chickens hang out.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Have you tried Borax? I know different ants are attracted to different things ie: sugars, meats etc. I don't know about fire ants, though.
https://ants.com/using-borax-powder-to-kill-ants/

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Have you tried Borax? I know different ants are attracted to different things ie: sugars, meats etc. I don't know about fire ants, though.
https://ants.com/using-borax-powder-to-kill-ants/

I tried Borax last summer, no effect. That's why I got serious with contacting every source I could find for advice with this particular type of ant. I've learned a lot. Another interesting aspect of natural predators, there are various types of phorid flies, & only certain types go after certain types of ants. Quite interesting variables, how certain species have evolved, not all ants, nor phorid flies, are the same. Not all are attracted or a affected by the same baits, lures or prey.

 

[Jeepgrlpoohbear]

I'm in Delaware. I moved here in 2006 & when I planted some shrubs I brought with me, I was stung by some nasty ants that crawled up my shovel, into my glove & stung me so badly my hand swelled for a week. This past spring & summer, being in the yard & home more since work shut down due to covid, I got stung a lot more. I called my local Dept of Agriculture, they actually came & collected samples & saw they were in various spots on my 2 acre parcel. They identified them as European Fire Ants, Myrmica rubra
https://g.co/kgs/8URKjp

These little stinging assholes are making my life, and my sweet chickens' lives, absolutely miserable. I don't know how long they've been here, don't know how widespread they are. I was told to use ant baits. Yeah, right...I bought what the Home Depot had, little green plastic things with a few tablespoons worth of bait, spiked into the ground. I did see the ants going in & out, but was there any reduction in their population? Hell no!

I roll out 150 feet of hose to water plants & can't even roll it back up...it is covered with the damn fire ants! So they are literally everywhere.

I've tried to keep my property organic. I've got my sweet flock pecking around & dustbathing. I've got a wildflower honeybee habitat area, butterfly habitats & various veggies, fruits & edible flowers & herbal plants. Spreading some kind of pellets won't work. Ant baits seem better, but how many do ya think I'm gonna need? Yeah right...I don't think they make that many & I can't afford them if they do.

I've tried other "remedies" I saw on youtube, such as orange oil, Dawn mixed with salt & vinegar, where the ants are in gravel driveway (can't use any of that stuff where you plan to grow anything). Did NOT work at all, a waste of time & money. I tried DE, sprinkled a ton of it throughout a huge garden area, didn't work. BTW, this type of ant does not create a mound. If I just walk outside and stand still, looking down, fireants start crawling on my shoes, so who the hell knows just exactly where the queens & nest hubs are. Baits seem to be the logical choice.

So...I tried to see if there are any natural predators, besides the Anteater animals that come to mind. Turns out, there's a certain type of Phorid Fly, that goes after these ants, quite successfully. They've established these flies in FL, AL & TX & they are making a difference. I doubt the ants will ever fully be eradicated, but the flies are reducing their numbers.

I have reached out to anyone I possibly could, to get some of these flies. No one will help me. They claim it is expensive & labor intensive to get these flies. Whatever. All I know is, I've got an issue & right now moving away is not an option. I've incubated & handfed baby birds out of the egg, I've had a meal worm farm going strong for 5 yrs, I've successfully moved & created hatching habitat terrariums for Butterflies, Golden Orbs & Praying Mantis cocoons when we had hurricanes & extreme weather, all with successful releases. I have the willingness, dedication & would do whatever is required, can set up an entire bathroom to be 95 degrees & humid if I have to.

So, I am putting this "out there" to my flock loving friends here on this wonderful site, to see if anyone has any suggestions. I am going to reach out to ant baits companies, see if they may offer any help, too.

I just spoke with Terro...their outdoor baits are just for regular ants, only filled with sugar & Borax, not effective against MOST types of fire ants. I guess it depends upon type of fire ant...the Ag Dept told me to use them...very confusing.

I have a call into an expert in AL, will let you know what he recommends.

We are in AL as well and are experiencing a HUGE fire ant problem. They weren’t in the coop...but they can in with tropical storm Fred. We have our rabbits with our chickens...in the rabbit hutch we had 6 - 4 day old kits. The fire ants KILLED THEM last night. Saddest thing I’ve seen in a while. I have tried DE as well, because permethrin isn’t supposed to be used with rabbits (so I was told). The permethrin worked well killing them in the yard, so I am about to take the rabbits out and spray, just not put them back until it’s dry. Was wondering if you made any progress on yours.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

We are in AL as well and are experiencing a HUGE fire ant problem. They weren’t in the coop...but they can in with tropical storm Fred. We have our rabbits with our chickens...in the rabbit hutch we had 6 - 4 day old kits. The fire ants KILLED THEM last night. Saddest thing I’ve seen in a while. I have tried DE as well, because permethrin isn’t supposed to be used with rabbits (so I was told). The permethrin worked well killing them in the yard, so I am about to take the rabbits out and spray, just not put them back until it’s dry. Was wondering if you made any progress on yours.

Oh that is so terrible, just awful, so sorry!

I've been using Antixx bait because the type of Fire ant here doesn't make mounds, so no way of knowing where the nest is. They have long tunnel systems. It's been a very dry summer & I was really thinking the bait must've worked well as I hadn't seen many ants when I had time to look. I sprinkled that bait every time I saw the ants, which was weekly in the spring. So a dry summer, then finally we got rain. I never saw so many frigging fire ants! All over the entire 2 acres. Millions of them. They like moisture so apparently they were deep underground during drought. I sprinkled a lot of the bait, they grabbed & started hauling it off immediately. So...the ant here is a European Fire Ant, they act a bit differently. When they are out foraging though, they are Ferocious. I was picking bagworms off of the evergreens adjacent to my neighbor's property. I was throwing the bag worms on the ground and stepping on them. I looked back and about 15' where I had come from, and I saw the bagworms on the ground moving...and I thought no way, that's impossible, I squished them. I went back and looked and fire ants had discovered the recently deceased bagworms and we're hauling them off! I was really shocked because I didn't even know they were over that far. My neighbor claimed she doesn't have any fire ants, well guess what...she does. Anyway, I don't know what type of fire ant you have, but if you have the mound building type, you can focus on & kill out the entire mound. Unfortunately, if you have the European fire ants, like I do, we will never be rid of them. The stuff that I'm using only reduces population but they will never fully eradicate them. It's a damn shame. It makes me want to move from here.

You need to collect some of those ants, put them in an empty Gatorade bottle and take them somewhere to be identified, that way you can buy the best type of fire ant control for that particular species. There are numerous supposed remedies all over the Internet, many which I've tried, just a waste of time and money and did not work. You need to know the exact type of fire ant you are dealing with.