To get rid of the damn fire ants…
I’d be tempted to try this, as it seems to be the only SURE way to get rid of them…
And it’s actually pretty interesting to see what the actual nest looks like. I wonder why I’ve never seen this before.
YMMV, don’t try this unless you know where ALL your pipes and underground utilities are!
Now go forth and eat to much and watch the commercials in the Stupor Bowl! 🙂
Time to get food together. I’ll leave the “hey, watch this!” demos to someone else, or a really good Superbowl ad. I found a buried yellow jacket nest once, then sprinted for the front door, to get in the house without the swarm. Big day for antihistamines.
Did that one day. Stood right on the nest of the little bastiges while mowing. It’s like they climbed all over and then got the ‘Go’ signal.
I am sure the neighbors were happy to see a screaming naked (or quickly disrobing) fat albino ape running around.
Fortunately they got no farther than mid-thigh. But, yeah, popped Benadryl like crazy that day.
And then had fun later setting fire to their nest and gunning them down with bug spray as they came out. Double bonus, the spray was flammable. Little burning YJ-migs falling to the ground. Then, employing the Ripley method (pull back and nuke it from orbit) I used the most vile anti-hornet stuff on the market.
And then had to repeat two weeks later because the Yellow Peril had two underground airfields. The jerks.
The wife used to live in Oklahoma, so I’ll have to show her this one. She’d likely enjoy doing this just for the fun of it.
We had a few hills in the yard back in Houston. When they started to swarm, I’d boil a couple gallons of water, then give them a bath. That seemed to work fine. Most of the hive was at the top getting ready to fly off. Nasty vermin….
Fun in the South.
I’ve seen those ant hill sculptures. They’re very exotic, and no more fire ants.
This stuff works great for fire ants (well, all ants). For insects, it is a nerve agent.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ortho-Orthene-12-oz-Fire-Ant-Killer-0282210/100056182
Fire ants seal up their mounds during the day and come out at night. The directions say to dust the mound during the day and just leave it, but what’s the fun in that?
I use a plastic spoon for an applicator. I dust the mound, then poke/scrape the top to open a few ant tunnels and let them swarm out to stomp around in the dust. If you watch, it doesn’t take but a few minutes for individuals to start going in circles and twitching. They soon retreat back into the mound and take the dust with them. Come back in an hour or so and it’s pretty much wind and crickets.
All- Good points! RHT- Thanks I ordered some of that from Amazon. At least I’ve never seen a ground hornet nest out here, those things will kill you!
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Stepped in a mound barefoot when I was 4. Some things you never forget.
“At least I’ve never seen a ground hornet nest out here, those things will kill you!”
You ain’t just a-whistlin’ Dixie there, and in more ways than one.
When I was about 10, three of us rode (unknowingly) over a ground nest on horseback. Only mystery is what took them so long to find us. My cinch had loosened and my saddle blanket had shifted, so we stopped. I got off, loosened the cinch a bit more, went around to the off side and adjusted the blanket, and re-tightened the cinch.
I was just walking around behind to get back on, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something land on his rear. I just started to reach out to brush the bug away when it nailed him. He let fly and caught me right above the belly button. I dimly remember flying through the air and landing flat on my back. I very much remember that there was no air on the planet, a lot of black dots buzzing around over head, and I had a pretty good idea what that bug was.
Good thing I was a skinny kid, and my horse was a little guy (only about 700 lbs soaking wet) or I might have broke something. I got to my feet an ran for it as best I could. Got nailed four times on the back of my neck.
Wanna see my war face? Just get me too close to the Yellow Peril.
I saw that amazing video before and it gave me an idea.
I cut down a tree in the backyard that was infested with carpenter ants.
I wanted to get rid of the stump which was riddled with tunnels.
I poured gasoline in the tunnels, step back and tossed a match.
Flames came up as expected, but the stump smoldered for days, finally caving in, leaving a pit where it had been.
Hey Old NFO;
What I do when I have several mounds, I get 2 shovels, scoop one mound, then scoop the other one and switch dirt…the little bastards exterminate each other. I leave one mound active to keep the termites at bay. Fire Ants LOOOVE termites.It works, especially since I live in Fire Ant central, LOL
There was some dude that did that to a nest somewhere over in Africa. IIRC it took a crew and a back hoe to dig the casting out. It was about ten feet deep or so…
Most likely this one,
Yeeeeaaaahhhh – Field work in Louisiana. Be careful where you set the tripod legs.
Was climbing around in the rocks on the edge of my property one day. Stepped in a yellow jacket’s nest. It was pretty amazing how I high stepped out of the rocks without twisting an ankle.
“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.”
Has anyone notified PETA??? Hmmmmm???? LOL
All- Thanks for the comments! PH, I’ve done that too… sigh
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Got rid of an inground yellowjacket nest with a shotgun and gasoline once! Ah, growing up out in the sticks was great…no questions when a splotchy 12 year old stalks out of the house with a pump shotgun and an gallon of gas!
Kerosene was useful for so many things. Ants, yellow jackets, ringworm, degreaser, paint thinner, etc. We even used it in lamps and heaters every now and then.
I got into some ground yellow jackets got stung about 10 times.
I go the little yellow bastar@s back with gas and a gas soaked stick
Ants in N Texas have changed since I was growing up – there used to be those big red ants that would roam all over the place and lived mostly out in the country, although you’d also see them in city parks on occasion. The were nasty if they got hold of you with their big jaws. I remember taking gasoline to them, which was entertaining. I think the fire ants have taken over and killed them all from what I’ve heard. Started getting fire ants around her in NC a few years ago. I found the Andro bait works pretty well. Sprinkle it around the mounds, the workers bring it back to the nest and it kills the queen.