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by Annemama2 on April 2nd, 2004

Annemama2

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What can I use to get rid of fire ants that won't harm my pets?

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Answers. 7 helpful answers below.

  • by Thommy on June 6th, 2004

    Thommy

    That is great that you are concerned about the harmful effects of chemical pesticides or fertilizers which certainly can harm your pets or family. Also, they will actually help to set the stage for more pest problems. Read about fertilizers or atrazine or fire ant bites on dogs or soil by clicking my name. You will find some information about the microbial action in the soil and its benefits.

    Fire ants are a really aggressive breed. Without going into a lot of details, here are some things you should know about them. Some colonies may have a LOT of queens, not just one. Some colonies have just one queen. They even can make "slaves" of other ant species or "harvest" aphids. Fire ants tend to like carbohydrates more in the winter and proteins in the summer, so it is not unusual to see them feeding on a dead animal in summer. They tend to enjoy habitats out of thick, woody areas. Often they are attracted to electrical boxes/currents (probably because it helps them orient and track). The tunnel system of fire ants can be far reaching or deep. I have noticed that they like a well drained area, but tend to "control" the humidity and temperature of their mound. They are "boogers" to get rid of.

    A lot of research is being done on getting rid of these pests. Ha! There is even a tiny fly which lands on their head, lays an egg, and when it hatches, the head explodes. But it won't wipe out a colony, just intimidate them. Some fungi and bacteria have shown promise.

    Here is what I use in my Texas yard; being all organic, having 4 dogs and a family: I put out d.e. (diatomaceous earth) on the yard. Use food grade, not the processed stuff for swimming pools. It acts like ground glass on the skelaton structure of insects like ants, cockroaches, fleas, and some other pests, but won't harm benefitial insects or animals. In fact, taken with food it helps to kill parasites. Some dog foods have it as a component. It isn't good to breath the dust when putting it on your yard, but even some human food products have it. Pretty good stuff.

    Orange Oil: (d-limonene) Mix a few ounces of this per gallon of water, a teaspoon of liquid soap and about three or four ounces of molasses. Just mix it all together and drench the mound. You may need to mix up a few gallons in order to fully drench the mound. This will "melt" those little boogers... ...there can be a joy to watching them melt. Orange oil is a great spray pesticide. It is strong, so always dilute it, maybe two or three ounces to a spray bottle with a little liquid soap. Diluted it is also a great cleaner. Orange oil is just the oil extracted by the citrus industry. [A lot of companies put some orange oil in their cleaning products now, but don't use a commercial chemical cleaner...they contain all these chemicals which can be harmful to your pets or humans when consumed or gotten on the skin.] Fire Ants don't like the molasses. The molasses will help the soil. The orange oil will kill the grass temporarily (like vinegar). The oil is a good weed killer when mixed with 10% vinegar. The grass will grow back shortly since you have the molasses mix.

    Beneficial Nematodes: These are very, very small "worms" which attack the larvae. Typically, you get thousands on a small sponge (kept refrigerated) and applied with water on your yard. Milder temperatures work best. They will go after the larvae of ants, fleas, grubs, etc. Instructions will come with the beneficial nematodes.

    Enzymes: You can also use enzymes to help get rid of fire ants. There are other methods also. Here is one product: KLEEN FREE contains a natural enzyme (protease) that is effective in repelling and eliminating fire ants quickly and thoroughly.
    http://naturalginesis.com/id62.htm
    Also Steve Tvedten has some excellent information on approaching this naturally. Here is Steve's information from his website at http://www.safe2use.com/pests/fireants/factoids.htm

    Fire ants can be real trouble sometimes. I have heard of them killing pets and animals (or even sick, elderly people). Even getting close to a riled, boiling mound of disturbed fire ants and you might feel some of the venom sprayed around their area on your exposed skin. There is some data on this website about soil microbes (bacteria and fungi) which are antagonistic towards fire ants and other pests. Click on my name or do a search. You especially might want to read about fertilizers (or atrazine), etc. because these have a role in inhibiting the microbes which are natural enemies to fire ants. The alkaloids of the venom in fire ants helps to protect them from certain fungi and bacteria. As an example, the fungus Beauveria bassiana is a natural enemy to fire ants. This microbe and many others can naturally occur in healthy, organic soil. Another antagonistic microbe is Metarhizium anisopliae. Benefitial nematodes are an excellent supplement to any yard which doesn't use toxic chemicals and synthetic fertilizers. The nematodes will go after the larvae. In the gardening section of this site, you will find more data. The keynote is that there is a healthy and delicate balance in nature and a symbiotic relationship which exists with life. If something on one line is out of wack, it certainly can effect other areas. But the bottom line here on what you can do to rid yourself of many yard pests, is to have healthy natural soil. The fewer synthetic and artificial methods which you use, the more success you will have. The more plant and animal and biological diversity that you have, the better your control of fire ants. Fire ants don't like competition. Just like with the human body, when chemical or unnatural twists are put into a natural system, things get out of wack (out of balance). Then the effectiveness of natural remedies is less effective because "things are responding naturally"...they are stressed by an adulterated alteration. In healthy soil there is a constant "battle of microbes" with beneficials and pathogens. Throw this out of wack by putting chemicals out and often the beneficials lose.

    A little story. When the non-domestic fire ants were first imported, they started being attacked by a whole host of chemicals insecticides (some wild approaches have been used). This is part of the reason that fire ants have changed the way that they would normally operate. Now, you can have a thousand queens in a colony, rather than one. Now, you have have many mounds spring up all over the place on a piece of property. It "was the fire ants' answer towards survivial" against the chemical onslaught. They changed their natural process. We actually made the problem worse.

    There are plants and herbs which repel bugs to varying degrees. Tansy is a good one. Bazil could help. Others can be found on this site. Wintergreen oil and thyme or rosemary oil help to get some types of ants. Under dieting and nutrition, I list a whole bunch of natural ways and herbs. You can do a search on insects or mosquitoes or click my name.

    Cornmeal. Put a bunch of cornmeal on top of the mound. See why at another answer under dieting and nutrition. This doesn't always work, but it has produced very good results for a lot of people. Basically, cornmeal hinders fungus. Ants often feed from the fungus of the food they feed their larvae.

    Most of these products can be found at organic gardening centers or even feed/grain stores. I hope this helps. I skimmed over a lot.

    Also, there is a biological product now available to the homeowner. Spinosad is the registered name. "Concern" I think markets it. It is a natural and very effective bait, and gets those ants in a bacterial type of way.

    Another naturally derived bait is Abamectin, but this can only be applied by a licensed pest control company. It is derived from a microbe.

    These baits do work...I know from experience.

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  • by dasolar on February 14th, 2009

    dasolar

    There are a number of very effective organic fire ant control products that are safe for pets.

    Find them here with video instructions for use: http://fireant.tv

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  • by Mr. Black on November 7th, 2008

    Mr. Black

    A product called Doktor Doom. I had an ant problem. had

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  • by TESSYJ61 on November 7th, 2008

    TESSYJ61

    try vinagar,its an organic line most other ants wont cross

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  • by pthompson on June 19th, 2008

    pthompson

    I liked all the above answers. I have used with success, Murphy's Oil Soap. A strong mixture poured directly on the mound. At one time I had found a store brand just named Vegetable Oil Soap and that was the same stuff, just cheaper. I have used Murphy's on our fishing dock after the ants nested there after a flood. It killed them almost immediatly and didn't seem to affect the fish in the lake. It's also good to keep some in a spray bottle and spray your baseboards in the house to kill and keep them from entering. It's pet friendly and easily obtained.

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  • by MissLiss on November 7th, 2008

    MissLiss

    salt. put salt around entry points and they wont come in.

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  • by Adelphine on August 2nd, 2005

    Adelphine

    I heard something recently that you can try. Wait till a sub-freezing winter night ( if you can still see the mound), and scrape it cleanly to the ground. The cold air supposedly can sink down and kill them. I only could find one mound last winter, and in my area it doesn't get that cold that often). I didn't knock down the mound cleanly enough, and I just smeared the dirt and effectively sealed the holes. Worth a try.

    Wait until just before a summer downpour and squirt a little dish detergent over the mound.

    Pour boiling water into it.

    The problem with all of these is that the tunnels go really far down underground.

    I've been trying for 20 years to get rid of them in my yard, and they've always come back. Very discouraging. But I keep trying different things.There's got to be SOMETHING these little pest are vulnerable to.

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