My yard and fire ants

OrangeBlossom

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Hello all. I hope to have a Russian very soon. I've been reading about food and am excited that my weed filled yard is going to be a major benefit in this area. LOL.

I have all the goodies. I also have quite the fire ant infestation. I'm trying to remember the last time I treated the mounds. Probably in the spring, with granules that you water in. I may not have done it at all this year. It's a specific mound treatment, not a whole-yard treatment. I was going to treat for fleas but never got around to that either. Procrastination for the win! lol.

I was wondering what impact that will make on the safety of things from my yard. We sprayed the dandelions in the backyard last spring because they were OUT OF CONTROL but never got around to the front yard. I won't be spraying anymore, for sure!

If we just stay away from the mounds will that be ok? Do I just never treat again? LOL. There is one type of mound drench containing Spinosad that is safe to use on a food garden. I never got around to buying any, and just dealt with the fire ants in my garden. But I may try that in the future.

I had considered a pre-emergent in the spring - it's just corn gluten, I think, but if I have a use for weeds I'm just going to keep them and not worry about getting rid of them. (new newly acquired riding mower should help out too.)

thanks!
sarah
 

Tom

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Fire ants can and will kill your tortoise and they spread like, well… fire. :)

You need to begin eradicating them from your entire property ASAP. We have nasty big red stinging ants here and I deal with those by putting Amdro ant granules down their hole. Within an hour they remove the granules and carry their "manna from heaven" down into the colony and feed it to each other. I block tortoise access to this area until the granules are all gone. I do not follow the manufacturer's advice to broadcast the toxic pesticide all over the place.

I think this would work for fire ants too, but you will have to do some experimentation to see what works in your area.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi Sarah, and welcome!

Russian tortoises eat the broad leaf weeds, like dandelion, so you don't want to eliminate them. As to the ants, here's several treatments that I've found over time:

Several Home-made Ant Remedies


1 – Boric Acid

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon of Boric Acid, 1 tsp of Sugar, 4 oz water, Cotton Balls.

Mix Boric Acid and Sugar in a bowl. This can be poured over a cotton wad in

a small dish or bottle cap. Keep this from drying out for continued

effectiveness. Place Cotton balls in path of Ants. If the ants are drawn to sugar, if you make a solution of boric acid and sugar, not too much boric acid initially, the ants will eat it up take it to their young and feed it to them. This method will kill the entire nest in about two weeks. The solution should initially be weak because you don't want them to taste the boric acid and you don't want to kill the ants before they feed the rest of the nest. If they are protein eating ants mix the boric acid in broth.


2 – Another Boric Acid


>> 1 teaspoon boric acid (available at any drug store,, $2.99 for 4 oz) 6 tablespoons sugar

>> 2 cups water

>> mix together in a jar till all dissolved,, label and store safely.

>>Soak a few cotton balls with it, then put them in a small, covered plastic >container (margarine or <?>) with a few small openings in it for the ants to >get in, (I also put a brick on top so other curious creatures could not get >in)and then freshen it 1-2 times a week.

>> This is a slow acting 1 percent solution to get them to take some back to

>> the nest and even feed the queen :>

>>after a few weeks changing to a 1/2 percent solution should keep them gone.


3 - bacon grease

....in a margarine tub which is sunk into the ground level. The ants here can smell animal fat from what seems like a mile away...Around the outside of the margarine tub I place a big circle of boric acid...and cover it with a rock. The ants have to walk through the boric acid to get to the bacon grease, then back through it on the way out. If they get back to the nest carrying it on their legs, it kills whatever it comes into contact with. We have 4or 5 species of ants here...two of which are lethal!


4 - Found this in Jerry Bakers stuff

Ant Ambrosia

4-5 tbsp. of cornmeal

3 tbsp. of bacon grease

3 tbsp. of baking powder

3 packages of baker's yeast


Mix the cornmeal and bacon grease into a paste, then add the baking powder and yeast. Dab the gooey mix on the sides of jar lids, and set them near the anthills. The pesky critters will love it to death!!""



5 - If you can't find Everclear, liquefy orange peels and pour it around the ant hills. You may get fruit flies, but you won't have any trouble with ants!


6 - I have a friend that put a circle of diatomaceous earth around her aviaries and

effectively kept the ants out that way. She also uses it to directly attack any hills in the area.


7 - I believe that the "new age chalk" is a combination of diatomaceous earth and boric acid. Boric acid is the major component in "Roach Proof" and is a fairly benign and very effective means of insect control.


8 - Amdro is another effective treatment, but it is an actual poison, but safer than others. Both Amdro and Logic are baits that the ants pick up and take into the mound so that the queen eats it.


What I do here on my property for ants is to make a little indentation in the top of the ant hill and slowly pour real ant poison down into the hole. If you pour real slow, you can get a lot into the hole and hopefully down into their chamber. Then I cover the mound with a brick or something the tortoise can't move.

Tom has had good luck with the Terro ant bait. I've used it a little, and it seems to work.
 

OrangeBlossom

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Thanks y'all. Well, I'm glad to know my fire ant killer is not a danger.
I am terrified to think that fire ants would kill my tortoise. Ugh.
The fire ant problem around here is outrageous. I had to give up on even having a compost pile. I will try a combination of things, and then once I build an outdoor enclosure, work hard to at least keep them out of it.
 

ZEROPILOT

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In south Florida, fire ants can quickly get out of control and yes. They can and do kill animals. Even pet dogs, etc.
I treat my whole yard with granules made to kill specifically Fire ants. (Amdro)
In my actual tortoise pen, I have glass jars with lids hidden inside out of sight areas. I poke holes in the lids and place ant baits, poison and occasionally jelly, etc to attract ants to the jars.
This way I can also kill any ants that get into my pens without any possible harm to my tortoises. It also makes the baits somewhat waterproof.
In the yard, I've noticed that the bait granules sting my bare skin. It would not be a good thing to have tortoises roaming around in all that. But my tortoises do not free roam my yard very often.
The war on Fire ants can be won. I'm currently winning it. But you must never stop the fight. They will return in force.
 

jcase

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In south Florida, fire ants can quickly get out of control and yes. They can and do kill animals. Even pet dogs, etc.
I treat my whole yard with granules made to kill specifically Fire ants. (Amdro)
In my actual tortoise pen, I have glass jars with lids hidden inside out of sight areas. I poke holes in the lids and place ant baits, poison and occasionally jelly, etc to attract ants to the jars.
This way I can also kill any ants that get into my pens without any possible harm to my tortoises. It also makes the baits somewhat waterproof.
In the yard, I've noticed that the bait granules sting my bare skin. It would not be a good thing to have tortoises roaming around in all that. But my tortoises do not free roam my yard very often.
The war on Fire ants can be won. I'm currently winning it. But you must never stop the fight. They will return in force.
How did this war end up?

Which amdro granule did you use, as they seem to have several, at least two for ants alone. I'm losing the war. I guess I neglected the back half of the property while focusing on the front as I had never found them in the back, and IO just found two massive colonies while marking off new enclosure areas.
 

ZEROPILOT

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How did this war end up?

Which amdro granule did you use, as they seem to have several, at least two for ants alone. I'm losing the war. I guess I neglected the back half of the property while focusing on the front as I had never found them in the back, and IO just found two massive colonies while marking off new enclosure areas.
It's specifically for FIRE ANTS.
I'll try to get a photo of the bag
 

zovick

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Ok, I ordered that one, but wanted to double check. I've used a few brands out front, haven't been thrilled with many.
There is another ant killer called Orthene which works very well on the fire ants down here in GA. It's a white powder which is sprinkled on top of the mound and the ants are all dead and gone the next day.
 

Tom

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There is another ant killer called Orthene which works very well on the fire ants down here in GA. It's a white powder which is sprinkled on top of the mound and the ants are all dead and gone the next day.
Thanks for the tip! Do they carry it down to the queen like the Amdro, or is it just a plain pesticide?
 

ZEROPILOT

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Do you have to broadcast the insecticide all over, or are you able to "spot" treat the infested areas?
I treated the entire front and back yard at least once a month for quite a while and used my baited jars in the enclosures.
My tortoises don't free range or graze in the yard unless I need to do some major repairs to the enclosures.
Currently I'm no longer treating anything.
I still have a few of what my exterminator calls "big head" ants. They don't bite. At least not enough to make them dangerous.
 

zovick

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ZippyButter

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It kills the queen and all the other ants in a day or even less. It also killed ground nesting yellow jackets in my yard a couple of times when I tried it on them as an off-label use .

Here is a link:

I use the same "Andro" and I've not seen fire ants mounts in my large back, and 2 side yards for the past few years. One has to check the yards after every time it rains. Treat the area right away if you see any fire ants hills starting to build. It's fun to pour boiling water at the mounts, but I don't want to kill my grass at those areas. Another fun thing is to use the shovel to mix 2 mounts together to see these ants fight, but you have to be quick before these ants getting to you.
 

dd33

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I highly recommend Advion Fire Ant Bait, much more effective than Amdro in my experience. Orthene works well too but they don't carry it into the mound like the baits so you are left with pesticide on the surface.
 
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