Don’t Mess With Fire Ants

Living in the south is a blessing; all of us at Vulcan Termite and Pest Control, Inc. love it!. Nice climate. Great people. Incredible food. But into every day a little rain must fall. Or in this case, it doesn’t fall nor is it wet. It’s a threat.

Call them ginger or red; fire ants do love their moist places in the ground. Usually found in areas where H2O is prevalent, like your watered lawn, ponds and rivers. These guys can bite. However the really bad part is when they spray organic acid or inject a venom when they sting. Why do they first bite? So they can hang-on to your flesh while they squirt-in some of their poison.

fire-ants-form-life-raft

Pretty toxic stuff. You know what we’re talking about if you ever accidentally stepped on a mound where they live. Could be fatal if you’re allergic to their venom. What happens is the evil which comes to sensitive types — it can cause anaphylaxis that needs to be dealt with ASAP.

Then there’s the bumps, pustules and swelling. All of which can cause infections.

Stay Alert

These nasty little beasts set-up shop in the soil. The mounds are fairly large, easy to spot. Nonetheless if you have anything — stumps, logs, bricks or rocks — you’ll generally find them lurking underneath.

Run a tight ship without the materials scattered around as we mentioned above? Doesn’t present a problem for ginger ants. They’ll simply construct a dome-shaped mound. You’ll find these colonies in open spaces such as lawns, fields and parks. Sometimes you might discover a nest in the boxes that house your utilities. Could be a safety hazard if they short circuit the wires.

Variety and Treatment Options

In America, there are a variety of fire ants. Rundown-time:

  • The Red Imported Fire Ant, or RIFA, is a threat to livestock, crops and landscaping. This variety is at the top of the list of destructive monsters. Accidentally brought to the U.S. in the ’30’s, The FDA calculates approximately over five-billion dollars is flushed down the toilet every year trying to control this species. Call Vulcan Termite and Pest Control, Inc. pronto if you suspect an invasion of any type of fire ant. You can DIY it, but we know our stuff, and will set-up a maintenance plan to keep ’em from coming back. We’ll bait your entire yard and refresh the treatment a couple of times a year.
  • Southern Fire Ants aren’t as aggressive as the RIFA. Threaten a colony, though, and the soldiers will go on the attack. These critters will be found in large, highly organized hives. That’s why it may take a couple of weeks to kill them off. To do so, we’ll bait your property with a different insecticide from what we’d use on the RIFAs. By applying a dose of granular baits that employ a slow-acting formula, we poison them so that they’ll croak before they get back to their home base.
  • European Fire Ants have a tendency to be angry all-the-time. They will open a can of whip-butt on anything that messes with their nest. And the sting causes welts that become very sore and very red. These fellows need to be handled with bait every three months. Again, ring us up. We know how to give them a taste of their own fire.

Original Source: https://www.vulcantermite.com/pest-safety/dont-mess-with-fire-ants

Image Source: images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/350/cache/fire-ants-form-life-rafts-edge_35040_600x450.jpg