Weird Question about Fire ants

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RadonMoons

Weird Question about Fire ants

Post: # 25310Post RadonMoons
Mon Jul 17, 2017 12:34 pm

So, I'm not an active ant keeper myself (mostly because my husband is phobic after being shoved into a fire ant hill as a kid) but I felt like here might be the best place to ask. Some fire ants have moved in right at my mail box, and I don't want to poison them but I want them to not be at my mail box. I'm not exactly sure where the mound is, but I'm sure I could find it pretty easily.

I honestly just want to know: Do any of you know of ways to encourage ants to move away from an area?

I've already been swarmed by these ants, and I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're fire ants. I'm in Florida too, so I know they're invasive I just hate having to kill them when beyond trying to kill my foot when I went to get the mail they've done nothing wrong. I really don't want to dump a bunch of poison everywhere, which hurts other things, and kill some amazing bugs.

(I'm even open to helping someone try and relocate them, I seriously just don't want to kill them unless I have to)

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FarrAnts
Posts: 259
Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:20 am
Location: Minot Air Force Base North Dakota

Re: Weird Question about Fire ants

Post: # 25313Post FarrAnts
Mon Jul 17, 2017 12:52 pm

Well, the only thing I can think of is flooding them. (better ideas welcome) Many species of fire ant are used to floods, and will all come out and move. So maybe if you flood for a certain period of time?
Ball is life... Ants included.

Martialis
Posts: 1576
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2016 5:30 pm
Location: Indiana

Re: Weird Question about Fire ants

Post: # 25336Post Martialis
Mon Jul 17, 2017 3:31 pm

Boiling water is an okay way to destroy fire ants, as is soapy water. Boiling soapy water could probably do a bit of damage to them.

Solenopsis invicta is a heavily invasive species is Florida. Another way could be to attempt to seal the mailbox, although this would be pretty difficult to manage.
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idahoantgirl
Posts: 1521
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 11:52 am
Location: Idaho, USA

Re: Weird Question about Fire ants

Post: # 25394Post idahoantgirl
Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:05 pm

Yeah.... The only way your getting them out of there is by killing them.
Proverbs 6:6-8

Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.

Keeping Tetramorium immigrans, Tapinoma Sessile

RadonMoons

Re: Weird Question about Fire ants

Post: # 25430Post RadonMoons
Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:01 am

Yeah, I figure they moved to that area because we've been getting rains every day. Ugh, that's unfortunate :( I guess the search for one of the entrances is on. Thanks for the help ya'll

CreeperUniverse
Posts: 222
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 8:22 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: Weird Question about Fire ants

Post: # 25468Post CreeperUniverse
Tue Jul 18, 2017 2:09 pm

RadonMoons wrote:
Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:01 am
Yeah, I figure they moved to that area because we've been getting rains every day. Ugh, that's unfortunate :( I guess the search for one of the entrances is on. Thanks for the help ya'll
Seal off areas where they could enter, and put Vaseline or PTFE around the mailbox near entrances, so they slip. Killing is bad, scents that they dislike might also work.
Check out my YouTube channel, Arman's Ants.
https://***/armansants
Also feel free to check out the Discord server, Ant-Keeping & Ethology:
https://discord.me/ants

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