Ants on my backyard

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

First time this years I see ants hills on my septic field, never see it before. And these ants colonies just spreading with tremendous speed:eek::eek:.
What to do?
Because this is a septic field I don't want to do any destructive measures, same time I start thinking maybe we are eating too much sweet? :D:D
But seriously -how to get rid of these nuisance ants??
Thank you,
Ed.:mad:

[Jerry Thompson]

I'm bettin' they are P Ants.:)

[daryl moses]

What kind of ants are they? If they are fire ants you will see huge mounds and to get rid of them quickly it would probably be best to use a commercially prepared pesticide for them.
For other species of ants I've had pretty good success mixing Borax and sugar and placing it around their nests.

[Jason Roehl]

Agree with the borax/sugar solution. You'll probably have to do it a couple times this year, then each year for a few years to totally get rid of them.

[George Bokros]

A little Sprecticide sprinkled around the area will do the job. I do not believe this will affect your leach field.

[Myk Rian]

What proportions sugar and borax?

[Matt Day]

I've been happy with products I've gotten from domyownpestcontrol.com. Good resource for info and reviews.

[daryl moses]

What proportions sugar and borax?
It doesn't have to be exact, probably around 60% sugar 40% borax +-. just shake it up so the borax coats the sugar. I use it dry or it can be mixed with water and put in shallow containers.
The theory is the ants take it back to the nest as food and poison the whole colony.

[Rick Gibson]

I've used corn meal with good results. I've spread it around their nests and a week or so later they are gone. Haven't had any in the house for a few years now. theory is they can't digest it but eat it and take it back to the nest where it's treated as food and they starve. Some say it doesn't work but it seems to have for me and it's cheap and safe.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Thank you guys, as usual a lot of useful info.
My concern using Borax with sugar - dogs. Especially our small one who always hungry. Area I am planning to use any kind of baits/chemicals not really visible from home.
Ed.

[roger wiegand]

Why not live and let live? I sincerely doubt they can harm your septic system. What Bad Thing will happen if you just ignore them?

[David Ragan]

I use Amdro. works great no matter what kind of ant.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Whatever happened to the M-80 response?

[Bill Huber]

I use Amdro. works great no matter what kind of ant.

1+ on the Amdro, I use it all the time and it does the trick.

[Justin Ludwig]

Make money off of them: www.anthillart.com


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI (http://www.<strong>anthillart</strong>)

[Alan Rutherford]

My test for fire ants is to hold one end of a stick while you put the other into the top of the mound. If they come charging right up the stick, they're fire ants. Don't let them do that on your leg - or maybe you already know that.

There are lots of homegrown solutions for fire ants: boiling water, etc. etc. After you're tried them all, you'll find Amdro works. You only need to kill the queen but she's not easy to reach. The workers take the Amdro to the queen. Some approaches just annoy them so they pack up and move, but not far enough.

If they're not fire ants, I'd vote for live and let live.

[Myk Rian]

If they're not fire ants, I'd vote for live and let live.
Except wherever a mound is, the grass is dead. They eat any new seed you try to plant.

[David Helm]

Very few ant species in the US are problematic. Most are relatively benign and perform important services to the eco system. You don't want Carpenter ants, I suppose you don't want fire ants, you don't want moisture ants. All the rest are good critters.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

All the rest are good critters.
Only why on my backyard?:confused:
Plus ,as Myk Rian correctly said - mounds just spreading out and no grass in the area.
Ed.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I'd leave them alone, but that aluminum casting is pretty neat. It would be tempting...

[Alan Rutherford]

... I suppose you don't want fire ants....

You suppose correctly. I lived a long time in Seattle (i.e. near Bellingham) and never saw a fire ant until we moved to Florida a few years ago. They're invasive, are aptly named and have no legitimate part in our ecosystem. I'll escort a spider out of the house but my conscience has no problem with nuking fire ants.

[julian abram]

Might check out Termidor, most used for termites but effective on ants as well.

[Roger Rettenmeier]

Years ago, I lived in a cabin that i built with the help of many friends. Spent about 15 years there (24x24 with half loft). I had large red ants living in a stump about 15 ft from the cabin. The colony was still there when I moved. I spent my work week travelling, and one day in late spring I came home to an invasion of carpenter ants. I used some Ortho stuff with Diazanon? as the active ingredient. It worked great around the cabin. I back trailed the ants and destroyed the colony and satellite colonies. Carpenter ants can tear up some wood.