Pet Safe Treatment for Fire Ants?

[Christine & Shelby]

Hi everyone.... Shelby and I live in Texas and the fire ants are out in full force this year. I noticed 3-4 mounds in my yard earlier today. I am worried that Shelby will accidentally step in or worse... Dig in the mound. Do any of you have pet friendly fire ant control solutions? Organic solutions perhaps? I did a brief web search, but thought I'd ask my DK friends... You all are SMART!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I do not know anything about fire ants.  Here in Ohio, with all type of black ants,  I use black pepper in all the cracks, the mounds, or where ever I see they are active. Regular ants will not cross a line of pepper.  

I buy a restaurant supply jug at Sam's Club or Costco.  I still have some left in the jug I bought 3 years ago.  Give it a try.  It is safe enough.

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

I don't know a lot about fire ants either. Here in Washington we get mostly black "sugar" ants. I tried every natural organic solution I could find and finally called Orkin (a nationwide pest control chain). Once a month they come treat outside the house with what they swear are pet-safe chemicals. I just keep the boys in for a few hours while it all dries. No more ants. Or spiders. Or anything else creepy-crawly.

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

I have not had any experience with fire ants; however, I use products in my vegetable garden for insect control which contain spinosad and are perfectly safe organic products.  Here is a link to an article about fire ant control.http://msucares.com/insects/fireants/organic.html .

[Julie, Izzie & Max]

We also have a problem with fire ants in our front yard.  I do not know of  anything natural or what I would consider safe for pets.  They are tough to get rid of. I got into a mound in my flower bed last year and had them crawling up my legs. When they bite it does feel as if it is burning.   I will follow this post to see if there is something that might work. 

[Elizabeth & Cosmo]

It seems to me that the safest thing would be to treat the fire ant mounds with an organic insecticide containing pyrethrins.

In our area, the "Texas Two-Step" approach, applying a broadcast bait to the whole yard and then insecticide treatments to the mounds, is often recommended. But I would err on the side of caution and skip the broadcast bait and just treat the mounds.

I doubt Shelby will want to dig in the mound, but fire ants are very aggressive. They can be very dangerous to dogs, so you definitely want to do your best to get rid of them.

Even after you have eliminated them this time, keep looking out for them. Fire ants often just migrate from yard to yard as their mounds get disturbed. So unless your neighbors will treat at the same time you do, you might end up swapping them back and forth!

Good luck with this incredibly annoying pest!

[Jennifer and Jack]

I being a Nothern girl transplanted to the South had my first experience with fire ants last summer. I still have scars on my foot from them. I stepped outside bare foot to take my moms dog potty ! That hurt so bad. I was so mad I had over 50 bites. I went out and bought the poison .... And I gated off the area for a least a month! I would do the same thing again... I would rather keepnJack on a leash then have him or I experience that again!

Black ants may be annoying fires ants don't get the name fire for nothing!

[Elizabeth & Cosmo]

Roberta, actually, fireant.tamu.edu is a web site provided by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, an agency of the Texas A&M System. The Extension Service is an outreach education agency specializing in information for families, businesses, farms and ranches, and communities--they don't provide pest control services, but they provide information and education to help consumers make the best choices in pest control.

Every state and territory in the US has an Extension Service, affiliated with your land grant university(ies). They have great expertise in many areas, including home lawns, insect and weed control, and much more!

To find the Extension Service in your state, go to http://extension.org

[F, Calla & Luca]

Good advice. Sadly the web site here in NJ often has outdated info. but the folks I've contacted at times have been helpful.

[Diana Erhart]

We lived in Texas for many years and had Charlie there for about 5 years.  Although I don't have any treatment recommendations I would recommend using training to teach Shelby to stay away from the mounds.  When we first got Charlie as a puppy, everyday when we would go outside and walk I would let him get close to a mound and then tell him that it was "boo-boos" and pull him away and give him a treat.  After awhile of doing this, he understood not to go near them and eventually would see a mound and avoid it on his own.  I would highly recommend this since as you know, they pop up everywhere especially after a rain!  Good luck, those are one of the most miserable little creatures on this earth!

[Rachel and Ollie]

Good topic Christine! I've noticed a TON of them on our walks!

[Rachel and Ollie]

It's the stink. I see them mostly on our walks. 

[Christine & Shelby]

You say you spray... What are you using? I'm debating baiting and then using Shelby's puppy play pen to keep her away from the mounds for a few days until the bait has been transported into the mound. I think I will also be consulting with my pest control person to see what he recommends.