Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
Ulysses
the red ones that are maybe 1/2" long. They are surprisingly painful when
they bite you and leave a sizable welt. I have tried sprinkling the
anthills with Bug-B-Gone and it seems to work for about three days and then
they just open up a new hole and go on about their business. I even tried
spraying them with Raid but that had little effect. Anyone have a product
that they like for getting rid of ants? If it's possible I would prefer a
product that won't kill any birds that eat the ants. The quail appear to
eat the ants but I can't really confirm this. In any case they don't eat
enough of them to make a difference so now I'm wondering about anteaters and
if they would like living in Southern California High Desert and if the
coyotes would bother them and if they could actually control the problem.
Seriously.
charlie
"Ulysses" <thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:h4sdpr$pdl$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
amdro
badgolferman
You are describing fire ants. You must live in the South. We used to
pour gasoline down their nests and set them on fire. Fight fire with
fire!
AZ Nomad
>I have a big problem with little ants. Not the really tiny micro-ants, but
>the red ones that are maybe 1/2" long. They are surprisingly painful when
You need to go after their food supply. Cover your trash; spray the bags
going into the trash bin, etc.
AZ Nomad
people like you should stay in cities.
Not everywhere needs to be a hazmat site.
Freckles
"Ulysses" <thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:h4sdpr$pdl$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Sounds like you have fire ants.
There are fire ant baits that work somewhat in at least slowing them up. One
year I had so many fire ant mounds in my yard I had my lawn care company
spread something on my yard that got rid of them for that one season. It was
rather expensive and I don't know if it was lethal to the birds, but it did
stop the ants for a year or so.
Here in Texas they are experimenting using some kind of imported tiny wasps
that are supposed to eradicate fire ants for once and all.
Freckles
charlie
"Freckles" <frec...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message
news:le2dnUQS-tP9W-zX...@giganews.com...
and that technique worked well with the african bees, didn't it?
Jim Yanik
news:le2dnUQS-tP9W-zX...@giganews.com:
fire ants are only about 1/8" long.
the wasp is the Phorid Fly.
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2009/05/11/new_phorid_fly_species_turns
_red_imported_fire_ants_into_zombies.html
--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
Jon Danniken
>
> and that technique worked well with the african bees, didn't it?
African bees were brought to South America in the fifties as part of a lab
expiriment. The problem was that they got outside of the lab.
The interesting thing about the african bees is that they are virtually
identical to our regular European honey bees, and are actually no more
venomous, either. The difference is that it takes very little to provoke
african bees to attack, and once provoked, they attack in greater numbers
and over greater distances.
Jon
Van Chocstraw
DerbyDad03
Get some Phroid Flies...
Stolen without permission from:
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/13/2233257
Texas Makes Zombie Fire Ants
Posted by samzenpus on Wed May 13, 2009 10:20 PM
from the what-could-go-wrong dept.
eldavojohn writes
"What do you do when a foreign species has been introduced to your
land from another continent? Bring over the natural predator from the
other continent.
Scientists in Texas have introduced four kinds of phorid flies from
South America to fight fire ants. These USDA approved flies dive bomb
ants and lay an egg inside the ant. The maggot hatches and eats away
juicy tender delicious ant brain until the ant is nothing more than a
zombie that wanders around for two weeks before the head falls off and
the ant dies. A couple of these flies will cause the ants to modify
their behavior and this will be a very slow acting solution to curb
the $1 billion in damage these ants do to Texas cattle ranches and —
oddly enough — electrical equipment like circuit breakers. You may
remember zombifying parasites hitting insects like cockroaches."
Phisherman
<thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Try Tero. It contains the ingrediant Boric acid, toxic to insects,
low toxicity to humans and animals. You may have fire ants.
Van Chocstraw
I noticed that every day I blow out my bug zapper, all the bugs are gone
off the drive way by evening. I know the birds eat some but I noticed
today a dead bug moving across the driveway. There was an ant under it
carrying it away.
Oren
<thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Not if you have ants in your pants!
ransley
Ant baits work, boric acid might. For the little ants I use the cheap
round baits. For big carpenter ants its a special bait product you
have to research. There are a few baits on the market that they take
the poison back to the nest.
Ulysses
If they are fire ants then I guess I should call Vector Control. I think I
heard something several years ago about a county program to try to control
the. I just never knew what a fire ant was.
As for getting rid of their food supply I live on 20 acres and they appear t
o eat the greasewood and sage brush and I'm not allowed to clear it due to
environmental protection laws. Occasionally I'll throw a dead mouse from a
mouse trap into the bushes and they might be eating those but I'm talking
about a LOT of ants. When the sun is shining I don't think there is one
square yard of my 20 acres that does not have at least one ant on it,
usually a red ant. That seems to leave amdro (I'll have to look that up),
DDT (that should work, might be hard to find though), and gasoline.
Gasoline I can get but I'll have to make sure the Fire Captian isn't flying
over as I live in and Extreme Fire Hazard Area. :-D
Ulysses
<gfre...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:mlk375l70mlkbdpbg...@4ax.com...
> eat that anymore. The other solution that seems to work is Orthene, a
> nasty smelling white powder in a black plastic bottle that you
> sprinkle on the mound. In the end all you really do is move them but
> you can usually move them away from you.
> The down side is you might get ants backfilling the environment that
> are more of a problem.
> I got rid of fire ants that stayed outside and got black ants that are
> a real problem in the house. I have them pushed back right now but
> they are still around. I kinda miss the fire ants. ;-)
Yea, you always have to think of the consequences. My kids wanted me to get
rid of the ants on the top of our hill and I explained that we might end up
with something worse instead. I also wanted to get rid of the poison oak
next to our creek but the weed killer is potent for about two weeks and you
never know when it's going to rain here in the summer and then it would
probably end up in the ground water--our well. Fortunately the poison oak
doesn't seem to bother me any more.
HH
"Ulysses" <thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:h4sdpr$pdl$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Use some of those WMD they found in Iraq, against them.
Ulysses
"Phisherman" <nob...@noone.com> wrote in message
news:19v375p3saf5agf8r...@4ax.com...
Thanks. Is that the same thing as roach powder?
Ulysses
"Oren" <Or...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news:bs6475tinb1r9l0lt...@4ax.com...
I wish you were joking. I can't even sit down on the dirt anywhere without
them trying to crawl into my shorts.
Stormin Mormon
This blue ant bait worked very well on my carpenter ants. I
didn't use the bait traps, just squirt some in to bottle
caps. I live alone, and so there's no "poison the kids or
pets" worries.
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
"Ulysses" <thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:h4sdpr$pdl$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Phisherman
RoachPruf is a blue colored boric acid. You could mix it with sugar
or grease as the bait. Lookup the concentration, you don't want it so
strong that they die before feeding the queen!
Jim Yanik
news:h4ti7l$8nf$1...@news.eternal-september.org:
FIRE ANTS ARE NOT 1/2 inch long.
DONT put gasoline on the ground,it gets into the ground water and pollutes
it,even a small amount of gas.
Smitty Two
Van Chocstraw <boobooil...@roadrunner.com> wrote:
DDT is for sissies. He should tell Homeland Security that Osama bin
Laden is hiding in his back yard, and he needs an air strike.
_ _98@yahoo.moc The Ranger
[snip-snip-snip]
> Fortunately the poison oak doesn't seem to bother
> me any more.
Lucky you! How about those kids? Are they lucky enough to have built up an
immunity to poison oak, too?
The Ranger
Red Green
news:Xns9C58E3F3FD7...@74.209.136.85:
Fire ants that big would really spook me knowing what the std 1/8" or so
ones feel like.
>
> DONT put gasoline on the ground,it gets into the ground water and
> pollutes it,even a small amount of gas.
>
That's right. You must be ecological. Recycle your used motor oil on them
instead :-)
badgolferman
Wouldn't that just spread them around even more with all the explosions?
--
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,
diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." ~ Groucho
Marx
Ulysses
"Jim Yanik" <jya...@abuse.gov> wrote in message
news:Xns9C58E3F3FD7...@74.209.136.85...
After reading the replies and some web sites and went and looked at them
again and they are perhaps about 5/16" long.
>
> DONT put gasoline on the ground,it gets into the ground water and pollutes
> it,even a small amount of gas.
I assumed whoever said to use gasoline was joking and my reply was not meant
to be serious.
Ulysses
"Red Green" <postm...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news:Xns9C591834...@216.168.3.70...
Most of us experiemented with solar power when we were kids by using a
magnifying glass to incinerate ants, right? Well maybe I could get a big
lens and set it up over each ant hill for a while.
Ulysses
I read some more about anteaters and it looks like the problem is that they
avoid eating the queen so the nest survives so they don't destroy their food
supply. If only rabbits were that smart.
So far boric acid looks like the way to go.
Ulysses
"Stormin Mormon" <cayoung61**spamblock##@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:h4tj3s$c85$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8695&ss=ant%20bait
>
> This blue ant bait worked very well on my carpenter ants. I
> didn't use the bait traps, just squirt some in to bottle
> caps. I live alone, and so there's no "poison the kids or
> pets" worries.
>
Thanks, I'm looking into it now. I'm not altogether sure which species of
ants I have. The very tiny ones have never bitten any of us (that I know
of) and the larger red ones might be too big to be fire ants but the bite
sounds like a fire ant bite. Plus I have black ants of various sizes AND
the red and black ants that appear to be a cross of black and red fire ants.
I didn't even know they came in black. My dog seems to have come to an
understanding with the bigger red ants (whatever species they are) but
occasionally I suspect she gets bit between her toes. A little benedryl
cream seems to help a lot.
Ulysses
"Smitty Two" <prest...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:prestwhich-4B620...@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com...
I thought his name was Obama, not Osama. I was wondering about how to get
them to dump the right thing--maybe boric acid instead of fire retardant
when the come to put out the gasoline-filled anthill fires.
Jim Yanik
news:h4uve1$tut$1...@news.eternal-september.org:
still too big to be fireants. Fireants are about 1/8" long.
>
>>
>> DONT put gasoline on the ground,it gets into the ground water and
>> pollutes it,even a small amount of gas.
>
> I assumed whoever said to use gasoline was joking and my reply was not
> meant to be serious.
sorry. but there ARE plenty of people who would do that,either not knowing
or not caring about the contamination.
Jim Yanik
news:h4v0dj$2qo$1...@news.eternal-september.org:
they're both Islamic terrorists,and both hate the US.
> I was wondering about how to
> get them to dump the right thing--maybe boric acid instead of fire
> retardant when the come to put out the gasoline-filled anthill fires.
>
>
I think I'd try one of those Combat ant controls.I've had good results with
them for sugar ants.
badgolferman
>> After reading the replies and some web sites and went and looked at
>> them again and they are perhaps about 5/16" long.
>
>still too big to be fireants. Fireants are about 1/8" long.
The fireants we had in Louisiana were much bigger than the ones we had
in Florida.
Freckles
> "Freckles" <frec...@tx.rr.com> wrote in
> news:le2dnUQS-tP9W-zX...@giganews.com:
>
>>
>> "Ulysses" <thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:h4sdpr$pdl$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>>micro-ants, but
>>> the red ones that are maybe 1/2" long. They are surprisingly painful
>>> when they bite you and leave a sizable welt. I have tried sprinkling
>>> the anthills with Bug-B-Gone and it seems to work for about three
>>> days and then
>>> they just open up a new hole and go on about their business. I even
>>> tried spraying them with Raid but that had little effect. Anyone
>>> have a product that they like for getting rid of ants? If it's
>>> possible I would prefer a product that won't kill any birds that eat
>>> the ants. The quail appear to eat the ants but I can't really
>>> confirm this. In any case they don't eat enough of them to make a
>>> difference so now I'm wondering about anteaters and
>>> if they would like living in Southern California High Desert and if
>>> the coyotes would bother them and if they could actually control the
>>> problem. Seriously.
>>>
>>
>>
>> There are fire ant baits that work somewhat in at least slowing them
>> up. One year I had so many fire ant mounds in my yard I had my lawn
>> care company spread something on my yard that got rid of them for that
>> one season. It was rather expensive and I don't know if it was lethal
>> to the birds, but it did stop the ants for a year or so.
>>
>> Here in Texas they are experimenting using some kind of imported tiny
>> wasps that are supposed to eradicate fire ants for once and all.
>>
>> Freckles
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> the wasp is the Phorid Fly.
>
> http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2009/05/11/new_phorid_fly_species_turns
> _red_imported_fire_ants_into_zombies.html
>
> or;
> http://tinyurl.com/posc8f
The fire ant sizes vary from about 1/16" to about 3/8" in each mound here in
Texas that I have seen.
Freckles
Oren
>On Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:32:31 -0700, "Ulysses"
><thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>So far boric acid looks like the way to go.
>
>Just figure out what they eat and make your bait out of that, about
>12:1 or less. As other posters have said, not too much BA or you just
>kill the first few ants that eat it and the rest will stop eating that
>stuff.
Agree. Some people make baits using jam and BA. A local article by a
state entomologist stated to use peanut butter with BA mixed at 10:1.
We went on to say that if you see dead ants along their path, reduce
the BA.
"Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth" (DE) is used as an insecticide.* Not
the same DE for pools, though. Buy it a farm/feed supply store.
"Diatomite is also used as an insecticide, due to its physico-sorptive
properties. The fine powder absorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer
of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Arthropods die as
a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of
diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed
in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid
environments, efficacy is very low. It is sometimes mixed with an
attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness.
Medical-grade diatomite is sometimes used to de-worm both animals and
humans. It is most commonly used in lieu of boric acid, and can be
used to help control and eventually eliminate a cockroach infestation.
This material has wide application for insect control in grain
storage"
*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth#Pest_control
Jim Yanik
news:gIadnfquBfggvu7X...@giganews.com:
>> turns _red_imported_fire_ants_into_zombies.html
>>
>> or;
>> http://tinyurl.com/posc8f
>>
>> --
>> Jim Yanik
>> jyanik
>> at
>> kua.net
>
> The fire ant sizes vary from about 1/16" to about 3/8" in each mound
> here in Texas that I have seen.
>
> Freckles
>
>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant
says there's 280 species of fire ant,and that they range from 0.12" to
0.24",or 1/4" or smaller.
2mm to 6mm for the metric fans.
Here in Florida,I've only seen the small version.
(I guess this is more of that "Texas grows 'em bigger" baloney...) 8-)
more 'good' news....;
Recently there has been a large spike in the fire ant population of the
southern United States[5]. Environmentalists have predicted that before
April 2010 the fire ant population will have increased by nearly 40% in the
United States.[6] The ants are believed to be coming from Mexico and
contain a much more poisonous venom than other fire ants, thus causing many
states to start emergency programs to destroy fire ant colonies before they
spread.[7]
damn Mexicans.....even their ants are coming in illegally!
just what we need,"a much more poisonous venom",too!
Oren
When I lived in Florida, we called them "piss" ants. "He bit the piss
out of me" :-)
"A white pustule usually appears the next day at the site of the sting
(Cohen 1992)."
Size range scale here:
http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/ants/fire_ant04.htm
http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/ants/red_imported_fire_ant.htm
Freckles
________________________________________________
Didn't you say they were only 1/8" long?
As far as I've read they do not have any predators in the U.S. so they
evidently live longer and are able to grow longer than the length stated in
the various articles.
>
> Here in Florida,I've only seen the small version.
>
> (I guess this is more of that "Texas grows 'em bigger" baloney...) 8-)
______________________________________________________
I've have visited Florida and I've seen mounds of fire ants with individuals
ranging for about 1/16" to about 3/8" there also.
Oren
<thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Not if you have ants in your pants!
>
>I wish you were joking. I can't even sit down on the dirt anywhere without
>them trying to crawl into my shorts.
>
Watch what happens when you have an Anteater!
Jim Yanik
news:67mdnZzDM5cR3u7X...@giganews.com:
>>>> s_ turns _red_imported_fire_ants_into_zombies.html
>>>>
>>>> or;
>>>> http://tinyurl.com/posc8f
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Jim Yanik
>>>> jyanik
>>>> at
>>>> kua.net
>>>
>>> The fire ant sizes vary from about 1/16" to about 3/8" in each mound
>>> here in Texas that I have seen.
>>>
>>> Freckles
>>>
>>>
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant
>>
>> says there's 280 species of fire ant,and that they range from 0.12"
>> to 0.24",or 1/4" or smaller.
>> 2mm to 6mm for the metric fans.
>
> ________________________________________________
>
> Didn't you say they were only 1/8" long?
Yes. the ones I see are the workers that defend the mound(~1/8"),but if you
tear open the mound,you see bigger,winged ants.
>
> As far as I've read they do not have any predators in the U.S. so they
> evidently live longer and are able to grow longer than the length
> stated in the various articles.
That I don't believe.
>
>
>>
>> Here in Florida,I've only seen the small version.
>>
>> (I guess this is more of that "Texas grows 'em bigger" baloney...)
>> 8-)
>
> ______________________________________________________
>
> I've have visited Florida and I've seen mounds of fire ants with
> individuals ranging for about 1/16" to about 3/8" there also.
Of course,none of use are actually measuring,but only "eyeballing" or
estimating the size...
Different people have widely varying accuracies WRT estimating size;just
ask any woman about guys with "six inches"....! B-)
>
>> more 'good' news....;
>>
>> Recently there has been a large spike in the fire ant population of
>> the southern United States[5]. Environmentalists have predicted that
>> before April 2010 the fire ant population will have increased by
>> nearly 40% in the
>> United States.[6] The ants are believed to be coming from Mexico and
>> contain a much more poisonous venom than other fire ants, thus
>> causing many
>> states to start emergency programs to destroy fire ant colonies
>> before they
>> spread.[7]
>>
>> damn Mexicans.....even their ants are coming in illegally!
>>
>> just what we need,"a much more poisonous venom",too!
>>
>> --
>> Jim Yanik
>> jyanik
>> at
>> kua.net
>
>
>
--
Red Green
news:6fm6755qo3v3p3j2a...@4ax.com:
Reminds me of many moons ago when I lived in VA (metro DC). One of the
shock jocks DC radio (Stern, Grease Man, don't really remember) said if you
go to the end of a porn movie then hit play in reverse it looks like an
aardvark snorting milk.
Red Green
news:h4uviu$ugq$1...@news.eternal-september.org:
Well with all the wizardry around here you would think someone could rig
their cell phone to redirect Hubble. Them 20 acres of ants will just
start poppin' and cracklin' all over the place.
Ulysses
My poor dog kept licking her foot yesterday and after several attempts to
find the problem I finally found a red ant stuck between her claw and pad.
Now I'm getting pissed off at the ants. It ruined her whole day.
Ulysses
"The Ranger" <cuhulain _ _...@yahoo.moc> wrote in message
news:x4-dnQe304w3wu_X...@posted.rawbandwidth...
Nobody seems to get it any more and we haven't had to buy any Tecnu for a
few years. Now, if we could develop resistance to fire ants....
Ulysses
"Oren" <Or...@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news:c7a675l6guvdko1qa...@4ax.com...
Well, that's very interesting. I didn't come across that one on the fire
ant websites that I read. I once had to use boric acid to get rid of
cockroaches and it really worked. I'm gonna see if there are any diatomites
around. Doesn't DE come from the deserts? Makes me wonder if there are any
ants where they find the stuff.
>
> *
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth#Pest_control
>
>
Ulysses
> "Ulysses" <thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:h4ti7l$8nf$1...@news.eternal-september.org:
>
> >
> > "Freckles" <frec...@tx.rr.com> wrote in message
> > news:le2dnUQS-tP9W-zX...@giganews.com...
> >>
> > think I heard something several years ago about a county program to
> > try to control the. I just never knew what a fire ant was.
> >
> > As for getting rid of their food supply I live on 20 acres and they
> > appear t o eat the greasewood and sage brush and I'm not allowed to
> > clear it due to environmental protection laws. Occasionally I'll
> > throw a dead mouse from a mouse trap into the bushes and they might be
> > eating those but I'm talking about a LOT of ants. When the sun is
> > shining I don't think there is one square yard of my 20 acres that
> > does not have at least one ant on it, usually a red ant. That seems
> > to leave amdro (I'll have to look that up), DDT (that should work,
> > might be hard to find though), and gasoline. Gasoline I can get but
> > I'll have to make sure the Fire Captian isn't flying over as I live in
> > and Extreme Fire Hazard Area. :-D
> >
> >
> >
>
> FIRE ANTS ARE NOT 1/2 inch long.
I found a local web site and the picture they have looks exactly like the
ants I have.
http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/rifa/
It looks like I have to call the 800 number.
>
> DONT put gasoline on the ground,it gets into the ground water and pollutes
> it,even a small amount of gas.
>
Oren
<thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Well, that's very interesting. I didn't come across that one on the fire
>ant websites that I read. I once had to use boric acid to get rid of
>cockroaches and it really worked. I'm gonna see if there are any diatomites
>around. Doesn't DE come from the deserts? Makes me wonder if there are any
>ants where they find the stuff.
Short read here:
http://www.biconet.com/home/infosheets/DEarticle1.html
"Perma-Guard Household D-20 is not registered for sale in the state of
California."
Oren
<thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I found a local web site and the picture they have looks exactly like the
>ants I have.
>
>http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/rifa/
>
>It looks like I have to call the 800 number.
And the treatment is free...."With one call, your local Red Imported
Fire Ant authority or county agricultural commissioner's office will
inspect your property for Red Imported Fire Ants and treat confirmed
colonies at no cost to you."
Those are the same as fire ants in Florida, that I'm familiar with.
Smitty Two
Oren <Or...@127.0.0.1> wrote:
We've had quite a few posts on this thread now, but did the OP's
question (see thread title) ever get answered?
Oren
<prest...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>We've had quite a few posts on this thread now, but did the OP's
>question (see thread title) ever get answered?
Thread is more about his second question in the original post. I did
post "not if you have ants in your pants" for the first question.
Oren
<prest...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>We've had quite a few posts on this thread now, but did the OP's
>question (see thread title) ever get answered?
Thread is more about his second question in the original post. I did
Oren
<prest...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>We've had quite a few posts on this thread now, but did the OP's
>question (see thread title) ever get answered?
Thread is more about his second question in the original post. I did
Ken S. Tucker
> >We've had quite a few posts on this thread now, but did the OP's
> >question (see thread title) ever get answered?
>
> Thread is more about his second question in the original post. I did
> post "not if you have ants in your pants" for the first question.
We built our own guest house, and every joint and plywood was
nailed, glued, and gasket sealed everywhere we could. Anyway
we have a benign small 1/8" brown ant getting in, so what we use
is Raid Ant Drops.
We cutout little cardboard squares then tack them with drops on
them, that works. At the doors we tack one on each side inside
and out, they worked well, ants are gone.
Ken
celt...@aol.com
> "Ulysses" <therealulys...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:h4sdpr$pdl$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>
>
>
>
>
> >I have a big problem with little ants. �Not the really tiny micro-ants,
> >but
> > the red ones that are maybe 1/2" long. �They are surprisingly painful
> > when
> > they bite you and leave a sizable welt. �I have tried sprinkling the
> > anthills with Bug-B-Gone and it seems to work for about three days and
> > then
> > they just open up a new hole and go on about their business. �I even
> > tried
> > spraying them with Raid but that had little effect. �Anyone have a
> > product
> > that they like for getting rid of ants? �If it's possible I would prefer
> > a
> > product that won't kill any birds that eat the ants. �The quail appear to
> > eat the ants but I can't really confirm this. �In any case they don't eat
> > enough of them to make a difference so now I'm wondering about anteaters
> > and
> > if they would like living in Southern California High Desert and if the
> > coyotes would bother them and if they could actually control the problem.
> > Seriously.
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
You mean the 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium? They removed that
about a year ago.
Ulysses
:-D Well, I reckon my ultimate goal is to get the ants under control. From
what I read about anteaters they are considered "exotic pets" are are owned
mainly by people who want to draw attention to themselves. I think they
might help to reduce the ant population but won't eliminate them. I'm not
ruling out anything at this point. I might be more inclined to get one if
they could catch a ball or a Frisbee. Maybe somone should cross a dog with
an anteater.
After reading more about fire ants it seems that there are basically two
kinds: Domestic Fire Ants and Imported Red Fire Ants. I'm pretty sure the
ones I have are the domestic variety as they tend to be a bit bigger and are
less agressive. The Gov'ment is only interested in eradicating the Imported
Fire Ants. When I called the Fire Ant Hotline they suggested I go to Lowe's
or Home Depot and get some ant killer. The main characterics of the
importered ants is that they have multiple openings on their mound, are a
bit smaller as I mentioned, and supposedly will swarm all over anything that
disturbs them which apparently includes just walking by the anthill. I
found one ant hill that has smaller fire ants and it only had one opening
and they seemed to be hiding from me rather than wanting to attack me. What
was interesting was at the opening of the mound I saw several ant heads
which were severed from the bodies. That makes me wonder if my local Vector
Control has released those flies or wasps that lay eggs inside the head. If
so it might appear that the flies/wasps can tell the difference between
imported and domestic ants because I did not see any ant heads on any other
mound. But of course I was unable to verify that the one mound was actually
imported ants and indications are that they are not. I also noticed that
about 90% of the anthills on top of my hill, some of which were huge and had
openings up to 3" in diameter, showed no signs of life. Makes me wonder if
Vector Control already has the problem under control and it's just taking
more time for the control insects to make it down the slopes. Kinda makes
me worry though about what happens if there are NO ants. They no doubt are
beneficial to some extent. And what happens when the flies/wasps run out of
ants to decapitate?
Using what I had on hand I sprinkled some diatomaceous earth on some mounds
and it at least seems to annoy them. But it supposedly takes a lot of time
before any results are noticed and food grade DE was recommended as opposed
to swimming pool grade so it might not work at all. I also tried some Sevin
Dust on several mounds last night and so far those mounds have no ant
activity. It says nothing on the can about killing ants. The can I have is
very old but the Home Depot price sticker says $1.75 so it's probably still
pretty cheap.
Ulysses
Sounds like a good product. I just missed the wild Chrysanthemums so I
guess I won't be mixing up my own version of the stuff.
>
Oren
<thereal...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>Using what I had on hand I sprinkled some diatomaceous earth on some mounds
>and it at least seems to annoy them. But it supposedly takes a lot of time
>before any results are noticed and food grade DE was recommended as opposed
>to swimming pool grade so it might not work at all
I only know/read limited differences in pool and food grade DE.
Pool grade DE is heated during processing. The heat causes the sharp
microscopic fossil edges to round off. Rubbed between thumb and
fingers, you can feel the smoothness.
Food grad DE is not heated at processing, thereby, the fossil edges
stay sharp. Rubbed together it would feel gritty.
As to the original bait question. Stick out some "test dummy" baits.
When the ants eat one bait over another. Mix in the BA.
Ulysses
Some of the ants are either covering up the DE or taking it into their
mounds--can't tell for sure but on one mound I saw them hauling out a dead
body (ant). Not very conclusive. The ant activity seems about the same
with the swimming pool DE on most mounds and on other mounds there are no
ants in sight but the DE is no longer visible.
The mounds that I sprinkled Sevin Dust 5% on last night have NO ant
activity. I'm thinking since it does not specify to use it for ants then
nobody has been using it on ants and they are not yet immune to it. I'm
kinda wary about using the stuff and I'm only planning in using it close to
the house. I'm going to try the BA mixed with whatever they like to eat.
Dead bugs sound good but the stinkbugs might fight them for it.
This is another story but I've been having a lot of mice under my house
(manufactured home). Lately, somehow, the little mice have been managing to
get caught in a big rat trap and drag it several feet! I finally figured
out how. When I opened the hatch/access to under the house this morning
there was a snake staring me right in the face. It's a red snake with a
black head (some kind of king snake maybe) and he's been hanging around for
a few weeks and I've been trying to get him to go under the house and it
looks like he finally did. So now, instead of traps, I just sprinkled a
little dry dog food down there so all the snake has to do is to wait for the
mice to eat. A lot easier than trying to get them out of the traps. There
was a gopher snake hanging around a month or so ago but he didn't want to go
down there. A little while ago we heard some racket in the heating ducts so
maybe the snake got one!
Ulysses
>
> This is another story but I've been having a lot of mice under my house
> (manufactured home). Lately, somehow, the little mice have been managing
to
> get caught in a big rat trap and drag it several feet! I finally figured
> out how. When I opened the hatch/access to under the house this morning
> there was a snake staring me right in the face. It's a red snake with a
> black head (some kind of king snake maybe) and he's been hanging around
for
> a few weeks and I've been trying to get him to go under the house and it
> looks like he finally did. So now, instead of traps, I just sprinkled a
> little dry dog food down there so all the snake has to do is to wait for
the
> mice to eat. A lot easier than trying to get them out of the traps.
There
> was a gopher snake hanging around a month or so ago but he didn't want to
go
> down there. A little while ago we heard some racket in the heating ducts
so
> maybe the snake got one!
>
>
It appears to be a "red racer" aka "coachwhip" snake. Now I'm trying to
find out what they eat (not that biologists actually really KNOW what
various animals eat).