The Fire Ant Game

Texas has a lot of fire ants.  These critters are everywhere.  There is no getting rid of them and they are here to stay.  We all play a game called 'Let's Chase the Fire Ants Next Door'.  You may think that you win the game every so often, but you never, ever get rid of the ants.

While I have been on the receiving end of a fire ant bite a few times, I have never managed to step into their nest and have them swarm me.  I have a picture of a bite on my toe, but I will refrain from posting it.  My feet, fire ant bites aside, are not the prettiest part of my body.  They are functional and I am grateful they are in full working order, but pretty, not so much.

Roxy has yet to be on the receiving end of a mound of angry fire ants.  She's been stung by a bee, but has somehow escaped any fire ant bites.

I, however, am the proud recipient of three bites on my elbow made after grabbing Roxy to prevent her from pawing at a mound.

I love this dog.

I am the fire ant wrangler in our house.  And I have a sure-fire method.  It's best to do this after it rains a bit, 'cause the mounds are more noticeable then.  The wet ground also helps disolve the killer granules.  I use Ortho Fire Ant Killer, it's cheap and effective.

I find a mound and poke at it just a bit, but not too much, to make sure there are ants in it.  I don't want to stir the ants up too much or waste my precious poison on a dead ant pile.  Then I sprinkle the ant killer around the mound, then on over the top of the mound.  It has to be done in this order, that way as the ants escape the mound, they will be trapped by the ring of poison.  Every so often, and this is key, go back to look at the fruits of your labor: squirming and dying fire ants.

If I am desperate and it hasn't rained, I will sprinkle down the ant mound a bit with my sprinkler can, and then wait for the ants to settle down before I sprinkle the poison on the mound.

I must have ants on my mind, because last night I dreamt that fire ants made two huge mounds in the house.  But not to fear, I killed them all with my tried and true Fire Ant Killing Method.

I need a super hero costume.

Have the BEST day ever!

~ Dorothy