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Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
"Ulysses" wrote in
: "Red Green" wrote in message ... Jim Yanik wrote in : "Ulysses" wrote in : "Freckles" wrote in message ... "Ulysses" wrote in message ... 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. 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 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 FIRE ANTS ARE NOT 1/2 inch long. 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 :-) 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. 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. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
"Jim Yanik" wrote in message ... "Freckles" wrote in : "Jim Yanik" wrote in message ... "Freckles" wrote in : "Ulysses" wrote in message ... 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. 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 fire ants are only about 1/8" long. the wasp is the Phorid Fly. http://www.biologynews.net/archives/...d_fly_species_ 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! 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 ****ed off at the ants. It ruined her whole day. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
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Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
"Jim Yanik" wrote in message ... "Ulysses" wrote in : "Freckles" wrote in message ... "Ulysses" wrote in message ... 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. 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 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 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. -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
On Sat, 1 Aug 2009 08:53:01 -0700, "Ulysses"
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 he http://www.biconet.com/home/infosheets/DEarticle1.html "Perma-Guard Household D-20 is not registered for sale in the state of California." http://www.biconet.com/home/pgHouseHold.html |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
On Sat, 1 Aug 2009 09:11:45 -0700, "Ulysses"
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. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
In article ,
Oren wrote: On Sat, 1 Aug 2009 09:11:45 -0700, "Ulysses" 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. We've had quite a few posts on this thread now, but did the OP's question (see thread title) ever get answered? |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
On Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:04:40 -0700, Smitty Two
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. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
On Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:04:40 -0700, Smitty Two
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. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
On Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:04:40 -0700, Smitty Two
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. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
On Aug 1, 11:02 am, Oren wrote:
On Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:04:40 -0700, Smitty Two 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. 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 |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
On Jul 30, 8:44�pm, "HH" wrote:
"Ulysses" wrote in message ... 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. Use some of those WMD they found in Iraq, against them.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - You mean the 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium? They removed that about a year ago. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
"Smitty Two" wrote in message ... In article , Oren wrote: On Sat, 1 Aug 2009 09:11:45 -0700, "Ulysses" 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. We've had quite a few posts on this thread now, but did the OP's question (see thread title) ever get answered? :-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. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
"Oren" wrote in message ... On Sat, 1 Aug 2009 08:53:01 -0700, "Ulysses" 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 he http://www.biconet.com/home/infosheets/DEarticle1.html "Perma-Guard Household D-20 is not registered for sale in the state of California." http://www.biconet.com/home/pgHouseHold.html 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. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
On Sun, 2 Aug 2009 08:21:37 -0700, "Ulysses"
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. |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
"Oren" wrote in message ... On Sun, 2 Aug 2009 08:21:37 -0700, "Ulysses" 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. 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! |
Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?
"Ulysses" wrote in message ... 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). |
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