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Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?

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.


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"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.


amdro


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Ulysses wrote:

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.


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!


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On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:14:09 -0700, Ulysses wrote:
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.
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On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:33:06 +0000 (UTC), badgolferman wrote:
Ulysses wrote:


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.


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!



people like you should stay in cities.
Not everywhere needs to be a hazmat site.



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"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


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"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


and that technique worked well with the african bees, didn't it?


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"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/..._species_turns
_red_imported_fire_ants_into_zombies.html

or;
http://tinyurl.com/posc8f

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
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charlie wrote:

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


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On Jul 30, 11:14*am, "Ulysses" wrote:
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.


Get some Phroid Flies...

Stolen without permission from:

http://science.slashdot.org/article..../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."



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On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:14:09 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:

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.



Try Tero. It contains the ingrediant Boric acid, toxic to insects,
low toxicity to humans and animals. You may have fire ants.
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On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:14:09 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:

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.


Not if you have ants in your pants!
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On Jul 30, 10:14*am, "Ulysses" wrote:
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.


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.
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"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


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wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:14:09 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:

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.


As the other poster said, you can try Amdro but the ants here won't
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.




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"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.



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"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:14:09 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:

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.



Try Tero. It contains the ingrediant Boric acid, toxic to insects,
low toxicity to humans and animals. You may have fire ants.


Thanks. Is that the same thing as roach powder?


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"Oren" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:14:09 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:

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.


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.


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http://www.gardensalive.com/product....&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.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"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.



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On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:44:33 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:14:09 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:

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.



Try Tero. It contains the ingrediant Boric acid, toxic to insects,
low toxicity to humans and animals. You may have fire ants.


Thanks. Is that the same thing as roach powder?


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!


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"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.

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
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Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?

In article ,
Van Chocstraw wrote:

badgolferman wrote:
Ulysses wrote:

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.


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!


Pump their holes full of DDT.


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.
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Ulysses wrote in message
...
[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


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Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?

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 :-)

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Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?

Smitty Two, 7/30/2009,10:50:36 PM, wrote:

In article ,
Van Chocstraw wrote:

badgolferman wrote:
Ulysses wrote:

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.

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!


Pump their holes full of DDT.


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.


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


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Posts: 250
Default 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.


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.


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net



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Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?


"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.


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Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:44:33 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:14:09 -0700, "Ulysses"
wrote:

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.



Try Tero. It contains the ingrediant Boric acid, toxic to insects,
low toxicity to humans and animals. You may have fire ants.


Thanks. Is that the same thing as roach powder?


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!


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.


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"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
http://www.gardensalive.com/product....&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.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.


"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.





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"Smitty Two" wrote in message
news
In article ,
Van Chocstraw wrote:

badgolferman wrote:
Ulysses wrote:

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.

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!


Pump their holes full of DDT.


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.


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.




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Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?

"Ulysses" wrote in
:


"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.


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.


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
jyanik
at
kua.net
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"Ulysses" wrote in
:


"Smitty Two" wrote in message
news ..
In article ,
Van Chocstraw wrote:

badgolferman wrote:
Ulysses wrote:

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.

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!


Pump their holes full of DDT.


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.


I thought his name was Obama, not Osama.


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.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
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Jim Yanik wrote:

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.

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"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/..._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


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On Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:43:24 -0400, wrote:

On Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:32:31 -0700, "Ulysses"
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/Diatoma...h#Pest_control




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"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!

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
  #37   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 22,192
Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?

On 31 Jul 2009 18:18:18 GMT, Jim Yanik wrote:

"Freckles" wrote in
m:


"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!


When I lived in Florida, we called them "****" ants. "He bit the ****
out of me" :-)

"A white pustule usually appears the next day at the site of the sting
(Cohen 1992)."

Size range scale he

http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creat...fire_ant04.htm


http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creat...d_fire_ant.htm

  #38   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 37
Default 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.


________________________________________________

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.

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



  #39   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 22,192
Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?

On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:46:00 -0700, "Ulysses"
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!

  #40   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
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Posts: 3,103
Default Do Anteaters Make Good Pets?

"Freckles" wrote in
:


"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/...rid_fly_specie
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







--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
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