Just had my first run in with these evil little bastids.
Stopped by my brothers land to get a quick zero on a rifle. I used an old oak as a rest. I don’t know how long they were on me before I felt it but I know how they got their name now.
We had them on the run using Mirex treated corncob media until the tree huggers stepped in. They primarily lived where there were no fire ants, so they were experts.
Get Talstar Pro, if that isn't available get Bifen IT, they are made for termites and will kill fire ants instantly, nothing more satisfying then watching then die as you spray.
I don’t know how long they were on me before I felt it but I know how they got their name now.
That’s their plan of attack. Head honcho let’s a few hundred of his foot soldiers get on board. Nobody stings till he blows the whistle…………then they all sting.
I don’t know how long they were on me before I felt it but I know how they got their name now.
That’s their plan of attack. Head honcho let’s a few hundred of his foot soldiers get on board. Nobody stings till he blows the whistle…………then they all sting.
Just had my first run in with these evil little bastids.
Stopped by my brothers land to get a quick zero on a rifle. I used an old oak as a rest. I don’t know how long they were on me before I felt it but I know how they got their name now.
Fire ants 1
Billy 0
It’s on now..
they crawl on then they all sting you on cue, my worst was running trotlines, it had flooded and I had a ball of them get on me, was stung from waist to my head almost drowned trying to stay underwater and get them off.
A Pennsylvania boy, we don't have them. But I spent enough time in the South to hear all about them.
About 3am one morning I was sitting on a curb stop at a South Carolina Waffle House, and felt them start on my leg. Darn near like a bee sting, and every bite got infected. Every one also left a scar. Don't know if that's normal, or if I'm sensitive to them. Do know I hope to never meet them again.
A Pennsylvania boy, we don't have them. But I spent enough time in the South to hear all about them.
About 3am one morning I was sitting on a curb stop at a South Carolina Waffle House, and felt them start on my leg. Darn near like a bee sting, and every bite got infected. Every one also left a scar. Don't know if that's normal, or if I'm sensitive to them. Do know I hope to never meet them again.
We had them on the run using Mirex treated corncob media until the tree huggers stepped in. They primarily lived where there were no fire ants, so they were experts.
The problem with Mirex is it’s about like DDT, doesn’t go away.
Anyhoo.... as noted, on the plus side fire ants do clear out chiggers and ticks.
Around here fire ants have declined to more tolerable levels, the Asian crazy ants seem to have hammered them. But crazy ants here came and went, ain’t seen one in a few years. Fire ants however have not regained their former numbers.
It may be the brain-eating fly that’s keeping em in check, I dunno, I believe SW Research Foundation on the far west side of town was one of the original release sites.
I got attacked 3 times in 2020 stepping on mounds in high grass. In the fields you could see mounds spaced all over the place. Dozens of them in less than an acre. But this year I can barely find a mound at all. I think I've come across three all this year.
They are rotten little bastards. I look out for them more than cottonmouths and rattlesnakes. Nothing like getting them down inside your boot or up your pant leg.
they crawl on then they all sting you on cue, my worst was running trotlines, it had flooded and I had a ball of them get on me, was stung from waist to my head almost drowned trying to stay underwater and get them off.
Yep, they occupy river banks in S America, when it floods whole colonies form floating balls of ants to wait it out. And a real high reproductive rate to occupy the bare mud flats when the annual floods recede.
I remember reading a story about some guy (or gal, don't recall) who had a bad run in with fire ants in TX. Wound up in the hospital. After a while, the patient laying in the hospital bed was screaming that they were being attacked by the hell ants again. The medical staff told the person it was in their head. Eventually they pulled the sheets back to reveal a great number of the little bastards all over this poor soul, giving him the what for.
I agree. When I was a kid and living in Idaho there was a huge hill just up the road from my parent's house. Nasty dam things would eat your azz off. I fixed them with a gallon of the old mans gas one day. Let it soak for about 30 minutes and then lit it off. Problem solved, no more ants!
They vary in size, even those from the same nest. They bite and hang on with their jaws, sting with their stinger and can squirt their poison onto the skin. I think I’ve read that through pheromone signaling they really do all sting at about the same time.
Fire Ants ,..yep met those little suckers at Fort Stewart Georgia on my first Field exercise in 1983 .Hit the ground prone and began shooting blanks at the opposing forces ,..I thought i was getting shot for real from the Op.For.. when a couple hundred of them bastages started bitting me ,Iam from W.Va we did not have them ,learned to look before you drop