Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Guarding against red fire ants

Reclaim your yard from the South’s scariest pest with a few simple tips

This Halloween, fire ants have been up to their old tricks, as they emerge from the long, hot summer and begin foraging for food. Now is the time to consider taking precautions against fire ants in your lawn, since in just a few days, dozens if not hundreds, of trick-or-treaters will be walking across your lawn, and could stumble across an active mound.

Homeowners can fight back against these creepy, crawly — and very dangerous — insects by following five simple tips:

Survey your entire lawn. Visually inspect your property to determine the magnitude of infestation. If one or more mounds are present, your property should be treated. Check areas near electrical wiring, telephone exchanges and transformers. Fire ants will build mounds near consistent heat sources.

Test for foraging. Fire ants are most effectively treated while they are foraging. To test, simply throw a potato chip (an ideal bait for fire ants) on or near a mound. Fire ants are foraging if they appear and begin to eat the chip within 30 minutes.

Protect children and pets. Pay particular attention to areas where kids play and animals are kenneled. Children and confined pets are simply defenseless against their stings. More children are stung each year by fire ants than by all other insects combined.

Never use gasoline or other petroleum products. These extremely flammable chemicals are dangerous to you and the environment. The use of petroleum products is also illegal in most states. In addition, old-fashioned “cures” like dish soap, oatmeal, grits, citrus rinds and bleach have no long-lasting effect against fire ants.

Seek professional advice. Not only are ants a nuisance, attempting to control them yourself can be expensive, frustrating and potentially dangerous. If you think you have a fire ant problem, contact your local lawn care operator and ask for TopChoice from Bayer Environmental Science. TopChoice is a new curative and preventative granular insecticide that provides up to 95 percent control of fire ants for up to one year with only a single broadcast application.

An estimated 40 million people, primarily in the Southern United States, are in potential conflict with fire ants on a daily basis. Fire ants stings can cause blisters, allergic reactions, and in extreme cases, death. These resilient insects also cause an estimated $2 billion a year in property and equipment damage, injury to landscapes and gardens, destruction of crops, and illness or death of pets and livestock.

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