The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown

Apparently the local fire ants have decided to celebrate fire ant awareness week by attacking my child. He got stung on Monday twice by the little boogers. As soon as this rain is gone, it's on! Those fire ants will be going down when I bait my yard.

The boy of course was too busy transferring toys from the sandbox to his kiddie pool to really notice that he even got stung. Still, I know what those ants did. The gauntlet has been thrown. Fire ants- 1, Wizzie- 0 (for now....).

Fire Ant Awareness Week

While Fire Ant Awareness Week comes to a close for another year, this year it didn't get much media, being overshadowed- as it should- by Hurricane Ike. The hurricane with the storm surge and flooding that came along with it makes one wonder where fire ants will be popping up after the water dissipates. In flooding conditions, fire ants join together in a large mass and float along the top of the water until they hit something dry. Once that occurs, the ants crawl onto the dry area and look for a new place to start a mound.


That being said, fall is a great time to broadcast baits to manage fire ants. By baiting in the fall, you can help reduce the number of mounds that pop up in the spring. Most baits are broadcast at a very small rate and are best put out with a hand-held spreader set on the lowest setting. With all pesticides, including baits, read the product label and follow all instructions.

For more information on fire ants, go to: http://fireant.tamu.edu/