Who knows what type of ant...

[E4 No More]

...those little black &%^#$ are that we get in Nashville? More importantly, how do I kill them?

[Jonnin]

that is helpful. There are what, 800 different black ants in the south? The ones that dig in the ground and make dirt mound nests are called fire ants, and are the most likely source of trouble. They sting the everlovin crap out of you if you step in the nests. The best for those seems to be the queen poision products --- the queen dies and the colony dies. The second best approach seems to be the all night bake --- pour a gallon of kerosene into the nest, light it off, problem solved. It will burn for over a day, so you must practice safe fire handling. Third best would be just smashing the nest flat every few hours for a few weeks. They do eventually give up and die or go away, but this only works if you just have one or 2 nests.

[Guest J.Walton]

If you smash it and it puts off a strong odor it is probably a odorous house ain't. Your local pest control company should have a gel that will kill them. My uncle owns a company here in memphis and I woked there for a while.

J.Wal

[peejman]

I've had good luck with Fire Ant Killer, Ant Control & Ant Bait for Killing Fire Ants by AMDRO Fire Ant Killers for ant mounds in the yard. If you have them in the house, take away what they're after (likely food) and they'll go away.

[Oh Shoot]

If you mean the tiny "sugar ants" that make a trail inside your home, the winner and still champ is Terro. I've eradicated huge kingdoms of them using it -- damn near feel guilty. Fun to watch them all come and chow down, too.

- OS

[Erik88]

If you mean the tiny "sugar ants" that make a trail inside your home, the winner and still champ is Terro. I've eradicated huge kingdoms of them using it -- damn near feel guilty. Fun to watch them all come and chow down, too.

- OS

any chance that stuff is safe for pets? We're having a ant problem down here but I don't want to poison my dog in the process of killing ants.

[Raoul]

Those are titan ants. All you have to do to get rid of them is send them to the playoffs.

[Oh Shoot]

any chance that stuff is safe for pets? We're having a ant problem down here but I don't want to poison my dog in the process of killing ants.

Erik, borax is the only bad thing in it, would think a pet would have to consume a bunch of it for anything bad to happen. Does have a children/pet warning of course. Not even sure a dog would go for it, but guess it does have some sort of sweet taste to it. Very small amounts used though. Few little squares of cardboard with a drop or two on each will kill a bazillion ants. They take it back to nest and feed it around, basically just dries them up from the inside out is way I understand it.

Need to put it on existing ant trail for best effects. If you have to put in on floor where Da Mutt can get at it, you could put it in something he couldn't get his tongue into maybe, like I dunno, tupperware with small holes on each end or something?

Oh, just looked at site, looks like they now have a version with little "stations", maybe already protects from pets.

I've just always used the small bottle where you put a drop or two on pieces of paper or cardboard.

Ace Hardware carries it. Been around since I was a kid, everybody used to use it.

Ant Problem? Terro = Ant Control Solutions

- OS

[monkeylizard]

I've used the little green metal Ortho Ant-B-Gone bait things from Home Depot with good success for inside ants. Just put one or two along the trail they use on your countertop/floor and wait a couple of days. They'll start becoming fewer in number after 2 or 3 days, then gone completely within a week.

[Guest WyattEarp]

another good way to get rid of ants, clean, and I mean CLEAN your kitchen, your doorways, get rid of crumbs, food morsels, sugar specks, use hot, soapy water to break grease, dried oil, hardened food up and get it loose, spray all counters, floors, door jambs with bleach, caulk around windows where needed. ants are attracted to food sources. clean out grease traps if you have an old fashioned stove, clean your ovens inside, outside, pull them out and get the stuff out from underneath and behind, do the same with the fridge. pull all the pots and pans out from cabinets, clean all the stuff up under the sink, remove stove coils and clean, lift the lid of the stove up and clean it out. all that in addition to the above mentioned ant/bug killers, will help. shop vac the floor, then sweep it, scrub it down with bleach and hot soapy water by hand, then dry it with a clean fresh dry towel, repeat if necessary.

[Dennis1209]

I wasn't aware fire ants had made it to Tennessee yet. I know they are making their way north. Just for my information, how far north in TN. are they?

[Oh Shoot]

I wasn't aware fire ants had made it to Tennessee yet. I know they are making their way north. Just for my information, how far north in TN. are they?

They really haven't "made their way north" as commonly thought of. They've been "imported" through the years.

All about TN fire ants:

Imported Fire Ants in Tennessee

- OS

[Garufa]

Marabunta

[Glenn]

​

another good way to get rid of ants, clean, and I mean CLEAN your kitchen, your doorways, get rid of crumbs, food morsels, sugar specks, use hot, soapy water to break grease, dried oil, hardened food up and get it loose, spray all counters, floors, door jambs with bleach, caulk around windows where needed. ants are attracted to food sources. clean out grease traps if you have an old fashioned stove, clean your ovens inside, outside, pull them out and get the stuff out from underneath and behind, do the same with the fridge. pull all the pots and pans out from cabinets, clean all the stuff up under the sink, remove stove coils and clean, lift the lid of the stove up and clean it out. all that in addition to the above mentioned ant/bug killers, will help. shop vac the floor, then sweep it, scrub it down with bleach and hot soapy water by hand, then dry it with a clean fresh dry towel, repeat if necessary.

DAMN!!! I think I will just stick with poisoning them.

Glenn

[jtmaze]

I know my dad has alot of problems with fire ants at his place in Decaturville.

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[Oh Shoot]

​

DAMN!!! I think I will just stick with poisoning them.

Glenn

Really, that or just move!

- OS

[kb4ns]

OhShoot & Erik,

The FAQ page on Terro's website says the liquid version is safe for use around pets.

Ant Problem? Terro = Ant Control Solutions

[Guest pfries]

Diazinon Crystals, not kid or pet friendly but very effective, kills all them pests. I bought a ton prior to them banning it for household use in 04, you can still get it for agro use though go figure. You can use it large scale but not small scale?

[E4 No More]

that is helpful. There are what, 800 different black ants in the south? The ones that dig in the ground and make dirt mound nests are called fire ants, and are the most likely source of trouble. They sting the everlovin crap out of you if you step in the nests. The best for those seems to be the queen poision products --- the queen dies and the colony dies. The second best approach seems to be the all night bake --- pour a gallon of kerosene into the nest, light it off, problem solved. It will burn for over a day, so you must practice safe fire handling. Third best would be just smashing the nest flat every few hours for a few weeks. They do eventually give up and die or go away, but this only works if you just have one or 2 nests.

I'm sorry that my entomology skills are too lacking for you, but small and black is the best that I can do. I saw plenty of fire ants in the high desert of California, and I know that I don't confuse medium and brown outdoors ants with small and black indoor ants.

Edited December 15, 2011 by SWJewellTN

[E4 No More]

Apparently these are pavement ants, (aka sugar ants), 1/8" brown/black ants. Hopefully these ant baits that I put down will handle them.

Thanks, guys.

Edited December 15, 2011 by SWJewellTN

[Jonnin]

I'm sorry that my entomology skills are too lacking for you, but small and black is the best that I can do. I saw plenty of fire ants in the high desert of California, and I know that I don't confuse medium and brown outdoors ants with small and black indoor ants.

I didnt expect the exact subspecies but any more info would really have helped. Indoor? Outdoor? Many or few? Anything at all; you really didn't give us much in that first post. If it isnt fire ants, the fire ant killer or firebombs on the nest are less than practical, for example. If they are indoor, its a 90% chance they have found their way into some food and locating that food source and removing it is the winner, combined with either a spray or other treatment to discourage them. Also the most common types puts down a chemical trail to the food, which the ants will follow for WEEKS as it is a known and marked food trail, so you have to scrub the floor between the entry point and the food source to kill the trail so they stop coming back inside. Basically, a combination of what wyattearp said + a pet safe (or not) posion will likely solve the problem. Fire ants have been in north ga and south tn border for at least 15 years, so I would not be at all amazed if they had reached nashville by now, or even farther up, they move fast.

[Oh Shoot]

.... Fire ants have been in north ga and south tn border for at least 15 years, so I would not be at all amazed if they had reached nashville by now, or even farther up, they move fast.

They don't move. They are moved.

- OS

[Oh Shoot]

OhShoot & Erik,

The FAQ page on Terro's website says the liquid version is safe for use around pets.

Ant Problem? Terro = Ant Control Solutions

Good to know. There is a children/pet warning on the package, though; guess that's just a frivolous litigation cover like most products have to carry anymore.

- OS