Environmentally Safe Alternative for Killing Fire Ants
Fire ants are a species of ants that impart a painful bite when they are provoked. If a fire ant feels threatened it will attack even large animals and humans. A swarm of fire ants can cause serious damage to a person or a family pet. Proper treatment will help protect your loved ones from attacks. If you want to do this in an environmentally friendly way, skip the harsh chemicals and use natural methods to take care of the ants. Does this Spark an idea?
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The Water Method
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To quickly and effectively kill fire ants, use a pot of boiling water. The water can be poured on ants on a sidewalk or directly into their nests. If you want to treat the fire ants in their nests, carefully pour the water directly down the entrance of the ant hill. Adding a tablespoon of all-natural dish detergent to the water after you remove it from the stove will break the surface tension around the ants, drowning those that survive the initial scalding.
Diatomaceous Earth
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Diatomaceous earth is a fine powder made from grinding up the microscopic fossils of marine organisms. The fine fine powder can be sprinkled in your yard and will work to dehydrate and eventually kill the ants. The powder is available at home improvement and garden supply stores and is safe for use around children and animals. When choosing diatomaceous earth for use around your home, choose the food grade product and avoid the one intended for use in pool filters, which is not safe for everyday use.
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Worm Castings
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An all-natural method of fire ant treatment is using worm castings. Although worm castings will not kill the fire ants, it will repel them. Repelling fire ants is enough to prevent the need to kill them in the future. Worm castings are the feces from worms and can be found at garden supply stores. Sprinkle the castings in your yard and the ants will be repelled.
Word of Caution
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When treating fire ants, it is important to focus on the fire ants only and not other kinds of ants. Different types of ants will eat the fire ants, keeping their numbers in balance. As you kill other ants, you disturb the balance.
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References
- Photo Credit ant image by FttSniper from Fotolia.com
