Fire Ants...

[JC AceHole]

So i recently moved to Florida and my new home course has fire ants everywhere. Ive gotten molested by them so many times already.

I try to watch where i walk but i still tun into them everywhere. Ive looked online and havent found many remedies other than long socks or avoiding the mounds.

Anyone from the south have any pro tips on things that work the best for them to keep them off your ankles? Any specific type of socks? Or any kind of spray that seems to work for you?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DavidSauls]

Profanity is mildly effective.

 

[DiscJunkie]

The only effective way to keep them off yourself is eradication.
If you disturb their hills they will just move.
The best remedy is fire ant bait/poison.
There is no other way to get rid of them.
If used carefully, consistently and according to directions, it is relatively safe and very effective against fire ants.
There are also organic compounds that will kill them.
Whatever you choose, use it for life. If you get rid of the ones you have, their cousins will show up within a few days.
Sorry I can't give you more pleasant advice.

 

[kerplunk]

It's not so much about watching where you walk but more watching where you stand and where you put your bag down.

 

[Old Dog]

It's not so much about watching where you walk but more watching where you stand and where you put your bag down.

This is good advise. I live in NC and have learned to keep moving. Fire ants are mean little SOBs and they will attack for no reason what so ever other than you happen to be available. Thank God the little monsters don't have wings.

 

[DavidSauls]

It's not so much about watching where you walk but more watching where you stand and where you put your bag down.

This. If you absent-mindedly put your bag down on an ant hill, then put it on your back, in about 25 seconds you'll erupt into the kind of gyrations, screams, and clothes-ripping that may get you committed to an asylum. Which, at least, will probably be fire-ant-free.

To your original question, there is no repellent. You just have to be careful.

 

[JC AceHole]

Well that sucks lol. Do long socks help at all? Or can they sting through the fabric? Ive been trying to avoid them but there are mounds everywhere.

 

[MarkDSM]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16279564/
=Physical barrier is the only way. repellent useless.

 

[chainedwraith]

As a Florida native, I've never really given them much thought out on the course other than just watching where i step, stand, and place my bag. Just about every course in Florida has ants and the fire-ant mounds are usually big enough to spot them before stepping in them.

There are some courses in which they are more prevalent than others so sometimes I will smack the bottom of my bag when I pick it up off the ground if I saw ants crawling nearby. 99% of the time I've gotten bit, its because they crawl on my bag, then onto me, then they find a way to my flesh and take the last bite of their lives.

 

[brutalbrutus]

The Ozzy method may work...

 

[DavidSauls]

Well that sucks lol. Do long socks help at all? Or can they sting through the fabric? Ive been trying to avoid them but there are mounds everywhere.

Limited help. You generally don't notice them on you until they sting, so if you're standing in a bed, they'll swam up and over the sock before you know they're there. But you'll probably get fewer stings.

But socks will keep them from stinging between your toes, which is real misery.

 

[thrembo]

The first thing that I tell new people to Florida is to not stand outside anywhere without looking down first. It usually takes a time or two of being covered with them and feeling their little stings, which can get worse over time and if you scratch them, before it sinks in. And yeah, avoidance is the only protection and very little can be done to remove the painful welts. They only seem to rage when you stand on their homes. Quickly moving off seems to help as they bail from you if you move away, but one always stays behind to leave you a painful reminder. What part of Fl did you move too?

 

[sjberry2017]

Well that sucks lol. Do long socks help at all? Or can they sting through the fabric? Ive been trying to avoid them but there are mounds everywhere.

Long socks make life worse because the little b@$^$%^$ blend in perfectly and can get down into the sock. Pretty much just watch where you step and set your bag down and you'll be fine. They suck, but they're pretty easy to avoid if you're paying attention

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Grew up in Miami, lived in Ft Lauderdale, then Boytnon Beach.
Fire ants are one of the many things I don't miss about the Sunshine State. I don't miss those 'lil bastards at all.

You can also add:
- Palmetto bugs
- Hurricanes
- People expecting me to speak Spanish
- Oppressive humidity
- Retirees from NYC that can't drive because NYC has a great subway system, so they haven't driven in decades... but FL has squat for mass transit, so they have to buy a car.

 

[bobmcnelly]

Sorry to hijack the thread but, I got stung in the back of the hand by a ground hornet the other day. I found out that I'm pretty allergic. Check out the picture.

 

[eegor]

In Texas we all walk with our head down. Certainly not from being humble in general, but from being humbled by fire ants and all the other critters we have down here. It will soon be a habit.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Sorry to hijack the thread but, I got stung in the back of the hand by a ground hornet the other day. I found out that I'm pretty allergic. Check out the picture.

Go away. BATIN!

...sorry couldn't resist

 

[JC AceHole]

What part of Fl did you move too?

Central FL. Slightly north or Orlando.

 

[JC AceHole]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I didn't even realize this was a thing until I got attacked and had a bunch of welts on my ankles. You live and you learn I suppose.... lol

 

[Spinthrift]

Sometimes small mounds are hidden in long grass. The first giveaway that you've stepped on a fire ant mound is the ground under your foot feels spongy or soft. I've gotten to where as soon as my foot starts to sink even slightly I instinctively leap to the side. There's not much of a lag time before they swarm you but you do get about a full second.