You may have seen the mounds or the piles or dirt. Fire ants are the little-but-mighty insect that can bring trouble to yards and pastures.
Clay County Ag Extension Agent Wyatt Montooth said fire ants can be identified by their red coloring that gets darker near the tail. Montooth said fire ants tend to congregate in sunny, open spaces, and they can be removed with ant bait pesticides.
“You’re going to spread [pesticides] around and on top of the nest,” Montooth said. “And in about five days to a full seven day week, that should have them killed out. If not, you can go back and reapply as needed. And along with this insecticide, there’s no actual residual activity.”
Montooth said fire ants are highly aggressive, and they will anything that disturbs their mound.
“Fire Ants have a pretty sharp bite to them, a pretty good sting, almost like a bee,” Montooth said. “They can cause burning or itching, blisters on your skin, and in severe cases, to people with allergic reactions and things, it can cause anaphylactic shock.”
Montooth said minor conditions like itching and swelling can usually be treated with anti itch or anti burn cream. Montooth said people should consult a doctor for more severe events like heavy, burning chest pain.
Montooth said animals can also be fire ant victims. Although their reaction to ant bites is usually not severe, in rare cases, he said animals could experience allergic reactions.
Montooth said the ants are not particularly attracted to people. He said most people provoke them on accident by stepping on a mound. Montooth said if a mound is hit, whatever touches it could be swarmed by angry fire ants.
Montooth said people can take some steps to mitigate fire ant activity in their yards. He said all insect activity tends to increase when the temperatures rise, so spreading pesticides early can stop the problem before it starts.
“Just remain alert,” Montooth said. “Always be watching your yard, watching around your pastures. Especially these cattle producers and sheep producers. Just always be out there looking and watching your ground and be aware of what’s going on in your area.”
Montooth said pesticides can be found at hardware stores.
