General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCrazy ants are here
In my area of Southwest, MS.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/attack-crazy-ants-ant-species-arrives-taste-electronics/story?id=19246157#.UcS2evkQa9E
Boric acid and normal insecticides seem to work on the damn things, but they can swarm in a minute.
librechik
(30,678 posts)when I visited the great barrier reef in January.
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/electric-ants-invade-australia-further.htm
Aerows
(39,961 posts)That should say something.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ant
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Good god. Ants, again. Well, if they get rid of the roaches, I'm fine with it.
lapislzi
(5,762 posts)As if there weren't enough bizarre and deadly things in Australia, people have to go importing more?
siligut
(12,272 posts)That is what Google shows when I ask for crazy ants. Fire ants are the bigger ones, I thought crazy ants were similar. Little swarming ants aren't as scary.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They swarm in humongous numbers in seconds. That's what makes them "crazy".
I'm from the South, New Orleans, and can tell you all about the ball of fire ants that floats around when it floods. This happens when there is no water.
siligut
(12,272 posts)I stepped on it once, quickly and had I not immediately torn off my sock and shoe, I would have not been able to walk later. I had not experienced a floating ball of them
I just wanted to know if they are little ants, because I imagined they were big.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)When it floods. That's how they survive in a flood, they just crawl all over each other in a seething mass. Stay the hell away. I kid you not.
They look normal sized to me, on par with fire ants.
Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)before I clicked you post. Just saw that subject line and
Not like what you're describing is much better, but I was about to Google "homemade flamethrower"
Aerows
(39,961 posts)And another:
I love the South.
siligut
(12,272 posts)They would all glom onto you??!!?!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Because I have a shred of common sense. Do you want to touch that!?
siligut
(12,272 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)You likely won't ever be able to bend over again!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Clarification?
siligut
(12,272 posts)On the way to the pavement, the expectorate created a parachute. It popped when she reached down and tried to pick it up
Aerows
(39,961 posts)I'm impoverished of things to say.
bunnies
(15,859 posts)You keep your crazy ass fire ants down there, pal! I'd lose my shit if I saw this:
Aerows
(39,961 posts)that was the size of a basketball. I didn't want anything to do with that. It was floating like 2 feet away when it flooded. And yeah, that's not exactly an unusual picture.
bunnies
(15,859 posts)I just cant see that being something I could get used to. Massive mounds of nasty little ants writhing around on the water. Seriously. Do they do that in lakes and ponds too?
Aerows
(39,961 posts)and yes, it floods more than I'd like and yes, I've witnessed balls of fire ants that could sting the hell out of you.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Wild pigs won't do it, and deer parading around won't, but surely something there would make me cringe. But I don't know where you are, so I couldn't guess.
And raccoons surely won't. I was surprised by the kitties on the porch. They weren't kitties.
bunnies
(15,859 posts)Isnt there some way to set up a trap so the death cycle doesnt reach electronics, wiring, etc? Gaster Flagging. That just sounds wrong.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)seems to work. And yes, Gaster Flagging does just sound wrong, but I guess it works for them to ball up like a seething globe of ... nothing you want to touch.
bunnies
(15,859 posts)Swarming things freak me out. Maybe because I sat on an ant hill one night in vegas. Not wise. I cant even look at an ant now without getting the willies.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)swarm like nothing I've ever seen. Much boric acid needed.
YeahSureRight
(205 posts)Serious gas and a match don't fuck around. Works on fire ants too. Make a mini flame thrower with a propane tank for bad craziness!
Aerows
(39,961 posts)around the perimeter of your home, and you will be fine.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)They don't really sting. So that's a plus. They just infest like termites on a mocha latte and steroids if there are electronics around.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)Ordinary black ants, but I can't figure out where they're coming from and exactly what they are doing here. I've lived here five years and this is the first time I've seen ants in the house. I've simply been killing each one I see. I'm hoping some random survivors will make it back to the nest and warn the other ants about the crazy murderous human in the house and stop coming here.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)That's where these are invading.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)Back when I lived in Kansas we'd often get ant invasions, but they were a much smaller ant, and I understood that it was the spring rains that drove them indoors. They'd show up for a few weeks then disappera.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)We kept them locked up in the attic with the crazy uncles.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)But it isn't, because these things swarm like crazy.
YeahSureRight
(205 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)This is what happens when the Mississippi River floods and the levees don't hold. For those that thought I was kidding about ants being an issue.