Does anyone have any tips for getting rid of ants outside? They have made a couple of huge ant hills in the back yard and since that is the only place they are, I hate to pay the exterminator to come back again...Anything I can sprinkle out there? It needs to be pet/kid safe. Thanks!
Self-rising cornmeal. Not sure if it'll work on the whole hill, but it works in the house. Borax mixed with sugar is great, but I'm not sure it'd be safe for pets, unless you could pour it directly in the hole?
Hmmm... I wonder if those "nematode" things you can get to get rid of fleas in your yard would work for ants too....
I've poured boiling water into the ant hills. This has to be done again and again and again if you do it. Even then, they might come back the next year.
Vinegar. I just read the other day in one of my 'make your own' books that vinegar will drive them away. I'd like to blow them off the face of the earth, myself. We had them im the house and could not get rid of them.
The only thing I know of that really works is not pet safe. But it works! Sevendust. Could you keep the pets and kids away from that area for a while?
When it gets cold, I could. I put some vinegar on them today, so I'll have to check back tomorrow and see how that worked. What is Sevendust??
It comes in a bag and you can ask for it at any Homedepot or store like that. Dh just informed me you can put Sevendust on anything to get rid of bugs or whatever. Now he is telling me he uses something else that starts with a "D" for ants too. But he can't remember the exact name and we don't have any for me to go look at. He is such a world of help isn't he?
The type of ants could depend on how successful treating them yourself could be. If they are fire ants, it really doesn't matter what you put on them it seems like they still just come back. Other species can be really hard to get rid of but not quite as hard as fire ants. You could try diatomaceous earth, food grade. That destroys the skeletons of ants and many other pesky insects like fleas. It doesn't harm beneficial insects or animals/people and can even be taken with food to kill parasites. Also you could try a few ounces of orange oil mixed with liquid soap and a tsp or two of molasses. Drench the mound with that stuff and it literally "melts" the ants. You could try nematodes and they will cut down on the number in the colony, they won't destroy it completely by themselves but it will give you a "leg up" on the competition so to speak. I've heard that there are some enzymes that help against fire ants, so if they are your problem then you might want to consider researching that. I don't alot about it myself though. Good luck and keep after them because they are incredibly pesky little turds.
