SSJONES Life Update

[kcghost]

Give fire ants half-a-chance and they will eat your ass if you let them.

Your new place looks fabulous. Is the cat tolerating the humidity??

 

[tbradsim1]

Al I’ve found out the best thing to put on fire ant bites is toothpaste, dries it up quick . I Garronte!

 

[dunnyboy]

Congratulations. Sounds like a wonderful new chapter!

Sorry, I hadn't yet read the entire thread. I'm not referring to the fire ants of course! The house looks beautiful by the way.

 

[irishearl]

Well, the fire ants did a number on me. I mowed the lawn around 7 Pm, got bit about 10 times. By 10 AM, my hands and ankles were swollen and I was wheezing. I had an old inhaler from about 15 yrs ago, and that solved the wheezing. By 2 AM, I was covered in hives and welts. I took a bunch of Benadryl and by morning was better. But the bites looked infected, but not painful. I put down 20 lbs of Sevin Insect killer, which is supposed to remove fire ants. Hoping that works. Welcome to Louisiana.

Certainly sorry to hear of that. Between that kind of thing and the typical heat and humidity there, it's not painting an attractive picture to me. It's always hot here in Kansas in the summer. But, this summer has been accompanied by frequent untypical humidity reminding me why life in the gulf states wouldn't be for me.

 

[pappymac]

Red ants are from Africa, and came over as we imported azaleas. The do not make colonies the same way domestic ants do. They create miles of underground passages, and they do not stockpile food the same way either, making poisons ineffective on them. But, people keep trying to poison them out, but just putting it on the mounds of eggs when they pop up doesn't really do much. And, the dusts and poisons can affect your family, friends, and pets, mostly pets.

When I was growing up in SE Texas we were constantly battling red ants and found that you put poison on one anthill they just build a new one somewhere else in a day or two. One of the elderly women living near us said the best way was to poor a gallon of boiling water on the hill. The ants would still build a new hill but she didn't have to worry about her pets or the birds getting poisoned.

I also knew people who would resort to more drastic measures to battle ants. Remember this was back in the late 1960s in SE Texas. I knew people who would also poke a hole in the middle of the hill and pour gasoline on it. They would also toss a match on the hill after doing this. It could burn for awhile.

 

[pappymac]

Well, the fire ants did a number on me. I mowed the lawn around 7 Pm, got bit about 10 times. By 10 AM, my hands and ankles were swollen and I was wheezing. I had an old inhaler from about 15 yrs ago, and that solved the wheezing. By 2 AM, I was covered in hives and welts. I took a bunch of Benadryl and by morning was better. But the bites looked infected, but not painful. I put down 20 lbs of Sevin Insect killer, which is supposed to remove fire ants. Hoping that works. Welcome to Louisiana.

There are plenty of "professional" yard maintenance guys who will cut and trim your yard. The cost will vary based on how professional they are and what they include in their services. Some will even tend your flower garden.

 

[Lees65GTO]

Here in SE Texas I use Amdro Fire Ant Bait. If they are Fire Ants they will take it into the nest and eventually feed it to the Queen and it will sterilize her (them). It may only work on that hill (nest) but it keeps them out of my yard. I think they only move to my neighbors' yard.

 

[dingdong]

Happy days with the new house!

 

[pappymac]

Welcome to SE Louisiana weather!
In honor of your move, we are happy to bring you the first tropical storm/hurricane of the 2024 season in Louisiana.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So, Southern Falls. You will hear natives talk about how we don't have a Fall season down here, and you'll hear people from up North talking about how they have a Fall season, but it is very short. Because our temperatures fluctuate so much in the Fall from 60F one day to 90F the next, our trees change colors more slowly, dragging out what happens in a few weeks up North to months of different colors. I prefer the Southern Falls myself because the season drags on till Christmas.

 

[ssjones]

Welcome to SE Louisiana weather!
In honor of your move, we are happy to bring you the first tropical storm/hurricane of the 2024 season in Louisiana.

I left town this morning at 0-600! I left my wife a lot of food and water. I'll be back Friday afternoon, please make sure the mess is all cleaned up before I head back. (I'm working one week per month for Roy's)

 

[ssjones]

So, Southern Falls. You will hear natives talk about how we don't have a Fall season down here, and you'll hear people from up North talking about how they have a Fall season, but it is very short. Because our temperatures fluctuate so much in the Fall from 60F one day to 90F the next, our trees change colors more slowly, dragging out what happens in a few weeks up North to months of different colors. I prefer the Southern Falls myself because the season drags on till Christmas.

I equated the summer months (June-August) as the equivalent of winter up North. Up there, Dec thru Feb, you can't really do much outside, it's too cold. Here, its too hot.

 

[pappymac]

I left town this morning at 0-600! I left my wife a lot of food and water. I'll be back Friday afternoon, please make sure the mess is all cleaned up before I head back. (I'm working one week per month for Roy's)

I'll get with the pipe club and see what we can do. It would be helpful if you left your wife with plenty of beer, whiskey, wine and the keys to your tobacco cellar and pipes.

Wait! You said "cleaned up" not "cleaned out."

 

[FLDRD]

When I was growing up in SE Texas we were constantly battling red ants and found that you put poison on one anthill they just build a new one somewhere else in a day or two. One of the elderly women living near us said the best way was to poor a gallon of boiling water on the hill. The ants would still build a new hill but she didn't have to worry about her pets or the birds getting poisoned.

I also knew people who would resort to more drastic measures to battle ants. Remember this was back in the late 1960s in SE Texas. I knew people who would also poke a hole in the middle of the hill and pour gasoline on it. They would also toss a match on the hill after doing this. It could burn for awhile.

I've had some success by saturating it with lighter fluid and lighting. FAR safer than gasoline...

 

[huntertrw]

Mowed the lawn for the first time tonight. Red ants everywhere, they were biting my legs by the time I got done.

That reminds me of this appropriate song:

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I've had some success by saturating it with lighter fluid and lighting. FAR safer than gasoline...

You guys who have no experience with these African red ants keep suggesting that they do something to the hill to kill the ants. You could soak them in gasoline till it soaked hundreds of feet and light it, and you will still not have made a dent in the ant population. You could hit them with a missile, and still would not make a dent. The hill is merely one of thousands of incubation mounds they set up. Hardly any ants in them. You kill that mound, they'll just set up another in a few days, right near where that one was. They will have hundreds of miles of territory and colonies underground. It would be like wiping Louisville off the map expecting the whole of the USA to disappear.

You end up doing more damage to your yard than the ants. If you just leave them alone and avoid the incubation mounds, you'll be fine.

 

[huntertrw]

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE...

 

[FLDRD]

You guys who have no experience with these African red ants keep suggesting that they do something to the hill to kill the ants. You could soak them in gasoline till it soaked hundreds of feet and light it, and you will still not have made a dent in the ant population. You could hit them with a missile, and still would not make a dent. The hill is merely one of thousands of incubation mounds they set up. Hardly any ants in them. You kill that mound, they'll just set up another in a few days, right near where that one was. They will have hundreds of miles of territory and colonies underground. It would be like wiping Louisville off the map expecting the whole of the USA to disappear.

You end up doing more damage to your yard than the ants. If you just leave them alone and avoid the incubation mounds, you'll be fine.

But the place "they went to" was better for me than the place "they were", so I'm pleased.
YMMV

 

[ssjones]

You guys who have no experience with these African red ants keep suggesting that they do something to the hill to kill the ants. You could soak them in gasoline till it soaked hundreds of feet and light it, and you will still not have made a dent in the ant population. You could hit them with a missile, and still would not make a dent. The hill is merely one of thousands of incubation mounds they set up. Hardly any ants in them. You kill that mound, they'll just set up another in a few days, right near where that one was. They will have hundreds of miles of territory and colonies underground. It would be like wiping Louisville off the map expecting the whole of the USA to disappear.

You end up doing more damage to your yard than the ants. If you just leave them alone and avoid the incubation mounds, you'll be fine.

The trouble is, standing in some parts of the yard, with no visible mounds, they start attacking.
They got into my wife's large flower pot, it only had dirt in it, she started planting in it Sunday and they attached her.
I some liquid concentrate to treat the entire yard, and Andro bait for visible mounts. I'll get these suckers eventually! Until then, we don't go in the yard without sneakers and socks.

 

[georged]

Phase IV (1974) ⭐ 6.4 | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

1h 24m | PG

www.imdb.com