TAP TO CALL 
For homeowners, the question of how to get rid of fire ants can loom large. After all, fire ants pose a danger not only to your lawn and landscape but also to people and pets. Fire ants are highly aggressive and territorial, and you are most likely to suffer an attack from fire ants if you inadvertently disturb a colony nest mound on your property.
To get the best fire ant control, choose fire ant treatment and control services from Lawn Doctor. Our experts respond to infestations with quick and effective season-long fire ant treatments, making it easy for you to take back your yard from this invasive and dangerous pest.
Dealing with Fire Ants
One important fact to know is that the dangerous fire ants were accidentally imported to the US from dry areas in South America and have no natural predators here. The imported fire ants found the dry and warm areas of the US to be habitable and have stayed ever since. Because they have no predators, fire ants thrive and begin to destroy ecosystems they don’t belong in. Native fire ants won’t cause these same problems or pose such a threat to your yard and family.
As any homeowner who’s tangled with fire ants can tell you, a fire ant infestation is no small problem. Fire ant colonies cause turf damage and can seriously disturb your lawn’s ecosystem. When you see a mound in your yard, it’s only the tip of the iceberg of the damage fire ants can pose to your yard. Before a mound is visible, the active fire ants colonies have burrowed and tunneled through your yard to entrench themselves there. The mounds are visible only after potentially months of work.
What’s more, fire ants are known for being far more aggressive than other species of ants, sometimes attacking and killing small animals that they consider a threat, posing as a danger to pets as well as your lawn..
When a fire ant nest mound is disturbed, an immediate, orchestrated assault is triggered within the colony — not unlike an encounter with a wasp nest. The fire ants emerge from the colony mound en masse to swarm your legs and choose their attack sites. Fire ant bites are only the first step in how fire ants attack. They clamp their barbed mandibles into your skin, then they bite, and then they bend their abdomens into a stinging position: fire ants drive their stingers repeatedly, injecting a venomous brew of alkaloids and proteins. Each sting from these pests feels like a hot spark and usually requires first aid.
Fire ant stings are particularly dangerous for people with allergies, who may experience anaphylactic shock. For this reason, Lawn Doctor recommends that homeowners looking for advice on how to kill fire ants choose professional help instead of attempting to treat colony mound infestations on their own. Choosing professional fire ant pest control services will eliminate the threat and protect your family and yard.
Learning how to get rid of fire ants and then taking the proper steps to apply fire ant control to your lawn and yard is well worth the time and effort to defeat a fire ant colony mound – as is hiring an expert, who is trained on the most reliable methods on how to kill fire ants.
How to Get Rid of Fire Ants
While we recommend working with a professional lawn care expert, below are some tips if you are considering performing your own ant control.
- Determine the size of the problem: Based on how bad your fire ant infestation is, you can choose whether to treat your entire yard at once or treat each fire ant mound individually. If only a few mounds are in place treating mounds individually may be the better option.
- Purchase fire ant treatments: Compare brands to see which lawn ant control product will be the best fire ant killer to meet the needs of your yard and fire ant population.
- Apply the treatment to your yard: Follow the directions carefully for maximum effectiveness.
A leading way to implement fire ant control by using a two-step method. The two-step method first involves placing fire ant bait on your lawn. The bait comes in granules that can be applied using a spreader. Fire ants mistake the bait for food and carry it into their colony to eat, and over time their food source serves to eliminate the colony.
There are a few different types of fire ant bait products you can use. Some varieties of bait are fast-acting and work within a few days, while others may take a week or two, or even longer, to be effective. Which bait to use depends on how fast you want to see results but also on the area you will be treating; some types of bait can be harmful to pets, particularly if the bait is not applied properly. Always follow the directions carefully when using fire ant bait.
Broadcasting bait throughout an area may be effective enough on its own to fight against the fire ants in your yard, but if the ants survive, it’s time to move on to the second half of the two-step method: treating each ant colony mound individually.
Your Local Fire Ant Control Experts
Lawn Doctor provides comprehensive and guaranteed fire ant control services your lawn needs, with proven fire ant treatment designed to rid your turf and soil of a fire ant infestation.
Check out the Lawn Doctor Guarantee to learn more about how Lawn Doctor stands behind all their services, including Fire Ant Control.
Fight Back Against Fire Ants Today
Ready to fight back against fire ants? Contact Lawn Doctor today for a FREE fire ant control service estimate from our lawn pest control experts.
