South Florida Sun-Sentinel

> To return to the main page of Get Local Delray Beach, please click here.

« Where are Delray's public tennis courts? | Main | Rising crime rates - a sign of tough economic times »

Everything you wanted to know - or didn't - about Fire Ants

Chances are at least a million or more of your nearest neighbors here in South Florida are Fire Ants.

Over 20 million people are bit every year by these aggressive insects. A bite from one is painful and has been compared to a hornet's sting. Worse yet, when Fire Ants attack, they attack in hordes.

The scar from their bite will last forever...or so experts say.

It is estimated that 10 through 15 percent of these bites cause a serious allergenic reaction. Pets can have an allergy to their bites too - my little dog, Lollipop, did.

Young children are especially at risk. but sometimes the nests are too small to be seen making everyone, including pets, vulnerable.

Up to 500,000 biting ants can live in one nest.

They can make nests in electronics - including TV's and computers. Yikes!

There are several ways to kill them. You can use pesticides or environmentally friendly methods - either will do the job. The above web site has all the information you'll need to get rid of these nasty critters.

Just remember, if you don't kill the queen, the nest will come back.

Warn visitors who may be clueless about the danger Fire Ants pose...up North, they're not a problem. Like South Floridians, Fire Ants can't survive more than a two or three weeks in a hard freeze.

If you've ever want to look inside a fire ant colony - here's your chance:

POSTED IN: Safety (8)

Discuss this entry

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blogs.trb.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/150778

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)

To help keep spam off our site, please enter the letter "e" in the field below:

About This Blog

The Get Local community blogs are written by residents of the community. The Sun-Sentinel does not edit the blogs, nor take responsibility for the contents.

MARY KAY
Kay has lived in Florida for the past seven years. Writing has always been her passion...

More

Powered by Movable Type 3.36
Hosted by LivingDot

Add Get Local to Technorati Favorites