re: How many patriots here have won the great war against fire ants in their yards?

We used Chlordane dust when I was a kid and it worked like a charm. Dust the mound, a day or to later it was dead -- you could dig with a shovel and not stir up a live one. It may have already been illegal, and I was just using what we had left.

Define “won”.

I live out in the country with about 2 acres of lawn that I mow. When I first moved there, no less than 50-100 ant hills all over. I spray with a mixture of termidor sc every spring on the back of an 4 wheeler with an 25 gallon sprayer and I haven’t seen an ant on the property in 8 years!

I didn't really notice this year, but I didn't have much of an issue with them this year. I always get a patch in a certain part of my flower bed, but I've started just pre-emtively putting out the killer granules bi-weekly.

Stir up ant mound.
Spray ants with ant killer.
Ants die.
Ants inside drag dead ants back into the mound.
Ants are cannibals.
More ants die.
Repeats until poison is too weak to kill ants.

Talstar granules at the highest level, twice a year

You can watch new piles come up in your neighbors yard while you sit back and enjoy the good life

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I thought I had them whipped a couple of weeks ago but now there are more than when I started.

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Telstar is bifenthrin. Read labels closely and avoid buying name brand stuff. You’ll overpay for it. Know what’s in the name brand stuff and save money.

For any insects that are not airborne I use diatomaceous earth. Ants, box elder bugs, Japanese beetles, etc. You can get it in bulk real cheap and it’s non toxic. I mix it in with my chicken feed and dust baths for those birds. I also use it as a filtering agent when I make maple syrup every year. If you see a bunch of ants, or an anthill, put some DE down and they’ll be gone within a day. A few weeks later if you see another anthill, do the same. Rinse and repeat. Cheap, safe, and easy to use.

I use a termite killer, which may be illegal, but I've won that battel for now.

We have a family of armadillos that have lived under the front porch for years. People say they tear up the yard but ours just...don't? I enjoy seeing the babies coming out to forage early in the morning. Free pets are cool.