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In Brazil, there is a tribe of people called the Mawé. In their culture, it is traditional for boys to wear gloves filled with bullet ants in order to enter into manhood. Bullet ants have one of the most painful stings on the planet. Fortunately, neither these bugs nor the tradition of putting bugs on our hands to prove manliness exist here in America. What we do have, however, are fire ants. Although not nearly as painful as their southern cousins, fire ants possess painful venom and the ability to bite. This can be particularly frustrating for homeowners whose lawns have been invaded. If you are looking for a way to remove fire ants from your Murfreesboro property, we have some simple tips for you today.
What Are Fire Ants?
Fire ants are social insects that live in underground colonies. Unlike many other species of ant, fire ants can have multiple queens. These queens work together to expand colonies quickly. The only thing that limits the expanse of new nests in a fire ant colony is available food sources. By their nature, fire ants are omnivorous. This means they can eat plants or animals. Most fire ants live on a diet of other insects, earthworms, ticks, arthropod eggs, ticks, honeydew, and other sweet foods.
As their name would suggest, fire ants like it hot. For this reason, they build their nests around the sunniest and driest areas around yards. It is extremely rare to find a fire ant nest in a shaded area.
The Problems Fire Ants Cause
Although fire ants rarely enter into homes, the amount of problems they cause outdoors is quite impressive. You may already know that fire ants can both bite and sting. Walk too close to one of their nests and they will attack, leaving you hopping and shaking to get them off. If you are allergic to fire ant venom, these attacks can be potentially life-threatening. To find out your risk, consult with your doctor.
If biting and stinging people wasn’t enough, fire ants are also extremely destructive. For one, the dirt mounts they create suffocate nearby grass and kill lawns. In addition to this, fire ants have a strange love for building nests inside of electrical equipment. There have even been some cases where fire ants get into and severely damage heating and cooling units outside homes.
Finally, to top everything off, fire ants are nearly impossible to get rid of without help. The main reason for this stems from the fact that each colony has multiple queens. Typically, all you have to do to eliminate an ant infestation is kill their queen, which by itself is extremely difficult. With fire ants, even if you kill nine out of ten of their queens, the colony will still be able to bounce back. Only precise applications of the right treatments have any chance of fully eliminating a fire ant infestation.
How You Can Get Fire Ants Off Your Property
Don’t stress yourself out trying to deal with fire ant infestations on your own. Instead, save yourself some time, effort, and money by choosing professional pest control services. At All-American Pest Control, we understand how difficult fire ants are to eliminate. Because of this, we have worked long and hard to make sure our methods work every time. If your home needs high quality, guaranteed fire ant control, we have your back.
Give our team a call today to learn more about our services or to schedule a quality inspection for your Murfreesboro home and property.