Ant Control

One species which lives in Florida and is not welcome is the ant. They come in all sizes and when you are here for a while you begin to co-exist without much problem. Fire ants are the worst pest and I have suffered their wrath more than once and paid the price. Throughout the south these pesky little red ants live in colonies. These colonies can have as many as several million and claim a territory for hunting. They are easy to spot and control with pesticides but for the unaware they are dangerous.

Theresa and I played golf with a rancher and he told us that red or fire ants were the biggest killer of new born calves and he aggressively strives to keep his ranch free of these killers. Fire ants also are responsible for the death of newly hatched birds and animals. Even young alligators become lunch for these ants.

Every year when I come here I go on ant patrol and try to rid my yard of ants. I worry about them biting my aging mother in law as they can do great harm to the unaware. Termites, carpenter ants and sugar ants are everywhere but are not as dangerous. After a day or so our area is cleared and we forget about the problem.

Golf courses which do not have a good policy on ant control pose a special danger. One day we were playing with two men from the north who were not knowledgeable about fire ants and suffered painful bites. He laid his extra club down on a nest while he putted out his ball. When he picked up his 9 iron it was covered with ants. We noticed this and ran to his rescue. Fortunately he received only a few bites but that was enough. He became a smarter player after that.

All this negative talk about ants could discourage you from coming down here but as long as you are aware of these little devils there is no problem. Theresa and Doris have never been bitten due to our ant control.