Identifying a Fire Ant Mound in Your Yard
Fire ants, red in color and with a mean sting, are a pest you want to keep far away from your yard. However, it is often difficult to identify a fire ant mound by sight alone. There are thousands of different ant species and many match the reddish color of fire ants. Typically, a more conclusive way to identify fire ants is to make one mad and wait for it to sting you. While other species of ants sting, fire ants are the most common culprit in North America due to their aggression.
As a fire ant’s sting, well, stings, it is best to try and identify not the ants themselves but the mound they live in. Fire ant mounts aren’t your standard little ant mounds. If you can find a sufficient amount of red-looking ants, you will likely find a mound nearby.
How Fire Ant Mounds Differ From Other Ant Mounds
If you are looking for fire ant nesting areas in your yard, there are a few distinct traits of a fire any mount to keep in mind. These include:
- The mound is made up of fluffy dirt, like typical ant mounds
- It will be as big or bigger than a baseball, round or flat in shape
- It will have no opening in the center.
Unlike other ant mounds that have a hole for the ants to enter and exit, fire ant mounds are distinct by having no exit. The ants instead rely on hidden entrances underground and away from what is their nesting area.
What to Do When You Find a Fire Ant Mound
When you find the fire ant mound, the best thing to do is walk away. Fire ants, when disturbed or threatened, like to swarm and sting. This means if you kick up their nest, you will only be making them mad. Removing the mound and the infestation is possible, but it is something that only a professional pest control technician should handle for safety.
If you have a fire ant or any other kind of pest problem in your home, contact us today to see what Home Run Pest & Termite Control can do to help.
