I wasn't sure where to post this. We have a huge fire ant mound in the back yard. Does anyone know how to kill the ants without harming the dogs. I don't want to just put a bunch of poison down. Right now I am just watching the dogs when they go potty to make sure they stay away from it.

Yuck!
Can you place chickenwire around it while you put down the poisen so the dogs can't get into it?

We could try that. We have to do something. This hill is right beside the only tree in the yard...Romeo's pee tree

There is stuff that kills sweet eating ants called terro. I don't know if it works on fire ants, but it's active ingredient is borax that gets into them and expands to kill them all when they go back to the hive. You could try that.

I have read that boiling hot water poured on the mound will kill them. But if the queen isn't killed they will just build again. I like the idea of wiring that area out of the dogs way. Check out this website,

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I would put chicken wire around it reguardless of what You do just to be safe. How dare they take Romeos favorite pee spot !!!

Gary

My only concern about using a poison is it leaching out into the soil after it rains. And yes, I am very phobic about toxins.

don't know why I didn't think of this......Diatomaceous Earth. It should work on fire ants just like regular ants. They have to crawl across it and it will cut up their bodies and cause them to dry out. Die ant, die.........sorry got carried away. Don't use the pool variety it is not the same. And I think Cathy R. may some you can use. We have a bag here if you want I will bring to dinner for you to use some. Let me know.

I never thought of Diatomaceous earth.. that is a great idea... I need to try that, we have two fire ant mounds ourselves, and we have just been drowning them... I will have to try the D. earth![/quote]

If needed, you can put out an orange plastic cone (like they use at the tracks) for a substitue "pee tree" while treating the area.

Fire Ants....pain in the ***!!! We have been dealing with them all summer....have done alot of research and the only way to rid them from your yard is to kill the queen! We have tried everything from dried grits to the boiling water...they just move to another area!!!
So what we do is use the chicken wire around the mound and dose it with fire ant pesticide....the yard looks very funny, but the pups have a good time running around the fenced off areas!! Unfortunately, they will continue to return if you don't treat your yard, they even have a fertilizer that you put on with a spreader that has a pesticide in it to keep the fire ants under control. Don't recomend this with pets.
Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear, but believe me we have tried everything and fencing off the area ,using the fire ant killer and waiting until they have either died or moved on is the only thing we feel works the best. But if anyone out there has a better idea, please please pass it on! Believe me I don't like using pesticides, but it's either that or poor pups getting bitten by those nasty things and they hurt!!!

J