There’s something more than buds and blooms preparing to surface after the refreshing spring rains. It won’t be long before fire ant mounds start cropping up here, there, and everywhere on Austin lawns.
Fire ants are capable of causing millions of dollars in property damage each year, and their venom can be extremely deadly to both humans and animals. The threat of their aggressive and territorial nature should be avoided at all costs.
When it comes to residential fire ant control options in Austin, TX, your best bet is to leave it to the professionals.
Fire Ant Identification
Aptly named, fire ants deliver a fiery and venomous sting that is notoriously painful. These nasty pests are fairly common throughout the southern part of the U.S.
Fire ants have dark, reddish-brown bodies with copper-colored heads and a black posterior. Their segmented bodies are oval-shaped, with six legs and two antennae, averaging about 1/8 – 3/8 of an inch in length.
Fire ants most commonly nest in soil in proximity to structural foundations and landscaping. They build large nests that are flattened, irregular shaped mounds between two to four square feet in size. Large mounds can house as many as 400,000 fire ants per mound.
Factors That May Be Attracting Fire Ants To Your Property
Like any pest, fire ant behavior is based on their survival instincts. This often leads them to migrate towards properties and homes in search of easy access to food, water, and comfortable nesting sites.
Fire ants are attracted to garbage scraps around the home, pet food stored outside, and oily or greasy foods that they can bring back to their colonies for sustenance. They have also been known to eat other insects, and when the weather is dry enough, they’ll dig into potatoes growing underground.
These threatening pests will make their way into your home through the smallest cracks and crevices. It can be next to impossible to locate and seal every single minuscule entry point they may use to gain access into your home.
Skip the hassle of sweating and fretting your way around your home by finding a professional fire ant control service in the Austin area.
Health Risks Associated With Fire Ants
Fire ants are notoriously aggressive pests. Their strong territorial nature makes them easily agitated with the slightest disturbance of nesting sites. The venomous fire ant sting is extremely painful, often resulting in burning welts that can evolve into pustules.
A single fire ant can sting multiple times, with venom that is potent enough to cause serious allergic reactions. A group fire ant attack has the potential to trigger life-threatening anaphylaxis, regardless of a person’s allergies or sensitivities.
Attempting to exterminate fire ant colonies on your own is not advised. The risks associated with fire ants are not worth the health of you or your family members, and fire ants are impossible to control without the help of a pest control professional for your Austin home.
Complications With Fire Ant Control
Fire ants are capable of causing damage to farm crops, building structures, and electrical components in air conditioners, circuit breakers, and farming equipment.
If you have tried to relieve the problem on your own, you are likely aware of the fact that fire ants are a challenging pest to eliminate. There are a handful of factors and fire ant tactics that will continue to thwart your DIY efforts:
- Where there is one fire ant mound, there will always be more popping up and populating the area.
- Fire ants are astonishingly resilient, even in extreme conditions.
- Nests often extend several feet from the mound itself. A fire ant mound is not necessary for a colony to survive, and their mounds are not accurate indicators of how active the colony may or may not be.
- They live in colonies comprising hundreds of thousands of fire ants. Numbers this large make it difficult to exterminate a colony.
- Fire ants quickly relocate to a safer location when their nests are disturbed. It won’t take long for the survivors to rebuild their colony.
- Colonies have multiple reproductive queens, making colony mobility fairly easy in the fire ant world.
- Once they have found their way into your home, fire ants will build nests in hidden places such as cabinetry cavities, cracks and crevices in walls, and underground beneath your foundation.
Instead of wasting time and energy trying to fight these frustrating stinging pests on your own, team up with a residential fire ant control professional for your Austin home.
The Long-Term Solution To Your Fire Ant Problem
As a family-owned and -operated pest control company, Accurate Termite & Pest Control delivers exceptional services your loved ones can count on. In addition to annual training, our licensed technicians are Texas Structural Pest Control Board certified.
Accurate Termite & Pest Control serves the Austin Metro area with the most friendly and reliable pest control services available. We value and respect our customers, which is why we provide ongoing services, free from contracts and stipulations.
Fire ants are notoriously difficult to exterminate. Our fire ant control treatments are extremely effective, with a guarantee for long-term success. Protect your family and your home with Accurate Termite & Pest Control.
Contact us today for a free fire ant estimate!