Giant Fire Anthill

To start off our house has six cats; Rose, Slipper, Spot, Ra, Asia, and Princess. It also has three humans; RB, AWM, and me. A few weeks ago before a series of rainstorms that we were worried would flood the region, we were working in the yard and turned the wheelbarrow upside down to keep it from getting filled with water and rusting out. (Well, rusting more. We had some problems last summer.)

When we turned the wheelbarrow over, this  is what we found. 




Now, here's the big problem: this is a fire ant hill. (We've seen the ants.) Fire ants are vicious and deadly little critters that have, in fact, been known to bring down cattle, not to mention a whole slew of horror stories that I refuse to go into here (because they are gruesome and I don't like thinking about them). Normally what we'd do is dump a bunch of ant killer on and around the mound (so they can't leave it without going through it), but that could hurt the cats. (We love the kitties.) On the one hand, the cats like to roll around in the smaller anthills (because kids like to play in dirt) and that is one freaking  huge ant hill. We're afraid that if they try to roll in it, the ants will kill the cat and eat it. (Like I said, their venom can get through cow skin, the stuff that makes leather.) On the other hand--we don't like having such a large hill so close to the house, and especially not in the yard where the cats like to play. What can we do? (FYI--eco-friendly pest killer doesn't work; we've tried it. Either it A) has no effect, or B) really, really  ticks them off.)

Go to the feed store and get some dry molasses and sprinkle on the mound.  You can also apply beneficial nematodes (microscopic worms that bore down into the soil) but if you use chemical fertilizers those won't work.  Lastly, we love a product called Mound Drench.  Works like a charm! 

Does food grade Diatomaceous Earth work on ants? I know that's a safe flea treatment and have sprinkled it around my house one time I thought we had fleas. I wonder if you poured food grade Diatomaceous earth all over the ant pile if it would take care of them.

Bucketing
Effective. This is one of the simplest ways of dealing with one or two problem colonies. Basically, the procedure is to rapidly dig the mound and a foot or so of soil under the mound and dump it into one or several large buckets. Sprinkling the bucket and shovel with baby powder or cornstarch before you starts keeps the ants from climbing out of them. Remember to tuck your pants into your socks to keep the ants where you can see them.

Dig up the soil at a time of day when most of the colony is in the mound. In the spring, the best time is usually mid- to late morning. In the summer, it might be early morning.

Once the ants are in the bucket, you can choose to drown the ants or simply to carry them to some place where they are not a problem. If you choose to drown the ants, add a generous squirt of dish soap, water from a hose, and stir to mix the soap throughout the mud in the bucket. The soap breaks the surface tension and drowns the ants much more quickly. It usually takes overnight to kill the ants. In the heat of the summer, they will probably drown faster, but on cool days in the spring, it may take longer. It is best not to fill the buckets more than three-quarters full of ants and dirt so there is room to add the water.

Diatomaceous Earth
Effective. Little crystals of silica are supposed to scratch the ant's cuticle so they dehydrate and die. Indeed, if you take a colony of ants and shake them up in bag with diatomaceous earth, about half die. But when you use it on ants outside they usually find ways to avoid it so not many ants are killed. They will not eat it in food and foraging ants do not track it into colonies where it might kill the queen or young fire ants.
Hot Water
Effective.Pouring hot water on the mounds is effective and environmentally friendly, but may require 3 or 4 applications to kill the colony. Water should be at least scalding hot, but does not need to be boiling. This works best when you use 3 to 4 gallons of water in each application. WARNING: Hot water kills grass and shrubbery and may cause severe burns if spilled onto skin.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/fire-ant-control-c-1_66.html

Here's a link to pesticides for fire ants at a popular site. Temprid is safe for pets, used as directed, I've used it myself indoors; it's labeled for both indoor and outdoor use.