# Ant mound in garage - need answer kinda fast... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992 "2015-10-18T13:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/1 "2015-10-18T13:08:24Z")
I just noticed a decent-sized ant mound in my garage. I have had some on the lawn and have some granular poison that works well, but when I use it they pour out of the mound. Not exactly what I want in my garage… Any tricks for getting rid of them without them swarming (potentially into my house?) It’s an attached garage. The mound is on an exterior wall. They are not fire ants. I have no pets, but I do have young kids who spend a lot of time in the garage. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/2 "2015-10-18T13:15:43Z")
If they aren’t fire ants I wouldn’t worry too much. They swam out when the mound is treated to guard their nest, they will do a fairly localized inspection of their nest area and then go back to the nest. What I do for the innumerable fire ant mounds around here is to use the bottom of the granule jug to poke an indentation in the mound, and then sprinkle a little of the powder in that divot. It keeps the poison contained and the ants are more likley to drag it back down into the nest to get to the ones down deep. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/3 "2015-10-18T16:04:08Z")
Boiling water. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/4 "2015-10-18T16:22:14Z")
[Boiling aluminum.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI) ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/5 "2015-10-18T18:38:28Z")
I never get tired of those videos! I’d love to see someone do that in person someday. I was thinking after you put down the poison, you could put a 5-gallon bucket over the area to contain the ants. Or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Gbro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/6 "2015-10-18T18:52:23Z")
I use a strong solution of Dawn dish soap and water. Put some in a spray in a spray bottle too. This works very good for Army worm egg clusters on trees too. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/7 "2015-10-18T19:22:36Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > [Boiling aluminum.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI) Aluminum works even better if there’s some iron oxide around to reduce. ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/8 "2015-10-18T21:17:49Z")
Hey, fire ants are bad enough…do you really want to risk thermites? sorry, sorry, I’ll be leaving now. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/9 "2015-10-18T21:35:50Z")
I’ve found those borax in glycol solutions to work well. You don’t need much, and you can put it on cardstock or something, so it doesn’t have to be messy. > [@Unpronounceable](#): > > Hey, fire ants are bad enough…do you really want to risk thermites? > > sorry, sorry, I’ll be leaving now. No, no, you can stay right here where we can keep an eye on you. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/10 "2015-10-23T13:45:12Z")
Fire ants are a big deal where I live. This is one of the more popular ways to deal with the problem … [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/FhXl9_K_9qE/hqdefault.jpg "Funniest Fire Ant Commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhXl9_K_9qE) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/11 "2015-10-23T16:56:53Z")
Time for my favorite method of [fire]ant extermination. A five gallon pot of boiling water poured slowly over the mound as you cackle maniacally. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/12 "2015-10-23T17:14:45Z")
If you want something nontoxic, you could try a desiccant insecticide such as CimeXa, which is basically a fine abrasive that scratches holes in the exoskeleton and makes them dry out. Sprinkle some for a few inches completely around the nest (just enough to make a visible coating, not piles of the stuff), then if your kids are very young and inquisitive maybe block off the area with the nest for a bit (the powder isn’t toxic but it can cause irritation if it is inhaled or gets into the eyes). It will mainly affect ants that come out of the nest and come in direct contact with the stuff, but if it is a major egress for them then hopefully you can kill off enough to starve out the colony. Then later you can vacuum the powder up and you’re done. ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/13 "2015-10-23T17:58:51Z")
> [@JR\_Brown](#): > > If you want something nontoxic, you could try a desiccant insecticide such as CimeXa, which is basically a fine abrasive that scratches holes in the exoskeleton and makes them dry out. How’s this different from diatomaceous earth? ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/14 "2015-10-23T19:51:45Z")
If you leave the door or a window open is there any time during the day when the sun shines directly on the mound? If so, get your kids a magnifying glass. Hours of fun and no batteries to run down. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/15 "2015-10-23T20:02:06Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > How’s this different from diatomaceous earth? Similar idea, but that specific brand is a silica gel dust; apparently it has a larger particle size, which makes it both safer (less likely to blow around and less dangerous if it does) and more effective (dunno why). A while ago I read a couple of studies doing comparative testing but I don’t remember where I got them. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/16 "2015-10-24T08:27:41Z")
Soapy water will do it. The soap/detergent/surfectant prevents their body from repelling the water, so the water will stick to their body and they won’t float at the top, so they drown… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/17 "2015-10-24T08:36:05Z")
Well, I’ve always heard of a 50/50 mix of icing sugar and baking soda. They love the icing sugar, but the baking soda explodes their little guts. Fuck them. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/18 "2015-10-24T14:10:24Z")
Every time I see discussions about this, I have to wonder why anyone uses anything other than boiling water. It’s cheap, you already have it around the house, it kills them instantly, and it becomes 100% safe within minutes. How can any other method compete with that? ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/19 "2015-10-26T14:54:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Every time I see discussions about this, I have to wonder why anyone uses anything other than boiling water. It’s cheap, you already have it around the house, it kills them instantly, and it becomes 100% safe within minutes. How can any other method compete with that? If you have a dark or black hose, you don’t even need to haul around pots of water. Lay the hose out in the sunshine and come back in a few hours. Not boiling, but hot enough to be effective. BTDT :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sputnikkk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Sputnikkk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sputnikkk)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2015, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-mound-in-garage-need-answer-kinda-fast/734992/20 "2015-11-04T07:34:09Z")
I read on a homesteading rabbit breeding site that dry grits are the best thing to kill fire ants- hey take it back to the nest feed it to all the others and then they swell up and explode. Have never used it but thought I would post it here.