Killing fireants with ground rod.

[Muaguana]

Long story short: fire ant colony in backyard. Thinking of driving a 4 1/2' long metal rod into the colony after saturating the ground with water and hooking it up to an A/C outlet with alligator clips (connected by a modified 125V 5A power cable I yoinked from a broken lamp), with the intent of shocking the little bastards to hell and back. Good idea or bad idea?

Discuss.

[standupright]

they will be on the move as soon as you put the stake in the ground. but hell......it would be fun to do anyway. i say take a video of it.

[standupright]

i take that back...they will be on the move a right after you soak them with water.

[alexwittscheck]

You could start with gasoline, instead of water.

[Muaguana]

Originally Posted by standupright

i take that back...they will be on the move a right after you soak them with water.

I'll be using a high pressure hose that basically rips into the ground itself (tried it on its own several times to no avail.) Usually, since it's a grassy area, they go nuts and just run around in circles around the colony, rebuilding it. That's what they've done with every tactic I've used so far - club soda, boiling water, soapy water, high-pressure water, cinder blocks, vulgar language, various flaming dinner table accessories...

[standupright]

Originally Posted by Muaguana

I'll be using a high pressure hose that basically rips into the ground itself (tried it on its own several times to no avail.) Usually, since it's a grassy area, they go nuts and just run around in circles around the colony, rebuilding it. That's what they've done with every tactic I've used so far - club soda, boiling water, soapy water, high-pressure water, cinder blocks, vulgar language, various flaming dinner table accessories...

well....maybe it's time to hit up taco bell and after an hour or so, lay some chocolate starfish fiery soft serve from the butthole depths of hell on top of the colony.

oh and make sure you video that as well.

don't forget to wipe

[XigXag]

Your ground rod will do, exactly nothing. The electricity will go from it directly to-GROUND. Thats how electricity works, and why its called a ground. Unless there is an ant trapped between the rod and the dirt, it will do nothing. You might get bit, thats what will happen.

[vene-nemesis]

Originally Posted by XigXag

Your ground rod will do, exactly nothing. The electricity will go from it directly to-GROUND. Thats how electricity works, and why its called a ground. Unless there is an ant trapped between the rod and the dirt, it will do nothing. You might get bit, thats what will happen.

Shhhh! let him go tesla!

[tom once dead]

see if you can hook up some diesel to that high pressure hose, then once you have soaked the ground flick a match right in the middle.

[Febs]

Sounds like a Darwin Award waiting to happen.

[Relic]

uhhh.....bug spray maybe?? Just a thought

[FL Knifemaker]

I put down an all bug formula every year with my spreader. No fireants, cinch bugs, fleas, NOTHIN'.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker

I put down an all bug formula every year with my spreader. No fireants, cinch bugs, fleas, NOTHIN'.

You mean there's an easier way to do this other than flooding and shocking your entire yard??? who knew!

[dug dog]

Those little b@st@ges are taking over the world. I saw a spot on TV last year about a community in Nova Scotia, Canada that is so inundated with these things that people can't even go into their gardens without protection.

Most people don't believe this but....
Last summer, I woke up one morning and my ankles were burning. I'm kinda freaked out and wondering if I'd come in contact with something outside the night before- maybe some plant that I'm allergic to. Showered in cool water with no relief. Finally, maybe an hour later, the heat abates.
Fast forward to the next morning. Same thing, but this time I notice what looks like dozens of bites. That's when I start looking at the carpet and see that they've moved into the house.
I've had reasonable success using the poison drops that they eat and then feed to their young which effectively kills the entire colony. However, they eventually come back, so one has to keep up the "maintenance" program.

[Kawai-chang]

Adopt-an-Aardvaark.com.

[FL Knifemaker]

Originally Posted by Relic

You mean there's an easier way to do this other than flooding and shocking your entire yard??? who knew!

If I had a huge mound of them, shocking or burning them might be fun Once you've had a hundred of them bitting your leg all at once, mass killing is an attractive option

[Ripper]

i definitely think a flamable liquid would work quite well...

or look up thermite...

[Execut1ve]

I have to agree with XigXag here, the ground rod approach by itself won't give you the results you want. However, with some modification to your plan you could rid your backyard of the pests by encasing them in a giant block of glass!

The process is called in-situ vitrification. An intense electrical current is passed between submerged graphite electrodes, heating the surrounding soil to 2000+F. At these temperatures, the soil melts and forms glass, trapping contaminants in the area inside the glass.

More details here.

[Relic]

We have them here believe it or not. I hate 'em. Pouring gas on and around their mound then putting it to the torch would be much fun, but I'm still thinking that poisoning the little demons is still more efficient.

[L-A]

No, you have it all wrong!

Pour a honey/sugar trail between this colony and another big one, and grab a beer!

An all-out war live in your backyard!