Fire ant control with gasoline - good idea?

The short answer is no.

While it may be fun to watch fire ants toasting before your eyes, it's not a very effective method of fire ant control. To start, gasoline is very harmful to the environment. You certainly don't want gasoline seeping into the ground water or into any water on your property. Gasoline also kills grass and plants, which won't grow back anytime soon.

It's dangerous. Setting fire to the gasoline may seem like ultimate revenge on the fire ants, but you'll be surprised how fast the flames go out. All you're left with is a smoldering lump. If you try to pour more gas on the fire as it is going out, you'll have quite a handful of flames as the fire climbs up the stream of gasoline and into your gas can. Guess what happens then? It can explode in your face. Not fun.

The worst part? Chances are you will not succeed in getting rid of your fireants. They will simply move to another location. Maybe closer to your house.

If you want to get rid of fire ants in a simple, straightforward, less intense way, you can do your own fire ant control using a two-step method. This method uses inexpensive, organic bait spread over a wide area and a systematic application of organic liquid mound "drenching" solution to eliminate fire ants cleanly.

What do you think? Have any techniques you've used that work? Any good gasoline stories? Let us know in the comments...