Ant colony control?

I know most everyone on these forums likes to live as much in harmony as possible with other living creatures. Me too. Yet we're facing increasing populations of ants in some parts of our homestead, sometimes in places that are really objectionable.

So I'm wondering if others here have dealt with similar situations, and if so, how you dealt with the ant colonies? I'm looking for effective means.

Thanks.

As much as I hate to do it, if I have ants setting up housekeeping where it's a problem, I use boiling hot water. I dump it on the hill and that normally takes care of them.

Thanks, Deb. Does the boiling water do the job permanently?

At the moment, what we're seeing is some sort of red ant colony that seems to be primarily quartered under some outdoor stone steps, which are heavy and seated into a hillside. Their main quarters are about 25 feet from the deck that runs along the south side of our house. They have a pathway between the stone steps and the 6x8 wood pillars of the deck, and are traveling on the ground (through mowed grass). And they stream up and down the deck pillars.

From there a fair share of them wind up on the deck surface. They're sometimes biting people's feet and legs when walking on the deck.

As long as the majority of them are in there, it seems to do the trick.

Ever since we got ducks, I haven't seen ANY ants on our land. We used to have to spray the attic each year to keep the carpenter ants under control, but they are gone too.

I read 50/50 sugar & boric acid.....put some in container & add enough water to make a thin paste, place that near ants. They supposedly eat & take into colony where all die.

Also, they supposedly won't cross chalk....? So grind some & see if it limits them from your deck. I'm not much into that, just kill them! I love animals but some things, not - snakes are up at top.

I've used the boric acid/sugar mix and it does work well. i have also read if you mix peppermint oil and water and spray the mound and area they will be gone. don't know if it works or not but i thought i would try it the next time i need an ant killer. we have fire ants here and at one point they were becoming a real problem everywhere, house, barn, and pasture but like Britesea i turned the chickens and ducks loose and the ant population has decreased dramatically. still find a hill here or there but not nearly as many as before. and altho i do try to be as gentle with the earth as i can i am not above using chemicals and i have found the raid bug barrier is really good for killing the little buggers dead. i used it around the doors to keep ants and other critters out and it really worked..

Sometimes, the chemicals are needed (otherwise, there would be no market for them, huh); but if you keep them as a last resort and use very sparingly, I'm not sure they are that much of a problem. Same thing with prescription medicines.