# Grass/Pet Safe Ant Control



## edixon88 (Jun 18, 2020)

I've been noticing a bunch of ant hills in a few spots of my backyard. What are some options that are pet safe and won't harm the grass?


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

I dont know what you consider pet safe. I think this would still be toxic to them if they ate it, but since it is granules, i think it is unlikely a dog or cat would get to it after you applied unless they were digging up and eating the soil. Even then, it seems likely they would only be exposed to a small amount. I would avoid using bait stations, in case they got into one, they would be exposed to a much larger amount of the poison.

For ants it is highly effective and is the best product I have found. I can confirm it does not hurt the grass one iota.

https://www.domyown.com/maxforce-complete-granular-bait-p-1603.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwqcKFBhAhEiwAfEr7zaIlLN3K6iq-ACfE4x7vQE-qhJNdCH385DY6-pI4TpdFCruIiWIXdBoCZMgQAvD_BwE

https://www.domyown.com/how-safe-is-maxforce-complete-granular-bait-when-used-around-cats-and-dogs-qa-20081.html


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## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

bifenthrin. You can spray your dogs with it and it won't hurt them, other than dogs hate getting sprayed with anything.

Get bifen xts, spray the yard at 1-qt per acre. No more ants, fleas, ticks...

You can also mix up bifen 7.9 (odor-free) at 1-oz per gallon and spray all your baseboards, corners, etc, in your house, and you'll control most indoor pests as well. I also spray under the beds with this mixture and between the mattress and box spring once per year as a bed bug preventative.


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Darth_V8r said:


> bifenthrin. You can spray your dogs with it and it won't hurt them, other than dogs hate getting sprayed with anything.


I'm fairly certain the label says to keep Bifenthrin away from pets and to keep them out of treated areas until it has completely dried. Are you possibly referring to Permethrin?


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## Darth_V8r (Jul 18, 2019)

My understanding was it can be rough on cats, but not so much dogs. The dog would have to eat it to cause any problems. if i'm wrong, won't be the first time


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

For a professional granular ant bait that works and works fast look into something with Indoxacarb as the ai (Advion is what I use). Apply LIGHTLY.. like 1.5#/A light. 
Try to identify the type of ants you have and see if the label shows it as effective for them, whichever way you go.


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## gm560 (Feb 22, 2018)

Darth_V8r said:


> My understanding was it can be rough on cats, but not so much dogs. The dog would have to eat it to cause any problems.


Im not a toxicologist or anything so all I have to go off of is the label. I just looked it up and the labels for Bifen IT and XTS do say "Do not apply to pets".

Permethrin on the other hand does have a section about treating pets and it echos what you are saying about using on dogs to treat fleas and ticks (and to avoid cats).

I think the two chemicals are closely related, so I would doubt Bifenthrin is significantly worse than Permethrin for animals, but just noticed this and was looking out for Fido!

Regardless, I have used plenty of Bifenthrin and it is certainly effective but I have found the bait products to be superior for long term ant control than contact insecticides since they devastate the colony, not just the ants foraging for food.



Darth_V8r said:


> if i'm wrong, won't be the first time


Ditto for me.


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## edixon88 (Jun 18, 2020)

I use Amdro Ant Block around the front and side of my house to prevent ants from coming in and it seems to work well. I just haven't used it in the back, maybe if I sprinkle a little near the hills and be careful with the dog, it'll take them out. Active ingredient is hydramethylnon.


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## Overtaxed (May 9, 2021)

This stuff is the real deal, I spread about 25 lbs of it each year and it kill the fire ants dead and they're gone for at least a year until I see the first mound again.

https://www.domyown.com/extinguish-plus-fire-ant-bait-p-210.html?sub_id=602

That said, it doesn't look like you need something like this, so I'd go with what others are suggesting. Bifen will kill the heck out of ants, just blanket spray it a few times and you'll kill them. Soak any mounds you find.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Bifenthrin. 1-2 teaspoons on and around the mounds.

If your dog eats the granules off an anthill, he's gonna have a lot bigger problem from the ants than the bifenthrin.

All that being said I water in all chemicals and keep my pups off for 24 hours. 3 years plus, no issues yet.


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## TNTurf (Mar 20, 2019)

Overtaxed said:


> This stuff is the real deal, I spread about 25 lbs of it each year and it kill the fire ants dead and they're gone for at least a year until I see the first mound again.
> 
> https://www.domyown.com/extinguish-plus-fire-ant-bait-p-210.html?sub_id=602
> 
> That said, it doesn't look like you need something like this, so I'd go with what others are suggesting. Bifen will kill the heck out of ants, just blanket spray it a few times and you'll kill them. Soak any mounds you find.


This is what I use but you only need about 1.5 pounds per acre. The label says that even if they eat it, its made to kill ants so the amount they ingest is so small it would be unnoticed by the dogs. My 3 didn't have any issues with it. At the rate suggested, there is so little around the lawn its hard to even find it looking.

Side note, if you're using 25lb you must have a big lawn. That's enough for 16 acres. Also, once its open, you want to use it within 90 days so get just what you need if you can.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

How long does it take you to walk 15-25 acres with a spreader?


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## Overtaxed (May 9, 2021)

SCGrassMan said:


> How long does it take you to walk 15-25 acres with a spreader?


Yeah, that's probably not going to work real well. I spread mine with an ATV mounted spreader. And it's spread SO thin, I have to drive about 75MPH to get across all the land fast enough, even at the absolute smallest opening I can manage, it still throws too fast. A lot of people mix it with something else to bulk it up for spreading, but I just drive really, really fast and that works fine too.

It's amazing stuff; it just obliterates the fire ants. I think I had 100's of mounds on my property before and today, they are just gone. You'd be the rest of the day trying to find one out there. I've never used a pesticide as effective before, wish they'd come up with something like this for gnats!


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

@Overtaxed id take double the mosquitoes to get rid of the gnats. They give me really bad bumps that get infected and fake forever to heal


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## Overtaxed (May 9, 2021)

SCGrassMan said:


> @Overtaxed id take double the mosquitoes to get rid of the gnats. They give me really bad bumps that get infected and fake forever to heal


That's actually why I bought a mistblower years ago. I lived a subdivision on like 1/10th of an acre, neighbor right next door; and I bought a SR450 mistblower because the gnats were making my pool unusable. I just hosed the property down in bifen about every 30 days, and that was the end of that problem. The first time I did it, I got up in the morning and the pool was black; covered in gnat bodies. I was quite happy about it, my wife less so. 

Still wonder what the neighbors thought when they saw me out there the first time with a 3M full face respirator on. Which, BTW, you don't need for bifen (probably not a bad idea, but I never wear that for bifen anymore, it was just the only thing I had at the time). I'm sure there were some good stories.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Trust me, that would be one of the Least weird things my neighbors have seen me do LOL


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## Overtaxed (May 9, 2021)

SCGrassMan said:


> Trust me, that would be one of the Least weird things my neighbors have seen me do LOL


ROFL, do tell!

I always laugh when I see @wardconnor videos, pulling out a full on greens mower in a subdivision, wondering the same thing, what do his neighbors think?? Probably much like mine, they were curious in the beginning, but probably learned to like it, beautiful lawn in his case, in mine, the overspray of my Bifen killed bugs in their yards too, I'm sure.


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

Overtaxed said:


> SCGrassMan said:
> 
> 
> > Trust me, that would be one of the Least weird things my neighbors have seen me do LOL
> ...


I had a greens mower for awhile. Sometimes I work on things in the driveway at night because it's cooler, I trim all kinds of peoples bushes and trees in the neighborhood, where I lived previously I had chickens on 0.15 acres, etc


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