FIRE ANTS -HELP

[oakdale]

[msnscared]
I was watching a programme last night on national geographic about
Fire Ants and now I am scared. We go to Orlando in July and I am
worried about getting bitten, is it safe for the children to play
on the grass area that surrounds the villa etc, are there fire ants
at the beach. This is new to me and my youngest daughter also
watched the programme and is now asking me will she be ok to play etc.
Any advice appreciated.
Anna.[msnsad][msnsad]

[Ruth]

The ants do give a nasty bite as my children will tell you[:I]You soon get to recognise where they are and avoid them, but my children don't want to play on the grass as they are usually too busy playing in the pool. If they get bitten it is usually because they have taken a short cut across grass instead of sticking to the path

[Mr G]

Someone had previously placed some information on here before.Here are some photos of fire ants and the mounds to look out for. I believe they frequent newly cultivated ground, such as you may find around new builds.
Hope the photos don't scare you too much!.

[steph_goodrum]

You'll probably find that as ruth says the chidren wont want to play on the grass, not only because they are busy but it is also mostly a very coarse grass not like our lawns here, and doesn't feel the same when you walk on it at all.

[Susan J]

If you are staying in a nice villa, managed well, with good pest control, you will be fine anyway. However, as a precaution - do make sure that children always have footwear on if they go on grass - yyou will rarely find them wishing to go on the grass if they have to bypass the pool area - unless they are going down to fish at the lake [ in our case], then also add insect repellant with sunscreen !!

[pigletsplace2003]

On our last stay at highlands reserve we found that there were a lot on the driveway at night and yes they do bite well [msncry][msncry][msncry]

[davebrighton]

whats the best remedy if you do get biten

[blott]

You can get fire ant sting stuff from the pharmacies everywhere. I've only been stung once in over 10 years of visiting Florida (in 2002) for at least 6 weeks a year so it doesn't happen to everyone on each visit!

[Seminole]

Do be very careful with these ants. It's not always possible to see their mounds in the lawns. Children need to be monitored. The bites can be quite serious, painful and for those who may be allergic, can warrant a trip to hospital. Unfortunately they are very common in Florida and the only genuine protection is for the management company caring for the villa you are in to apply a product called "Amdro" to the lawn.

[Tinau]

The ant bites are very painful. On our first trip out there about seven years ago I was bitten. I had a lump on ankle the size of a golf ball. It was there for weeks and itched like hell. This year I bought a bite pen from Boots. Its excellent for all sorts of bites. Well worth investing in, cost about £10.00.