Well, the warm weather brings out all kinds of critters and bugs. The almighty fire ant being one of them. What is safe to use in the yard with pets around? I hate them and will wage war without prejudice in a heartbeat. I have used diesel fuel in the past and it seemed to work. I don't care about the grass, just less to mow. Thanks, Sarge

36.6% permethrin, mixed 1.5 oz to the gallon with water, kills anything with 6-8 legs, same active ingredient as in flea/tick powder
RR

I use ammdro, takes 2-3 days to a week but kills them in the yard and around the garden...d2

Dale, wallow out the hole with a trap stake, pour 1/2 small box of baking soda in then pour about a Qt of vinegar into the BS.

Grits or corn meal around the mound give it about 2-3 days and the ants will be gone. When they eat them it expands and the ants go Ka-boom

Thanks for all you input. The fire ant must be a by-product of the devil. No good as I can see. Sarge

The fire ant control granules that you can buy at most farm stores work well. The secret is to exactly follow the application rate on the label. Worker ants feed the granules to the queen. It works by sterilizing the queen. If you over apply then the queen will die before all the previously laid eggs hatch, the workers will just make another queen if that happens.

There very hard on the small game in Texas. Anything that lays it's eggs on the ground is doomed. They will pester quail enough to get off the nest and the quail are gone in many areas. The two step method works best around here. Hit the mound with a powder and granules around the mound.
It's a never ending battle a fall application helps as does hitting them after every rain, where they mound up.
If you trap, I put out ant bait first and come back and set the traps a couple of days latter. If not the bait will be loaded with ants.
I wish they would come up with a solution to wipe them out forever. If you own any amount of land, you will go broke trying to thin them out.

Ants help break manure down in a pasture. I agree ants are pain when they get in your house. I like the corn meal idea.

Do you have fire ants? I do not mind ants but fire ants are a very different.

Any insecticide with the active ingredient Fipronil, will kill the whole colony and it will also help on the termites in your yard.

I read online that flooding with boiling water is very effective and best done early morning.

Bifen IT. Mix 1.5 ounces per gallon of water. Ants will be spinning in circles in five minutes and dead in 15. It's what all the fire any control businesses use and you don't need a license to buy it. A 3/4 gallon jug should cost you around $50

what part of Carolina are you in SGT.C? I am outside of Aiken in the sand lands. The granules from Home Depot seem to work for me. Not cheap for the good stuff but they work.