How to Get Rid of Fire Ants in Louisiana: What Actually Works

By Cole's Pest Control · Bossier City, LA · Updated October 2026

If you've been pouring boiling water on fire ant mounds or shaking granules out of a bag every spring, you already know the result: the mound disappears for a week or two, then it's back. Same spot, or a few feet over.

This isn't bad luck. It's how fire ants work. And it's why treating mounds individually is the wrong strategy for Louisiana yards.

Why mound treatments don't solve the problem

A fire ant colony isn't a single mound. The mound you see is more like a vent. The colony uses it to control temperature and raise its young. The actual colony lives in an underground tunnel network that can extend six feet down and spread across several feet in every direction.

When you treat the mound directly, you kill the workers on the surface and in the upper tunnels. The queen lives deep in the colony and lays all the eggs, and she usually survives. Within days, the colony moves. The mound either reforms in the same location or the colony relocates to a spot a few feet away and starts over.

In Louisiana's climate, this cycle repeats all spring and summer. The colony never actually dies.

What Louisiana's climate does to fire ant populations

Louisiana's humid subtropical climate is close to ideal for fire ants. Unlike the northern United States, where cold winters kill off significant portions of a fire ant population each year, Louisiana's winters are mild enough that colonies stay partially active and recover quickly in spring.

In the Bossier City and Shreveport area, fire ant mounds typically appear first in February or March as soil temperatures climb. They peak through late spring and remain active through October. The combination of warm soil, high humidity and frequent rainfall gives fire ant colonies the resources to grow large fast.

That's why a treatment that works where the season is shorter can still leave Louisiana homeowners fighting fire ants by May.

The yard-wide approach: how professional treatment works

Instead of treating individual mounds, a yard-wide application targets the entire property. Cole's uses Top Choice (fipronil granular), which is broadcast across the lawn and activated by moisture. Worker ants carry the product back to the colony through normal foraging activity. Because the product is present throughout the yard, it reaches the colony before new mounds appear. It also catches ants from the neighbor's yard before they can set up on yours.

A single Top Choice application controls fire ants for up to a year in most Louisiana properties. It's a single service visit rather than repeated spring treatments.

When to treat in north Louisiana

The best window is February through April, before soil temperatures push colonies into full production. Treating at this stage intercepts the population before mounds proliferate across the yard.

A summer treatment still works, but you'll be dealing with an established population that's already at peak size. The product controls them, but it takes longer to see the full effect.

Fall treatments are possible but less common, since fire ant activity naturally slows as soil temperatures drop below 65°F.

What about DIY granules from the hardware store?

The granular products available in hardware stores (Amdro, Ortho Fire Ant Killer and others) use a different active ingredient at a lower concentration than professional products. They work, but only close to where you spread them, and you'll need to reapply several times a year to keep them working.

For a small yard with a few visible mounds, they can be a reasonable stopgap. For larger properties, properties near wooded areas or open land, or anywhere you've been fighting fire ants year after year, the math changes: you'll spend more on repeated applications and labor than a professional treatment costs, and still have fire ants by August.

Signs you need professional treatment

• More than 3–4 visible mounds at any one time
• Mounds reappear within 2 weeks of treatment
• Fire ants getting inside the home or onto the patio/deck
• Large property (half an acre or more)
• Children or pets who use the yard regularly
• You've treated the same mound more than twice

How Cole's treats fire ants in Bossier City and Shreveport

Cole's applies Top Choice as a broadcast granular treatment across the full yard. The product is activated by rain or irrigation and begins working within a few days as worker ants carry it back to active colonies. Most customers see a significant reduction in mound activity within 2–4 weeks and near-elimination within 6–8 weeks.

A single application covers your yard for up to a year. Cole's backs the fire ant treatment with a one-year warranty. If fire ants come back in that time, so do they, at no charge.