How do you deal with bull ants at your camp site?

[GPSGuided]

There's certainly no shortage of them in our NPs, especially the drier areas. I wonder how do you deal with these nasty things at your camp site? Do you actively avoid them? Strategies?

[Strider]

Definitely actively avoid them!

[walkinTas]

Simple, move your camp site. They were there first, you're the intruder.

[GPSGuided]

Thanks for the confirmation. Looks like Aeroguard or Rid-Ant won't work. Just glad then aren't Amazonian Army Ants.

[walkinTas]

If they were Amazonian Army Ants there would be a fewer complaints. ...a few more missing people maybe, but a lot fewer complaints.

Actually, Jack Jumpers can do a pretty good job of striping meat of a bone too. So best not to camp on top of a nest. If your just worried about the odd ant coming into your tent, then a little Deet around the entrance will do the trick.

[GPSGuided]

If your just worried about the odd ant coming into your tent, then a little Deet around the entrance will do the trick.

Sounds like industrial DEET is needed and will make my wife happier.

[KANANGRABOYD]

I used Permethrin and it killed them very quickly. If you note I had a massive tick issue one trip ( posted a while ago ), so took a bottle of mixed Permethrin with me the next time. I actually was camped right near a nest, and got bitten on my leg behind knee 4 times ( where gaiters ended) and finally realized there were too many so saw there was a nest. A quick spray of Permethrin worked well, just like gas did in the trenches!. No more ants.....

[phan_TOM]

We get both the bullants and jumping ants around here and my advice would be to check around the area where you're planning on pitching your tent for any and also have a good look for nests which are fairly obvious. They can come flooding out of a nest when the alarm is raised and if you're already setup that could be a pain and the best option is to 'run away' as king arthur from monty mython would say. I've stood on a nest barefoot once thinking it was a good vantage point to take a photo of a beetle on a leaf, the result was 15-20 stings. That *&%$#! hurt... Otherwise make it a habit of keeping your tent door zipped at all times!

[wayno]

If your just worried about the odd ant coming into your tent, then a little Deet around the entrance will do the trick.

Sounds like industrial DEET is needed and will make my wife happier.

i think deet can disolve plastic....

[matagi]

If your just worried about the odd ant coming into your tent, then a little Deet around the entrance will do the trick.

Sounds like industrial DEET is needed and will make my wife happier.

i think deet can disolve plastic....

Yes, it can - certain plastics, anyway. (I have personal experience of this)

[wayno]

deeet can also be rather painful if it contacts certain parts of your anatomy.....

[Son of a Beach]

Set up camp after dark and pack up before dawn. Bull ants and jack jumpers (in Tasmania at least) always return to their nest before dark, and don't emerge again until after daylight.

Yes, not a very practical suggestion.

[wayno]

is dimp still available? thats the next best thing to deet for strength... used to come in two strengths.... one had 5% toluomide and one had 25%, thats the active ingredient in deet too i believe.

[neilmny]

Definitely actively avoid them!

Agreed. Jumping Jacks as well. Just look for the nests and remember they will roam a good distance around the area.

[GPSGuided]

So, does any of you prophylactically spray DEET or Permethrin around your tent/camp site? Have never done it in the past but wondered if it's a reasonable thing to do when bringing kids and those who are "allergic" to crawling insects. I am also thinking environmentally that it's not a good thing to do.

[KANANGRABOYD]

So, does any of you prophylactically spray DEET or Permethrin around your tent/camp site? Have never done it in the past but wondered if it's a reasonable thing to do when bringing kids and those who are "allergic" to crawling insects. I am also thinking environmentally that it's not a good thing to do.

Permethrin worked extremely well for me - but I only put it on my clothing, shoes, tent door and porch/tarp at door of tent. It is EXTREMELY TOXIC to fish, so should never be used anywhere near water. If you use it just around a very small part of your "living"area it should be ok, however I would use judiciously.

[GPSGuided]

Thanks for the environmental caution. Will do.

[Giddy_up]

My kids have all had a close encounter of the bitten kind with "jumpers". They won't go within 5 metres of a nest now and their eyes are acutely tuned to spot nests a mile away. Does make me laugh how fear sharpens the senses.


"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards"

[GPSGuided]

Yes, mine got bitten multiple times late last year by a bull ant, hence this current consideration. It was unprovoked, short of walking into their territory. It was nasty.

[corvus]

You may not well believe this but we have a resident Bull Ant Nest in our garden and we treat it with respect they don't bother us perhaps as we give them in season easy feeds of European Wasps that we kill with the "clapping method"
Tried to give them Blow Flies but they were quickly rejected as crap !! interesting creatures Bull Ants.
corvus

[corvus]

You may not well believe this but we have a resident Bull Ant Nest in our garden and we treat it with respect they don't bother us perhaps as we give them in season easy feeds of European Wasps that we kill with the "clapping method"
Tried to give them Blow Flies but they were quickly rejected as crap !! interesting creatures Bull Ants.
corvus

[Tortoise]

my advice would be to check around the area where you're planning on pitching your tent for any and also have a good look for nests which are fairly obvious. They can come flooding out of a nest when the alarm is raised and if you're already setup that could be a pain and the best option is to 'run away' as king arthur from monty mython would say.

+1
At dusk, at the end of a long day, we missed this vital step, and inadvertently put up our tent on top of a bull ant nest. Gave up dodging them any time we opened the door, and eventually decamped to a more peaceful spot. It was most definitely worth it.

[GPSGuided]

Jumping Jacks sound really nasty! For a good while I thought Tasmania is a campers' paradise. Looks like it'll have to take a discount.

[perfectlydark]

thanks for the reminder that jumping jacks exist...very painful experience near home as a teen...id conveniently forgotten about them since!
Now i know what I'll be looking out for next walk

[anne3]

After finding out in November that I am anaphylactic to jumping jacks, I am now a very paranoid camper.
The first walk I did after my episode left me with a stress headache ! There are ants *&%$#! every where!!!
I have calmed down a bit now and I'm just extra cautious. No wearing crocs around camp, no sitting on the ground with out checking first and always carrying an epipen and epirb when I'm out and about. Not sure how I will go doing a serious off track bush bash !! (Something I have done and enjoyed (with out incident) for years!)

[Tortoise]

Bummer Sounds like perspective is a bit clearer now though
Must have been a pretty big shock!

[corvus]

This is the species I believe we have in our garden Myrmecia esuriens not the jumping kind
corvus

[DaveNoble]

The only reliable way I have found to deal with bullants near the campfire is scissors. The ones on a Swiss army knife are good enough.

On one trip - we had to use a ring of fire - and sit in the middle of it to keep away from the buggers....

Dave

[GPSGuided]

On one trip - we had to use a ring of fire - and sit in the middle of it to keep away from the buggers....

Choice of two devils... Bull ants or choking smoke.

[corvus]

In the overall ecology of life bull ants are there for a purpose and just a part of our wondrous diverse , insects, invertebrates,reptiles and fauna that we can enjoy here
corvus