How To Get Rid of Ant Hills [Fast + Easy Solutions]

Ant hills in your yard are more than just unsightly — they are a sign of a growing ant colony that can damage your lawn and invade your home. Addressing these mounds immediately will keep ants from infesting your space. By disrupting the ant hills and employing effective exterminator methods, you can protect your property from ant trails and the extensive tunneling and harm these industrious insects cause.

Ant hills can appear overnight, creating small mounds of dirt and stones that disrupt your yard or your garden. These industrious insects race to and from the ant nest, looking for food sources and defending their territory. Depending on the ant species, this could be a minor inconvenience or a serious problem. This ant activity creates an ant problem that needs to be addressed promptly to mitigate damage to your landscaping and property.

In this article, I’ll discuss how to effectively repel ants and remove ant hills, with tailored solutions for different types of ants. You’ll learn about the unique characteristics of ant hills, why ants build them, and the most efficient ant-killer methods to make sure your yard remains ant-free. This information will help you decide whether a DIY solution will work or if you need to call professional pest control.

What Is an Ant Hill?

An ant hill is an entrance to an ant colony, though it serves many more functions than just being the front door. Ant hills are specifically designed by ants to keep water out, keep the colony at the right temperature, and help ants defend against predators. Ant hills vary in size, shape, and structure depending on the species of ant that built the hill.

Ant hills can be constructed from many different materials, depending on the species of ant and the environment it lives in. Ants that live in dense forests tend to build ant hills out of pine needles and other fallen plant materials. Desert ants tend to have fewer construction materials, tending to use only the dirt and rocks they have excavated from their colony. You may even find some ant hills coming straight up out of cracks in concrete, representing the excavations happening below.

Ant hills, also known as ant mounds, can be deceiving. The size of a mound does not begin to capture the size of the colony below. Even with only one small entrance, an ant colony can house hundreds of thousands of ants.

How Deep Can an Ant Hill Go? 

Ant colonies vary widely in total size and depth depending on the species involved. They extend from just a few inches to over 25 feet underground. Inside ant hills, ants construct intricate tunnels and chambers using diverse materials such as dirt, sand, twigs, leaves, and resin.

A Japanese ant holds the record for the deepest ant colony at over four meters — over 13 feet — deep. The Florida harvester ant holds the record in the United States, with a nest that tops out at three meters — about 10 feet. 

What Types of Ants Make Ant Hills?

There are about 10,000 different species of ants, and most of them create ant hills as surface features marking the entrances to their underground colonies. Some ants only form temporary colonies, or regularly move throughout an ecosystem.

Other ants, such as carpenter ants, create colonies in plants and therefore do not create ant hills. But most ants tend to pick one location and establish a long-lived colony in that location. Some colonies of ants have survived in the same location for nearly 20 years. A carpenter ant colony can house up to 10,000 ants. You can find the primary colony residing outdoors in a dead or decaying tree, fence post, or pile of firewood. Satellite colonies often establish themselves within homes.

For example, Argentine ants are famous for building supercolonies — hundreds to thousands of miles of interconnected ant colonies that recognize each other as a society (nearly as large as a human society). These interconnected colonies would be almost impossible to eradicate.

Luckily, most pest ants tend to establish individual colonies. The invasive red fire ant, for instance, tends to build a single, large mound above a colony that is fairly linear. The entrance to the mound typically does not have a clear center, and the actual tunnels can be hard to identify in the fluffy, loose soil these ants use to create the mound. This makes a red fire ant mound easier to identify and eliminate than other types of colonies.

Getting Rid of an Ant Hill

The key to ending any ant colony is to destroy the queen. You could kill a million ants, but if you miss the queen, the colony is likely to make a comeback. On the other hand, if you only managed to kill one ant and it was the queen, the colony would quickly die off on its own.

However, this is easier said than done.

Fire Ant Bait

One of the most surefire methods for eliminating a fire ant colony is to use appropriate ant bait. Ant baits are usually formulated for specific species. The ants eat the bait granules and carry the bait through the colony to feed other ants, the queen, and growing larvae.

All you need for a large mound are a few tablespoons of granules, placed on or near the ant mound. The ants will do the rest of the work, eliminating entire colonies in only a few weeks. 

If you are treating a large area, you can also broadcast the granules over entire acreages, killing any colonies that happen to pick up the bait. If you only have one ant colony, you may want to consider a different method or a smaller package of bait.

Drenching the Mound

Ants construct their mounds to deal with large amounts of water. This is why flooding an ant hill with a garden hose rarely — if ever — eliminates the colony. However, a technique called “drenching the mound” uses water to carry potent insecticides into the mound. By mixing an insecticide with water, you can forcibly pump it into a mound — drenching the entire colony and the soil around it.

This method works particularly well in moist soils that will readily take in water and spread it through the colony. You must irrigate dry soils first to prepare them for insecticides. Keep in mind that only specially formulated insecticides work as a drench. You can’t simply mix any chemical with water and dump it into a mound.

Always follow the label on your pesticide, but one example of how this method could be done is by mixing 1 ounce of Talstar into 1–2 gallons of water, then drenching the mound itself as well as in a 3-foot radius of the mound.

Boiling Water Method

You can use an ‘all natural’ method to control ants that is fairly simple to carry out — though it has a lower success rate than insecticides. Ants are arthropods and like lobsters and crabs, they don’t survive long in boiling water. To eliminate an entire ant colony, you’ll need three or more gallons of boiling water. 

Take the boiling water and a heat-resistant funnel to the anthill. Insert the funnel into the anthill, and pour as much boiling water as possible into the colony.

Be aware that this method does have its dangers and I would not recommend it. Transporting three gallons of boiling water and pouring it in a controlled manner without spilling on yourself or burning yourself in the process is a heavy task.

Will Bleach, Vinegar, or Gasoline/Fire Kill an Ant Hill?

Technically, yes. In certain concentrations, both bleach and vinegar can kill ants. Ignited gasoline will certainly kill an ant. Bleach will permanently kill all the vegetation in an area. Vinegar will acidify the soil, and gasoline treatments will almost certainly lead to burns and explosions that will cause serious physical and property damage. So, I do not recommend these methods.

As a side-note, entomologists study ant hills by pouring plaster, concrete, or even molten aluminum into the anthill. As the structure hardens, it becomes a perfect replica of the tunnels the ants have built. While this is typically done after the ants have left the colony to avoid killing ants, some people in areas with invasive fire ants have turned it into a form of ant control that doubles as art.

What To Do if I Have Multiple Ant Hills?

First, try to find out whether the multiple ant hills represent different colonies, or even different species. Some species are totally innocuous, if a little annoying. These species can mostly be ignored unless they are established in an inconvenient spot. If you have many ant hills from an aggressive or harmful species, you should try to treat all of them at the same time.

Ant bait stations, granules, broadcast sprays, and drenches can help you complete your task. If you only have a few ant hills, try the drenching method. If you are dealing with acres and acres of ant-infested land, try insecticide granules. When ants are actively foraging, it only takes a few granules to take down an entire colony.

How Can I Prevent Future Ant Hills From Forming?

The best way to prevent ant hills and ant colonies from establishing a foothold on your property is to treat early and often. Some people let their ant infestation get so strong that they even start finding ants in their car.

Ants typically overwinter in their colony. In the spring, ants will venture out to forage. Some species will swarm to find a new colony location, while other species have wings to help them disperse.

Insecticide granules, sprays, and ant bait stations should be ready for these first voyagers. This should stop the colony before it gets established.

However, even if you are later in the season, you can still prevent a future spread by treating the ants you have. Remember that ants are mostly dormant in the winter and late fall. Since they don’t eat much, it’s much harder to treat these colonies. Wait until the colony becomes active again in the early spring and treatment will be a breeze.

Final Thoughts

If you find ant hills in your yard, take steps to remove them promptly so you can have a healthy, enjoyable outdoor space. Identify the species of ant that is causing the infestation and choose the method best suited for that species to eliminate it. Remain consistent with your treatment whether you opt for ant bait stations, granules, broadcast sprays, or the drenching method. Each method has its advantages and make sure you follow the correct procedures to get the best results.

By understanding the behavior and characteristics of different ant species, you can use targeted strategies to keep your yard ant-free and avoid the damage and inconvenience these pests cause.