I’ve been on a solar kick lately.

I recently wrote an article on a solar powered chicken coop based on the awesome coop a friend owns, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the concept well enough to explain it. So I bought a small system myself. I’m more of a hands-on type of learner, so once I starting playing with it, how it works made much better sense. Plus, it was a good basis for a different article I wrote on preparing for emergencies, including power loss.

I’ve been trying different devices on the coop to see what will run, and soon I will start borrowing other devices (like an electric grain mill) from friends to learn our limitations. So far, a laptop is fine. A vacuum cleaner isn’t. But I digress.

Imported Red Fire Ant

According to USDA reports, the imported red fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) occupies territory from Florida through a good hunk of Texas; there were even a few isolated reports in California. While they can’t survive the frozen ground of northern states, there’s speculation that they could live if protected near concrete walls or other warm spots. That’s a scary thought to us northerners who feel we pay our dues with horrid weather.

There are native fire ants throughout many of the southern states, but the imported red fire ants are particularly aggressive. They form mounds that look similar to gopher diggings, and will attack anything that steps in their space. This includes newborn calves and other animals ending in dire results.

While theyre omnivores who arent picky about what they eat, they dont seem to do much damage to the garden. But there is concern is some parts of the country that they consume beneficial insects that are the food base for quail and other game birds. The bottom line is theyre a big problem.

Solar Fire Ant Charmer

In my search for information, I interviewed the owner of Oasis Montana, an alternative energy company on the other side of the mountains. While Chris has a ton of excellent information on a thousand ways to utilize solar and wind power, one product that caught my eye was the Solar Fire Ant Charmer.

The Fire Ant Charmer is simple to use. On a warm, sunny day push the solar powered unit in the middle of the mound. It automatically turns on, and emits electricity that makes them attack the unit and each other. Picture a cone of angry, stinging ants. Yikes! The most perilous part of the process is when youre actually pushing the Fire Ant Charger into the mound because theyre going to come out in droves. Wear protective clothing (flip flops are not a good choice), and do it quickly!

According to the field tests, they capture 60,000 ants in about 20 minutes. Once there arent many ants going into the cone or the cone is full just dump soapy water in it to finish them off. The nice thing is you dont have to use any chemicals, which is definitely a plus if you have kids or pets, and you can manage mounds in pretty short order.

Plus, it sounds like fun. The next time I visit my aunt in Dallas, I’m going to have to buy one of these just to try it. Its been decades since I was bit while visiting my grandparents in Florida, but I still have keen recollections of the intense pain. Its time for a little solar powered payback.

(If youd like to see more photos or videos, check out their website: www.antcharmer.com)