You're listening to the Joe Gardner Show, the podcast all about gardening, where we cover

everything you need to know to grow like a pro, no experience required.

And now here's your guide, National Gardening Television Host, and the Joe Behind Joe Gardner,

Joe Lampel.

Hi everybody, it's Joe Lampel, the Joe Behind Joe Gardner, and welcome to the Joe Gardner

Show.

Have you ever been stung by a fire ant?

Well, if you haven't, consider yourself lucky, and if you have, you know it's an experience

you don't quickly forget.

Native ants have been known to bite on occasion, but there really is nothing like a fire

ant.

These are invasive pests, which haunt the landscape of many gardeners in North America

now.

And with an absence of natural predators, these creatures are more than just a painful

nuisance.

They may not jeopardize our plants, but you might not realize that fire ants cause at least

a few deaths every year in the U.S.

Fire ants used to be a concern only for those of us living in the southeastern states,

but they've now spread as far west as California, in North and Oklahoma, and across to Virginia,

and they aren't just an American problem either, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and many other

countries have been the unhappy recipients of red fire ant invasions.

Thanks to some of those resilient insects hitchhiking on board, ocean shipping cargo,

...