NORTH CAROLINA (WTVD) — It’s the season of pollen, spring temperatures, and it can also mean so some not so friendly neighbors coming out of the woodwork.

Pest control companies in the Triangle are already getting calls for complaints of fire ants. We tagged along with Will Adkins from Pest and Termite Consultants to a house in Knightdale. They showed us one medium-sized colony in the yard, estimated to be home to at least 50,000-100,000 ants.

Adkins says when it gets to be bad, it’s important not to try and clear it out yourself.

“We’ve had some old folks that say, oh, you know, just put a little gasoline on it that’ll take care of it, but that’s not very environmentally friendly,” Adkins says.

Instead, Adkins uses a bait in a ring around the mound to kill off the colony within 24 hours.

Red and black fire ants are both common in North Carolina, and can cause anaphylactic shock especially for vulnerable kids, elderly, and pets.

If you accidentally stumble upon their colony, getting away fast can help.

“They can’t fly like hornets or yellowjackets, they’re not going to be able to move to you as quickly so getting away from the mound is key, brushing them off is essential,” says NC State Entomologist Christopher Hayes.

Hayes says they’re also paying attention to hybrid fire ants, a potent combination of both red and fire ants spreading across the state.

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“Not only are they quick spreading and aggressive, but they’re more resistant to cold; they can spread in colder climates faster because they emerge sooner,” he explains.

In just the past decade their territory has expanded, to now include 77 out of 100 North Carolina counties, including portions of western North Carolina where it used to be too cold for them to inhabit.

Fire ant season typically lasts throughout the summer.

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CARY, N.C. (WTVD) — If you love pickleball, Cary is where you need to be this week for the Veolia North Carolina Open.

More than 12,000 people are expected to show up to watch pros from all over compete for a grand prize.

Brian Clarke, chief officer for professional pickleball association, says this is the fastest growing sport right now and more and more players of all ages are wanting to go pro.

That is why they needed a whole extra day for the pro qualifying rounds.

Throughout the week there will tournament days for men, women, doubles, mix doubles all leading up to this weekend for the finals.

Clarke says it’s a community sport and getting up close and personal with professional players will be inspiring for a lot of people.

“It is going to be an unbelievable event. The players came here for the first time last year. They love this facility. They love the town of Cary. So they’re very excited to be here. And we can’t wait to put on a great show for everybody,” said Clarke.

More information on tickets can be found here.

North Carolina lawmakers are scheduled to debate a bill Tuesday that would ban social media accounts for children under 14 and require parental permission for children who are 14 and 15 years old.

The companies that own social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram say they already have a minimum age of 13 to create an account, in compliance with federal law. But some children can easily get around the bans, both with and without their parents’ consent, and many younger kids have social media accounts.

House Bill 301 would hold the social media companies responsible for stopping them, with the state fining them up to $50,000 for each time a younger teen slips through the cracks and is able to set up an account against the rules. Families of those teens would also be allowed to sue the companies over violations, for up to $10,000.

The bill is scheduled for a hearing in a House committee Tuesday. Lobbyists for companies that own TikTok, Facebook and Instagram didn’t provide comments on the proposal last week when reached by WRAL News.

The use of social media among teens is nearly universal in the U.S. and many other parts of the world. Up to 95% of youth ages 13 to 17 in the U.S. report using a social media platform, with more than one-third saying they use social media “almost constantly,” according to the Pew Research Center.

Not all websites in which people can interact with others would be subject to the bans.

Email sites, news websites with comment sections, and others — such as apps that let people share texts, photos or videos with individuals or groups, but not publicly — would also be exempt from the ban.

Social media companies have been targeted by North Carolina officials in the past. North Carolina and 32 other states last year sued Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, alleging that the social media company has contributed to a youth mental health crisis by knowingly designing features on its Instagram and Facebook platforms to addict children to its platforms.

Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein was the state’s attorney general when the lawsuit was filed. As governor, he would have to sign off on any North Carolina bill restricting social media use. When the lawsuit was filed, Stein said Meta lied to parents about the risks its social media platforms posed against children.

Meta said at the time that it was committed to providing teens with safe experiences online, and that it had introduced more than two dozen tools to support teens and their families.

Some measures social platforms have taken to address concerns about children’s mental health can be easily circumvented. TikTok introduced a default 60-minute time limit for users younger than 18, but many users were able to simply enter a passcode to keep watching after the limit was reached.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.