Fire ants: yee-OUCH!

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, and I certainly was not expecting to be breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a hundred fire ants
(who, like the Cardinals in the Monty Python skit, also sometimes sport
nice red uniforms). I was trimming some of the grass behind our fence
this morning when my legs suddenly felt as though there was a multitude
of locking pliers grabbing and twisting my skin, and holding burning
cigarettes to my unsuspecting flesh. I looked down in the area of the
pain, as one is wont to do when one is experiencing an explosion of
unpleasant sensation on one's person, and saw my lower legs covered
with moving dark masses of very upset little Satans. I had wandered
onto their nest and they were expressing their displeasure.

While
I was hosing off my legs, shaking ants out of my socks and shoes, and
getting fresh socks, Shirley took a peek on the 'net and learned that
sprinkling talcum powder on oneself may help keep the fire ants off.
They apparently can't get good traction or something. I decided if
"sprinkling" was a good idea, then emptying the household supply onto
my legs was a better idea :) ...You see, the nest that I had disturbed
was actually on the neighbor's property, right next to our fence, and I
had then noticed another fire ant mound that was on our property at the opposite end of the yard. I wanted to be a little more cautious as I worked near this mound.

Just
as I finished mowing the lawn, a good ol' tropical Florida rainstorm
hit. I stood outside for a while just enjoying the cooling rain as it
pounded down. And in true Florida style, within a few hours the sun had
dried the grass again, so (after a quick trip to Lowe's for supplies)
we applied some fire ant killer to the yard. It is supposed to control
the ants for 6 months. Tomorrow morning I'll hit our fire ant mound and
our neighbor's directly with some fire ant bait; the bait is a
deliciously evil substance that the worker ants happily tote down (up
to ten feet deep!) to the hive, and they share the bait with all their
little pals, killing the lot.

Comments

[Dr. Lavine]

No fire ants in the Northwest (the slugs would eat them).

[tommy]

Welcome to Florida!!