Around the same time we made our first visit to the vet, a "meet and greet" so to speak and to make sure this doggie Dr. could deal the drugs that help make life more tolerable for our fuzzy fellow. Our only other question to the vet, "What do we need to be aware of as a dog owner in Austin?". Other than the expected year round treatment for heart worm, nothing much... except for... fire ants. "Have you run into any fire ants yet?", thankfully no and then I asked how do we avoid them. He informed us to stay away from big piles of dirt. "Oh" I replied, "So I should stop kicking around the piles of dirt in our yard?". Both the vet and Chris looked at me as though I had lost all common sense and may as well have swallowed a lit firecracker (yes I'm exaggerating but it's for the sake of the post). I learned that no, I should not be kicking around piles of dirt. Also, if I do run into a fire ant hill I will be amazed by the sheer number of tiny fire breathing formicidae that will surround and do their best to kill me.
Duly noted.
Interestingly enough, within a day of the informative vet visit, Brik decided to give the feared spot another go as we were all headed out for a walk (to get cupcakes). We stood near one of the big live oaks and I felt a quick pinch on my ankle and heard myself cry "OW!" - could it be? I looked down and sure enough one tiny little ant was making his way up my leg to do even more damage. Seems as though he could care less about his fellow soldiers, he was going to take me on his own. Unfortunately for him, he (as many others before him) had underestimated my lightning-speed reaction time as well as my disregard for things that bite me and quickly met his maker with one quick slap of my hand.
That's why Brik didn't want to go near that spot! Fire ants! There were hundreds of them surrounding the base of the tree, we quickly made our way to ant free territory to avoid further confrontation. The annoying pain from the small soldiers bite lasted for most of the afternoon. Still, a week later there is a visual reminder of the attack made on my person that day.
Today on our morning walk Brik strayed from the safety of the sidewalk to see if a tree needed marking. As I sipped my delicious Jo's iced coffee I watched Brik's foot sink into a soft mound of dirt at the base of the tree. I wondered to myself if that could be home to another fire ant army. Brik moved a step forward to make his final decision regarding if the tree should be marked and in less than a milli-second I saw an overwhelming number of ants crawling everywhere doing God knows what. There were hundreds of them going in all different directions and tons of white things which I guess may have been eggs or pupae, I'm not sure which. I jerked Brik to safety and turned back to the ant pile to watch in awe as hundreds of ants swarmed to do their harmful bidding, then tended to my friends paw that was already being attacked by the angry pests. Of course Brik seemed oblivious to the whole ordeal and we resumed our walk with no further delays.
Gross Gross Gross.
Aparently, even though we live in a really great, SAFE city where there are few worries we still need to beware of the dreaded fire ant. Or as Jorge from Monterrey says "Be aware, be very aware..." Some sites that I have gone to have gone so far as to declare war on the evil colonists. After doing some reading I too have joined the war. I have opted for a desk job as I have no interest in hand to mandible contact with the enemy. Here are some of the disturbing facts I want to share with you:
- Fire ants are social insects that nest in the soil in large colonies that contain tens of thousands to more than 200,000 ants.
- Worker fire ants vary in size, but all are capable of stinging.
- Solid food is fed to the larger larvae, which chew and digest it and regurgitate it in liquid form. Liquid food is passed from the larvae back to the workers and then shared with all ants in the colony.
- Fire ants spread by swarming. Unmated, winged reproductive male and female ants exit the mound in mass, fly into the air and mate while airborne.
- Newly mated fire ant queens fall back to the ground within a few hundred yards to a few miles of the mound from which they emerged, shed their wings and attempt to start new colonies.
- If the ants sense increased water levels in their nests, they will come together and form a huge ball or raft that is able to float on the water.
Wings? Form of an ant raft?? Need I say more??? probably not but you know I will...
As a child I remember seeing part of an old horror movie where ants had grown to giant proportions and were attacking people (Empire of the Ants). The maker of this movie obviously had the creative vision to layout for us what potentially could happen if humans fail to take action against the ants. After being attacked myself, I can clearly see what damage could be done by these biting rebels were they to ingest one of the many potent chemicals that are running rampant in our soil and water these days. What's to stop them from growing freakishly huge and eating all of us?
For those of you who poo-poo the power of harzardus chemicals in the environment maybe Suzanne Sommers can paint a more realistic scenario. "It Happened at Lakewood Manor" aka "Ants" will show you it's only a matter of time before the wrong ant hill is destroyed and the ants take revenge on us all!
Eco-horror or Eco-prophecy? The FDA estimates that more than $5 billion is spent annually on medical treatment, damage, and control in fire ant infested areas. In addition, the ants cause approximately $750 million in damage to agricultural assets, including vet bills and livestock and crop loss. Scientists and agencies around the world are actively working to develop methods to stop these tiny terrorists.
Until some of these questions is answered Brik and I will dutifully take our spot behind the desk and continue to send you the reports from the frontlines. Stay safe friends.
