There are Ants, and then there are Ants, and then there are Fire Ants
(trying to get today's post done early)
Y'all may or may not recall the saga of the fire ants. The house had 'em when we bought it, and continued to have them for quite some time.
In the late part of this past summer, we noticed not so much fire ant activity.
On the other hand, we noticed a fair bit of activity by a different kind of ant. We never got an official identification, but they sure seemed like a kind of crazy ant. Now, Houston recently had a big problem with crazy ants, which are pretty damn annoying by all accounts. The only positive thing about them (besides all the ecological contributions of ants to breaking down dead matter) is that they tend to displace fire ants.
The down side to *that* is that most people, after having fire ants and then crazy ants, would really rather have the fire ants.
If you know fire ants, that should tell you something about crazy ants.
We asked around a bit, then decided to take a wait-and-see approach. "Decided" is probably overstating the case: we were really busy, and it was easier to wait-and-see.
We're not sure, but the crazy ants seem to have moved on. They are apparently nomadic, so not so committed to their nesting places.
Last night we disturbed a clutch of ants on a piece of chicken bone in the driveway (I blame the local feral cats for the chicken bone). Everything in the way the ants behaved suggests they are fire ants.
When we went into the house, Motorcycle Boy said "I never thought I'd be happy to say we have fire ants."
Ditto.
But yeah, I can *deal* with fire ants.
Y'all may or may not recall the saga of the fire ants. The house had 'em when we bought it, and continued to have them for quite some time.
In the late part of this past summer, we noticed not so much fire ant activity.
On the other hand, we noticed a fair bit of activity by a different kind of ant. We never got an official identification, but they sure seemed like a kind of crazy ant. Now, Houston recently had a big problem with crazy ants, which are pretty damn annoying by all accounts. The only positive thing about them (besides all the ecological contributions of ants to breaking down dead matter) is that they tend to displace fire ants.
The down side to *that* is that most people, after having fire ants and then crazy ants, would really rather have the fire ants.
If you know fire ants, that should tell you something about crazy ants.
We asked around a bit, then decided to take a wait-and-see approach. "Decided" is probably overstating the case: we were really busy, and it was easier to wait-and-see.
We're not sure, but the crazy ants seem to have moved on. They are apparently nomadic, so not so committed to their nesting places.
Last night we disturbed a clutch of ants on a piece of chicken bone in the driveway (I blame the local feral cats for the chicken bone). Everything in the way the ants behaved suggests they are fire ants.
When we went into the house, Motorcycle Boy said "I never thought I'd be happy to say we have fire ants."
Ditto.
But yeah, I can *deal* with fire ants.