Sent them scurrying

   Son and I were moving a pile of boards that have been forever an eyesore on the back side of the property.  We were using garden hoes to pull the boards free from the vines then would drag them to be hauled away. This method was working wonders and the pile was quickly disappearing.  Along the way, we were uncovering a myriad of critters.  Small snakes, frogs, lizards, spiders, walking stick bugs and ants...lots of ants..all made their home in and under the boards.  Care was taken to move each critter to a new area until we reached the bottom boards.  Nope...most of those critters would have to be dealt with in a different way.

  Under the bottom boards were thousands of carpenter ants.  Tunnels and "rooms" had been dug beneath the pile.  Those "rooms" were nurseries and filled with large ant eggs.  When we pulled back the rotted planks, the ants knew their world had been invaded. More ants than ever poured out of the tunnels and started their attack.  Others (the nurse maids) started scurrying around as they were protecting the eggs.  Each ant grabbed an egg and started carrying it down into the tunnels.  Son and I had to step back and come up with a plan to eradicate the ants without getting too many bites.  He headed to the shed for some spray and I headed to the house for my camera.  By the time we got back to the pile, most of the eggs had been spirited away but the soldier ants were still on a rampage. 

  Carpenter ants are a menace to anything made of wood.  Even many trees are infested with the critters. The damage can be devastating, to say the least.  While I usually go by the mantra of "Live and let live", I draw the line on critters like this (and termites) that can and will literally eat me out of house and home.  Not today, Carpenter Ants...not today.  These won't be munching my house nor trees.  They are gone.