Artistic Bayou Ants

  It seems as if I will never get rid of all the hurricane debris in the yard.  It has been almost a year since Hurricane Zeta hit and I still have hundreds of boards stacked in piles about the place and large piles of downed limbs.  The limbs were kept to be cut as firewood but since winter was not a terribly cold time, the limbs sat.  I try to "organize" things in neater piles and keep the weeds from getting out of hand.  Now, there are two storms eyeing the Gulf...Fred and Grace.  Whether these amount to much and whether they make landfall here is yet to be known.  All I can think about is...more debris...more work.

  While out working, I came across an oddity (at least, odd for me).  All sorts of ants are busy making their nests since the weather has turned drier.  I see many mounds but this one struck me as unusual.  The ants were bringing out sand particles and dirt particles from their tunnel.  That is not odd but the fact that the remnants were divided directly in half across the mound was.  Creamy white sand was on one side and darker, softer dirt was on the other.  The mound was divided with an almost perfect line.  Although Son gave a very logical explanation for this "phenomenon", I am not easily convinced.  In my mind, it was magical!  I had come across some very artistic ants or some very OCD ants.  The idea of the ants separating the grains according to texture and moisture content was far too practical.  Bayou ants are too creative to do anything so boring.  Maybe I should get as creative with the debris piles!

  

  

  

It Is NOT Spring!

  Our winter has not been.  We are sitting at about 70 degrees here tonight and each day has been much the same.  We do have the occasional dip in the temperatures which puts us down into the 30s but those times have been far apart.  This unusually warm time has most of the critters around the Bayou in a state of confusion.  Birds are nesting, fur bearing critters are shedding their winter coats and snakes are out and about.  Today, I saw evidence of another bit of wannabe spring.  

  I opened the front door to be engulfed in a huge swarm of flying ants.  Ugh!  I immediately stepped back indoors, shut the doors tightly and raced to get the bug spray.  As much as I hate to use chemicals around the place, sometimes it is a necessity.  This was one of those times.  The ants were swarming on the east side of the house and were being wafted by the breeze right onto the french doors.  I do not need a swarm of ants inside the house!  My efforts killed a few but Mother Nature came to the rescue after a short while.

  Ants swarm during mating season and that should be anywhere from late spring until mid summer.  It should not be in January!  The ants supposedly need bright sunshine, little wind and warm temperatures.  They also prefer to swarm after several days of rain.  Well, that pretty much describes what has been happening around here lately.  That sunshine was a short lived thing, however.  Soon after I found the ants, a thunderstorm rolled through and then a heavy fog set in for the evening.  The ants may have been sorry that they were so hasty about swarming.  That rainstorm probably killed a good many of those wanting to start a new colony.  Way to go, Mother Nature!  Good job!  While we did not need more rain, that rainstorm was perfect timing!   

Ladybug Diner

  This afternoon, I headed out to pick the figs.  This is a twice daily chore as I try to "beat the birds".  No, I do not wallop the thrashers stealing the figs but I try hard to out race them to the ripe ones.  There are only a few more days that this comedy will take place as there are few figs left on the trees.   Between the birds and me, we have picked the trees clean.  After finishing this chore, it is my habit to walk through the garden to check for any remnant veggies.  It was there that a small red dot caught my eye and made me while away a good half hour.

  One of the garden boxes has a mishmash of plants. One volunteer tomato plant, six marigolds, one chrysanthemum, two mints, a few chives, a couple of purple basils and one struggling rose cutting are all growing there.  In the midst of all those leaves, a red dot scampered.  Aha!  A ladybug had found the mother lode of aphids and was a happy camper!  I watched as the ladybug raced around the leaves in search of aphids.  It would then chow down on its prey before starting anew.  The race was on!

  On closer inspection, there were many ants on the same plants.  At first, I assumed the ladybug was merely trying to outrun the ants but it kept coming back to run atop them again and again.  Then I realized that the symbiotic relationship between the ants and aphids was how the ladybug found its meal.  Ants literally "farm" aphids.  As the aphids suck the juices out of my plants, they excrete "honeydew" which the ants love.  The nectar rich resource is food for the ants.  In return, the ants protect the aphids.  (There have been cases known where ants will tote aphids with them if they have to move their nests.)  The ladybug, on the other hand, dines upon the aphids, themselves.  

  Usually, the ants and ladybugs tolerate each other and pretty much ignore one another.  Neither are predators to the other.  They both happen to be interested in the third insect..the aphid.  Personally, I would rather have the ladybugs than either the ants or aphids!  Chow down, Ladybug!

Disturbing Their Winter Slumber

  Some critters have the right idea.  They find a snug spot to overwinter so they do not have to deal with the cold weather.  I am contemplating if that would not be the happiest thing for all of us to do.  Burrow down under a thick, cozy blanket and stay there for the duration of the cold months.  While the rest of us try to stay as warm as we can, the "smart" ones snooze soundly or at least keep movements to a minimum.  Personally, I get "cabin fever" and have to get outside no matter the weather.  Ice covered grounds cannot be more treacherous than hurricanes and I have ventured out in them both.

  This morning while we were out cutting firewood, Son brought my attention to a whole nest of carpenter ants that had their snoozing time cut short...literally. Mark had cut a dead mimosa tree and Son and I hauled it to the back where the log splitter sat.  No axe for me this time!  In the logs that Son was splitting, an intricate maze of tunnels had been gnawed and in these tunnels, the ants had stored food.  The ants then climbed in with the first cool spell and were planning on staying for the duration of winter.  Our wood-cutting brought an abrupt halt to that plan as now the ants were exposed to the icy air of the morning.  I am sure that they were not too happy about their new circumstances but being sluggish from the cold, there was not much they could do.  After Son finished  splitting the wood and I had hauled the "clean" cuts to the woodpile, the remainder bug-infested logs sat in a pile.  It seemed a smart move not to stack those with the others.  

  About an hour after we finished work, I noticed that several birds were happily feasting upon the exposed insects.  At least something was happy to see the critters!  Hopefully, the birds will clean the logs so I won't tote any ants inside the Little Bayou House.

The Crowded "City"

  I like living where and how I do.  For most folks, this life would probably seem hard compared to the standards of today's society.  I do things "the old way".  It suits me.  I grow most of our food and can it for use during the winter months.  We catch fish, shrimp and crabs to go along with the fruits and vegetables.  The old cast iron wood stoves supply our heat during the winter and open windows cool the house during the summer. I am happy living on the Bayou.  I would not fare well in the city.  I get agitated with the hustle and bustle of things and love the quietude of the Bayou and woods.  I love hearing the frogs and toads singing their nightly serenades, the owls calling back and forth from the tall pines and the mullet splashing in the calm waters.  I love finding baby rabbits under the brush piles, large alligators sunning on the mudflats and even the raccoons raiding the muscadines.  I like waking before dawn to watch the sun rise up over the pines and sitting on the pier in the evening to watch it set again.  I like the smells of the Bayou..the magnolias, jasmine and wild honeysuckle, the orange blossoms and peach blossoms, the lemongrass as it wafts in the breeze and, yes, even the "low tide" smell that some find offensive.  I just belong here.

  I sat thinking about this, today, as I watched life in a different big, crowded "city".  While working in the gardens, I moved a container that held bell pepper plants.  Under the pot, in a space about one square foot, an entire city of critters had made their homes.  In fact, even after some scampered to parts unknown, I counted six spiders, fourteen pill bugs, eleven snails, one centipede and about a dozen tiny ants.  They were so crowded that the critters were literally crawling all over each other. The spiders were stalking the pill bugs, the ants were biting the snails, the centipede would have made short work of the spiders.  Each seemed oblivious to the other's feelings which made me ponder if that is how it is in large human cities.  I hope not.  I'd like to think that we all can show kindness to everyone but, then again, I live in my own little world down here and do not have to deal with any hullabaloo from others. Yep, I like it...it suits me just fine.


 

What is it?!!!!

  Down near the wild persimmon trees on the edge of the Bayou, one can find any number of interesting things.  It seems that this spot is a haven for critters and a good growing spot for a number of different plants and fungi.  The hike there and on around behind the canebrake is one of the more interesting spots (other than the pier, of course!).  This out-of-the-way, road-less-traveled area literally crawls with critters and, at times, resembles an overgrown rainforest with its vines and large clumps of palmettos.  It was on one of my hikes recently that I found and photographed a large mushroom.

  The mushroom in question was like none I have seen before on the hillside.  It was the size of a dinner plate and was rather flat being only about four inches tall.  I could not see the underside without disturbing the 'shroom so I just left it be.  The texture was more "meaty" than other mushrooms in the area and it was quite noticeably attractive to ants. Not only were the ants munching on the outer portion of the cap but they had dug several holes down in the center and were busying themselves by carrying stuff in and out of the center.  If you look closely at the picture, you can see several ants having their supper at the expense of the mushroom.

  The fact that ants seemed to love the mushroom was odd enough but it is that photograph that almost gave me the willies!  When I was flipping through the photographs that I had taken that day, I was taken aback by the sight of the mushroom.  It almost had the appearance of skin...wrinkly old skin!  Ok...that was freaky!  The fungus resembled some dead critter or worse.  Even the coloring was not unlike flesh!  Creepy! 

  Since finding this unidentified bit of fungus, I have looked high and low for another but have not seen any just like it.  Was this a fluke?  Did something happen to make the mushroom wrinkly and pink?  Why were ants devouring this thing so hastily?  Questions!  Always questions! Too bad I have no answers!  I am quite positive that some expert could identify this massive thing but since I know of no such folks, it will remain a mystery.

 

Working hard or hardly working?

Well, Old Man Winter is about to pop us all with another round of chilly (to say the least) weather.  Today was the last warmish day we will see for a while.  Not that I am complaining as our winters are nothing like those faced by our neighbors to the north.  Here, we will be near or just below freezing.  Not bad when you consider the rest of the nation.  Still, this called for a bit of preparation. The houseplants had to be hauled inside and the garden needed covering. The old wood stoves need firewood if they are to do their job so gathering firewood was high on the agenda.  Last week, I noticed that our big old mimosa tree had seen better days.  The largest portion of it had died and was dangerously close to falling on the stack of lumber.  Mark used his chainsaw to trim out the dead wood.  This would be split by Michael and added to the woodpile.  I am not above burning any type wood if necessary.  I figure that it is better to make use of something rather than waste it and that applies to dead trees as well.   My day was spent indoors as I was feeling a bit "under the weather".  Every now and again, I would peek out the window at the progress of the ongoing chore.  Even being ill, I felt that I should be out helping.  Usually, my job is hauling the split wood and stacking it on the wood rack.  I do not mind.  At least it is something to do outdoors.  

Once when I was watching the guys, I noticed a small ant crawling on the window ledge.  This was a brave little guy!  I wondered if he knew about the cold spell that was headed our way.  He needed to be far underground.  That little ant made me wish that I was as strong as him.  How easy would it be to fill that wood rack if I had his strength!  Earlier in the year, I watched as some ants carried chunks of stuff from our compost to their nest underground.  They hoisted huge pieces of food high above their heads and made the trek of about thirty feet to the hole.  Then the food was carried through tunnels until it was safely tucked away in some storage cell.  It is a well known fact that the little guys are strong and can carry many times their weight.  My carrying a few pieces of firewood pales in comparison to the load that an ant can carry. I do so wish I had the strength of an ant!  Or, maybe, I should train them to carry the firewood!  Nah....I am not on that good of terms with any of the ants on the hillside!

Them! Again!

Yep..we are back battling the ants, again! As I said in the past, the hill is being overrun by ants..they are everywhere! There is not a safe place in the yard! I am truly beginning to think that this hill is one huge ant nest! Now, I am not one to go dump a bunch of chemicals around on the ground whether it be to fertilize the garden or to kill the pests. I try to by all means possible go a natural route, but sometimes circumstances call for desperate measures and this was one of those times. I needed something..anything..to rid my yard of these biting monsters!

Just when I had about resolved myself to buying some "proven" ant poison, I came across another natural remedy. I was searching the internet for a recipe using quinoa when I stumbled on a "surefire" method of removing ants! I was excited to say the least..no more ants meant no more bites. I would be able to go barefoot again! (Not that I had stopped..I just ended up with lots of ant bites!) This site said to use coffee grounds! Well, now...this was easy enough! I have a lot of coffee grounds! I was a bit dubious at first but then I thought of the compost pile where I usually empty the grounds. There were no ants in the compost pile..which I might add, seems a bit odd since there is a ready source of food stuffs in the bin. But no ants! Perhaps the daily dumping of coffee grounds chased the ants out of the area. I was hopeful! Now I just needed to invite the ants for a cup of coffee and maybe they would leave on good terms. I hoped for the best. The grounds were sprinkled (dumped!) on the first ant nest that I found..about three feet from the front steps! We shall see in a few days just how well this does..I am still doubtful but with a reasonable amount of hope thrown in for good measure! This is supposed to work in about three days..we shall see!

Speaking of ants..I have found two rather interesting things. One that fresh basil can take the itch out of a bite. It does absolutely nothing about preventing the bite in the first place but a good rubbing of a leaf on an ant or mosquito bite usually will cause it to stop itching. The second..dish soap will rid the kitchen of the tiny ants that invade hunting for food and water. A thin coating smeared on the counter top and sink will cause them to forage elsewhere. My first attempt at doing this was a huge mess! I only had green dish soap! My white sink and counters looked like a slime monster had blown up on them! This was not an appetizing sight to have in the kitchen so I promptly got some clear, biodegradable dish soap and the problem was solved! No more tiny ants marching in an endless trail around my kitchen! Plus..no toxic sprays slowly killing me! I have seen nary a one since the application of soap! Now if the coffee grounds work in the yard, I might be ant-free!

The Great Impostor!

How deceiving appearance can be! This morning after the fog lifted, I noticed a swarm of little things flying over the Bayou. Termites! My goodness! This could not be good. I slipped on my shoes and trotted myself down to the marsh. Wow! There sure are a lot of them! I tried to decipher the source of this swarm..there had to be a beginning somewhere and I was sure hoping it was not my house! Geez, they were everywhere! Maybe they were not termites..that would be a blessing! If only I could catch one then I could identify the little culprit. They could be swarming ants..they do swarm and do have wings at times. Please let them be ants and not termites..I do not know why I would rather this except perhaps the ants won't decide my house looks like supper. I set out to capture one. These were rather elusive critters. The air was full of them but none could be found on the ground or any tree trunk..strange. I would have to nab one from midair. I must have looked like a wild woman as I bounced around the yard waving my hands. Finally! I caught one!..not in my hand but in my hair! I removed it carefully so I would not squish it beyond recognition. What was this?! This is not a bug! My termite was quite misidentified. This was not even a flying ant! This great impostor was a seed! A little fluffy seed that was being blown around by the slight north wind. I should really learn to wear my glasses more often..perhaps then my neighbors would not have the impression that they live across the Bayou from a crazy woman. My discovery made me happy..almost giddy..this was not termites! Seeds will not eat my house! Still curious as to the source, I now went on the hunt for a plant that was spreading its happy little self all over my yard. Near the pier, I spied a bush that until now, I had thought was covered with white blooms.(As I said, I really need to wear my glasses more often!) These were not blooms any longer but seed pods that had burst open and were spewing their cottony insides into the wind. It was snowing fluff!

I am sad to say that our siege of Monarch Butterflies is dwindling to a mere handful as they continue their migration. These, too, have been replaced with impostors. The Gulf Fritillary is visiting the same wild ageratums that the Monarchs frequented. They are much smaller but have the same orange and black coloring that is the trademark colors of the Monarchs. Their markings are different and not as elaborate but I think they are beautiful. Fritillaries are not as "people" friendly as the Monarchs, though. Monarchs have no fear of humans and will use a shoulder or head as a resting spot. Fritillaries, on the other hand, are a bit more fearful and tend to shy away. Still, as with all butterflies, they are welcome sights in my garden!