Just Doing His Job

   The other morning, I was busy cutting out some of the smilax vines that had taken over a clump of palmettoes.  This is some chore since the tubers can be massive and, if you leave one tiny bit, the vines will soon come back with a vengeance.  It is a losing battle on this hill.  Then again, perhaps I should leave the vines and chop out everything else.  Those huge tuber clumps do a fine job of keeping the hillside from washing down into the Bayou during hurricanes!  Maybe I need to rethink my landscaping here.  Anyway, as I was whacking at the vines, a familiar whapping could be heard just behind me.  Looking up, I found the guy that was smacking a tree with all his might.  Ahh, you are a good fellow, Mr. Pileated Woodpecker. You keep working on that tree!  I need it down.

  The woodpecker was hammering away on a dead white oak tree that had succumbed to a termite infestation.  Yep, most of our live trees are being eaten from the inside out and there is not much that can be done.  We have been treating the trees but there is no way possible to get to "the root of the problem"...so the termites flourish and the trees die.  It is sad. Still, the woodpecker is doing his job.  As he hammers away on the tree, he is probably getting rid of more termites, wood beetles and carpenter ants than we will ever be able to tackle.  

  I watched and smiled as the bird bore hole after hole into the dead tree.  Since this particular tree is far from anything it can damage by falling, I am leaving it for Mother Nature to take down.  So many critters can inhabit or forage in a dead tree.  The pileated is only one type of woodpecker that visits the tree on a daily basis.  The birds are doing a fine job of literally "chopping" down the tree.  By midwinter, the tree should come crashing down then the termite nest beneath can be accessed and the varmints killed.  Until then...the carpenter ants can feast upon the termites and, in turn, the birds can feast upon the ants.  Win/win situation for those of us who hate termites!  Good job, Mr. Pileated Woodpecker!  Good job.

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.

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.